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-Press Release, Granville County Public Schools

At their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, January 6, 2020, the Granville County Board of Education received the official financial audit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year from the firm of Anderson, Smith and Wike, PLLC.

Partner Dale Smith summarized the 72-page report to the Board, commenting, “these reports are the cleanest reports that a governmental entity can receive in an audit of its financial statement.” Board Chairman David Richardson responded to the audit results, stating, “The Board is pleased with the results of this year’s audit. In striving to be transparent and accountable for the funds entrusted to us, this process affirms our staff and procedures while showing the public our financial standing.”

Mr. Smith walked Board members through various highlights of the report, including an overview of the budget, as well as the status of fund balance, or the district’s savings or “rainy day” fund.

The total budget of governmental activities for the district during the 2018-2019 fiscal year was $90,991,833. Regarding fund balance, Mr. Smith explained, “The total fund balance on June 30, 2019, was $6,229,570, which as a percentage of total governmental expenditures represents 7.26%.”

Mr. Smith further explained the importance of the Board to continue monitoring the fund balance to ensure the district remained in sound financial standing. He noted that while there is no required threshold for the percentage of fund balance that the district should maintain, other governmental entities such as towns, cities and municipalities use 8% as a general target for their savings.

Mr. Smith concluded his presentation by stating, “Over the past three years, the district has not had any major compliance issues. The state puts a lot of restrictions on how the money is to be spent, so all of your directors and the finance department are responsible for ensuring the funds are spent in the proper manner, and they have done an excellent job in spending those funds the way they were supposed to be. It says a lot about the folks you have in charge that there are no findings with this audit. We audit over 50 districts across the state, and there is not anyone doing as great a job as Ms. Day and her team. Y’all have a top-notch finance department.”

The Board uses a third party independent auditing firm to review financial records as a measure of accountability and certification as required by state law. This helps ensure that the district remains a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

Superintendent McLean also commented on the findings, saying, “I am very proud to see the high quality work of our finance team and staff from across the district confirmed by this independent report. This is fundamental to our primary goal of educating students and I commend them for a job well done.”