ELDRED- An audit by the office of New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found that the Eldred Central School District failed to properly manage and monitor employee building access accounts and security badges, creating the potential for unauthorized access to school buildings.

According to the audit, district officials did not adequately oversee electronic building access accounts or regularly review active security badges to determine whether they were still needed.  Auditors said the deficiencies could compromise the safety and security of students, teachers, staff, and visitors.

The audit identified numerous issues with the district’s badge management system.  Among the findings, 41 district employees had been assigned two or more active security badges.  Four employees had as many as four active badges, while Superintendent of Schools Traci Ferreira had seven active badges assigned at the time auditors conducted fieldwork in December 2025.

According to the audit report, “The Superintendent acknowledged that she had multiple active badges and retained them in case of emergency, or if she forgot one of the badges.  After our audit inquiry, the Superintendent had five of her badges deactivated, including the badge that she could not locate.”

Auditors also found seven active badges assigned to non-employees, including five shared badges that were not tracked or deactivated when no longer needed.  Two additional badges remained active despite no apparent business need, including one assigned to a board of education member and another to a retired bus driver.

In addition, district officials were unable to locate 14 active badges, including 13 duplicate employee badges and one shared badge.

While the district had procedures for issuing access accounts to employees and non-employees, auditors found officials did not conduct periodic reviews of active accounts.  The report also concluded that the district had not clearly assigned responsibility for managing building access or adopted written policies and procedures governing the issuance and monitoring of security badges.

The Comptroller’s Office issued four recommendations aimed at strengthening the district’s management of building access accounts and security badges and district officials generally agreed with the audit’s recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective action.

A copy of the full audit report, along with the district’s response, can be found