This Utah charter school is under review after it gave ‘little oversight’ to its bookkeeper, allowing years of payroll errors

A Utah charter school is under state review after it mismanaged staff benefits for at least five years, a new state audit revealed, attributing the widespread discrepancies to a former employee who had “little to no oversight” during her decade-long tenure.

The December audit comes a year after staff at Timpanogos Academy in Utah County reported errors in their health savings accounts (HSA) and retirement benefits spanning several years, according to the findings.

The errors ranged from $2,570 shortfalls to $5,510 overpayments, depending on the individual employee, the audit states — all uncovered as the Office of the Utah State Auditor reviewed payroll records from 2018 through 2025.

The discrepancies occurred under the Lindon school’s then-business operations and human resources manager, whom the audit does not identify by name. She was initially placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation and was terminated early this year, according to the audit.

In the complaint that sparked the audit, staffers alleged the bookkeeper had “misdirected other employees’ withholdings” to her own HSA or retirement accounts, the audit states.

Auditors found no evidence of criminal activity, concluding that the discrepancies stemmed from “poor accounting practices” and little supervision from the school, which also did not designate or train any “back-up” bookkeepers.

Before she was hired at Timpanogos Academy, the former bookkeeper pleaded guilty to theft by deception and possession of a forged writing device after she was accused of stealing more than $100,000 from a former employer in 2004, court records indicate. The felonies were downgraded to class A misdemeanors as part of a plea deal.

That case has since been expunged, but Rahn Rampton, a spokesperson for the state auditor’s office, told The Salt Lake Tribune that auditors were aware of her criminal history and did not include it in the report.

“They did factor that into their review,” Rampton said. “But we just investigate the financial stuff. We don’t investigate the person.”

Auditors instead pointed to scarce financial accountability by school leadership that allowed the discrepancies to go unchecked.

“The [bookkeeper] performed most Academy accounting duties with little review or oversight,” the report stated. “Academy personnel were unable to answer many of our questions regarding payroll and other accounting processes.”

In a statement, the vice president of Timpanogos Academy’s board, Jennifer Bruce, told The Salt Lake Tribune that the school “cooperated fully” and “takes the audit’s findings seriously.” She added that the school has since implemented additional “internal controls and financial oversight measures.”

Bruce did not answer whether the school was aware of the bookkeeper’s criminal history, which was not expunged until years after she was hired. Attempts to reach the bookkeeper personally were unsuccessful.

Bookkeeper only worker who saw extra HSA money

The payroll discrepancies state auditors found affected 35 employees, the audit states.

Among the most significant were errors in employee HSA contributions that totaled at least $11,480 more than employees were “supposed” to contribute, based on what records auditors had at their disposal.

The school did not formally track employee HSA or 401(k) contribution requests or changes, the audit found, and at times allowed the bookkeeper to take those requests “informally” and “verbally.”

“As a result, the Academy does not have a reliable record of what an employee’s contribution should have been,” the audit states.

This resulted in “multiple” limitations during the review, prompting auditors to recommend the school ask staff to “review their own personal records.”

Auditors were able to explain some of the discrepancies. For instance, one employee’s retirement contributions were mistakenly deposited into another’s account. But in most cases, they were unable to determine a “likely explanation.”

Additionally, the bookkeeper was the only employee who incorrectly received more than the standard employer contribution to her HSA, auditors pointed out: Once in 2021, when she received an extra $500 HSA deposit from the school; and another time in 2024, when she received an extra $900 deposit.

All other HSA errors involved either incorrect amounts withheld from employee paychecks or employer contributions that were lower than the standard amount.

The school detected the bookkeeper’s 2024 overpayment and deducted it from her next paycheck, the audit states. But school officials were “unaware” of the 2021 overpayment and could not explain why she was overpaid in either case, according to the audit.

Both payments came from the school’s operating funds, not from other employees’ paychecks, auditors noted.

In a Dec. 6 letter, school officials responded to the audit, stating they have since outsourced “key accounting functions” to a third-party firm that specializes in charter schools.

The school is also working with affected employees to correct errors and address any tax issues. And officials agreed to “cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities as needed.”

State charter board reviewing ‘internal control failures’

The December audit prompted the Utah State Charter School Board (SCSB) to initiate a “research-and-review” of Timpanogos Academy, said Marie Steffensen, the board’s interim executive director.

The state charter board is the largest charter school authorizer in the state and is responsible for the “oversight and evaluation” of the charters it authorizes, which includes Timpanogos Academy.

In Utah, charters are public schools, though they operate independently from the school districts they sit in.

As part of its review, the state charter board is also looking into events surrounding the bookkeeper’s hiring, Steffensen said. She added that the board does not oversee a charter school’s day-to-day hiring and operational decisions but intervenes when issues are raised.

“Hiring decisions, including background checks, occur at the school level, and the audit’s findings reflect internal control failures within the school’s own financial processes,” Steffensen said. “The [state charter board] has begun its standard research‑and‑review process to determine next steps and ensure appropriate accountability moving forward."

Utah requires public schools to perform background checks on all new hires and volunteers, Steffensen said. It is not clear if Timpanogos Academy knew of the bookkeeper’s criminal history, but it’s a question Steffensen hopes will be answered in the review process.

Depending on the severity of the state charter board’s findings, they could issue a “Notice of Concern,” which would require the school to take certain remediative actions. They could also put the school on probation or, in extreme cases, revoke the school’s authorization.

“Closing a school is an option, always,” Steffensen said. “But also we have the option to provide training, to provide technical support, to really help make sure that a governing board at a charter school understands their responsibilities and how to fulfill them in the best way possible.”

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