"A few years ago, it was more than $348,000," said Superintendent James "Jake" Short. "When that occurred, we had our own auditing process and had to hire an additional person to redo Medicaid billing.

"We had a 90-percent improvement since then and have improved it much over the past few years, but there is still room to go."

Short was pleased with the audit and the way in which it was conducted, though, like Scott, he is concerned with constant evolutions in Medicaid-reimbursement guidelines.

"The process is constantly changing and has become incredibly complex."

For some, the process was enlightening.

"I joined the district a year ago, and it was very helpful to examine what practices and procedures we have in place," said Salmon River Central School Superintendent Jane Collins.

Salmon River missed out on about $50,000 for the time period covered by the audit.

"The issue here is we have had such a turnover in staff that we needed to create procedures and ensure documentation for the appropriate transmittal of Medicaid claims in a timely manner," Collins said. "We have addressed that."

Others welcomed the audit.

"The purpose was to assist school districts to improve their operational procedures and maximize revenues," said Saranac Central School Superintendent Ken Cringle. "We have taken steps to improve our procedures."

He didn't know the exact amount the district would have received but said Saranac would recover a substantial portion of the amount covered in those areas.

"I think we welcome any audit because it provides us an extra set of eyes and expertise to enhance our procedures."

sbartlett@pressrepublican.com