HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS / AP: State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a scathing assessment of the Reading School District in a Friday report that alleges that weak leadership has exacerbated academic and financial problems in one of the state’s largest and poorest school districts.
The report, which focuses mainly on a two-year period ending in February, says officials had failed to adequately educate students. It cited a 2011-12 graduation rate of 61 percent that was 24 points shy of the state goal and standardized-test scores that similarly lagged state targets…
The report also says lapses in budgeting, accounting and other policies are rampant. A clerical error showing the district with $15.6 million more in state aid than it actually had went undetected for more than a year, causing a series of subsequent financial problems. … (more)
