Governmental Accounting & Auditing Interest Group Meeting & Technical Session (E1810488)

Laura Bitter has been a Planning Associate with the State Aid Audit Unit for almost 19 years. Laura came to the DOE in 2000 after a lengthy career in the private sector, most notably with Dow Jones. Laura, a CPA, is a subject matter expert with extensive knowledge of auditing and accounting. Her career in the DOE has focused on all aspects of DOE funding formulas and applications.

Patricia Lagarenne, CPA, joined the Office of Fiscal Policy and Planning as a Planning Associate in 2012. Previously she worked for the department’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance. Patricia assists OFPP with all the development and administration of fiscal policy guiding school districts and related provision of technical assistance. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Wagner College in 1990. She is licensed in New York and New Jersey, holds a New Jersey School Business Administrator Certificate and is a member of the Association of Government Accountants.

Bob Ortley has been employed with the New Jersey Department of Education since 1981 when he was hired as an entry level field auditor with the Division of Finance’s LEA Audit Bureau. Over his 35 year career with the DOE Mr. Ortley progressed through the entire series on the auditor/accountant titles. In 1997 he was promoted to Section Supervisor, Fiscal Resources in the Office of Compliance’s Investigations and Special Audits Unit where he coordinated the Office of Compliance’s Title I Audit Section while also conducting investigations of alleged improprieties at New Jersey School districts. In May 2000 Mr. Ortley was appointed Manager of the State Aid Audit Unit (SAAU) in the Division of Finance and is responsible for verification of various data submitted to the DOE for purposes of allocations of State Aid under the SFRA School Funding Formula. The audits include the ASSA, DRTRS, EXAID and Chapter 192-193 funding applications. These audits have reallocated over $100 million since 2000, including recoveries of over $20 million. In 2007 Mr. Ortley and his unit were assigned to the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance (OFAC), under the direction of Robert Cicchino. Mr. Ortley has been assigned throughout his career under the direction of various Department of Education Division Executives and their middle managers to conduct, supervise and manage audits and fiscal monitoring’s of New Jersey School Districts. He also has conducted emergent fiscal review/examination and inquiry of sensitive matters at local school districts, as directed by the Commissioner of Education through the Director of the OFAC. Mr. Ortley has successfully represented the Department of Education on twelve occasions since 1988 as a witness for New Jersey responding to administrative court challenges. OAL testimony pertained to challenged audit findings, including ASSA/DRTRS/EXAID and Chapter 192/193 audits at the various New Jersey school districts.