The Winston County Board of Education hears the good news that no findings or discrepancies were found in an audit of their system for 2023-2024. Shown from left, Board Members Randy Lee and Kristen McCay, Chief School Financial Officer Morgan Blankenship, Board President Joey Boteler, Superintendent Jeff Scott and Board Members Greg Densmore and Mark Finley.
DOUBLE SPRINGS - Good news came to the Winston County Board of Education, at their Monday, April 28, meeting, when they received a “materially correct” audit report, meaning no financial discrepancies were found by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
Denise Olive, audit manager with the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, shared there were no findings in any of the system’s finances, which were audited for the period of October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
By state law, Olive is required to attend the first board meeting after the audit was released, which for Winston County was March 28. According to generally accepted auditing standards and governmental auditing standards, an unmodified opinion on the school system’s financial statements was issued, meaning they were found to be materially correct in accordance with those generally accepted accounting principles, Olive first explained to the board.
“To say all of that basically means you had no findings in your audit report this year,” Olive stated.
“We also do a federal audit,” Olive added. “This year, we tested the Title I program as well as the ESSER money,” Olive explained.
ESSER was funding school systems received from the federal government to offset the difficulties faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, explained Winston County Schools Superintendent Jeff Scott.
“Those monies ran out September 30,” Scott noted. “That money had to be spent by that point.”
Title I is federal funds school systems annually receive based on their percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunches, Scott further explained.
“All of our elementary schools are Title I schools, so we receive additional funding from the federal government,” Scott added.
“Ms. Olive, would that be, in our case, a perfect audit?” Board President Joey Boteler asked.
“I would never say perfect,” Olive responded. “But it was materially correct.”
“An unmodified opinion was issued on the financial statements, which means that the board’s financial statements present fairly, in all material aspects, its financial position and the results of its operations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024,” according to wording in the summary statement issued by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
“Tests performed during the audit did not disclose any significant instances of noncompliance with applicable state and local laws and regulations,” the summary statement pointed out.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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