ABSS audit summary and consequences: $1.6M deficit spending from savings; no money to pay second part of former superintendent’s severance package; same financial irregularities as found by Government Operations investigation last year; money must be repaid to state by June 30
Financial audits for public entities are often uninteresting, filled with unfamiliar terms and concepts, often not of great interest to the general public.
But the recently-released audit for the Alamance-Burlington School System was full of more startling findings.
Read comprehensive coverage in this week’s edition:
PART 1: SCHOOL SYSTEM OVERSPENT FROM ITS SAVINGS ACCOUNT BY $1.6 MILLION. For the fifth out of six years in a row, the amount of money in savings at the end of the fiscal year declined – but for the first time, the 2023-2024 audit found an actual deficit, of $1.6 million.
The school system will have to adjust its finances in order to repay the state that difference by June 30, 2025.
Read summary story here: https://alamancenews.com/abss-audit-1-6m-deficit-in-savings-account-school-system-must-repay-state-by-june-30/
PART 2: DEFICIT MEANS FORMER SUPT. DAIN BUTLER WON’T GET 2ND PORTION OF HIS SEVERANCE. When former superintendent Dain Butler and the ABSS school board parted ways last March, a 5-2 majority of the board agreed to a “severance agreement” that gave Butler a two-part package:$102,038 initially, with an additional $116,362 IF the subsequent audit found any money to do so. But since the audit found a deficit, officials say Butler will not get the second payment.
Read summary story here: https://alamancenews.com/due-to-deficit-former-supt-dain-butler-wont-get-2nd-part-116k-of-218k-severance/
PART 3: AUDIT FOUND SAME VIOLATIONS OF STATE LAW AND ABSS POLICIES THAT STATE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION REVEALED LAST YEAR. School officials were stung by the report released last year, requested by state senator Amy Galey, that found violations of state law and ABSS policy in the school system’s handling of its finances, particularly with respect to the mold remediation contracts.
Read summary story here: https://alamancenews.com/audit-highlights-some-of-same-school-board-failings-legislative-committee-investigation-found/
See summary of report: https://alamancenews.com/legislative-investigation-abss-violated-state-laws-and-its-own-policies-in-no-bid-mold-contracts/
See original Legislative report HERE:
Now the school system’s auditor has reaffirmed many of those same deficiencies.
Plus, the audit found errors in the Child Nutrition Program that hadn’t been a part of the Government Operations investigative report – over $1.5 million in erroneous entries.
To read the full audit, click HERE.
