Auditor gives Asbury Park schools a clean opinion, outlines $17 million fund balance and one finding

An independent auditor told the Asbury Park Board of Education on Feb. — that the districtreceived an unmodified (clean) opinion on its financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024.

The auditor highlighted the districthad a total fund balance of about $17,000,000, broken out in the audit as roughly $1.1 million in capital reserve; about $485,000 in a maintenance reserve; about $501,000 in an emergency reserve; an "excess surplus" of about $1,690,000 (auditor later gave a precise figure of $1,693,279); about $10,900,000 assigned/designated for prior-year use; roughly $120,000 shown as coverage of the year end; and about $2,200,000 unassigned.

The auditor also described the districtas subject to single-audit procedures for federal and state grants when grant expenditures exceed $750,000 and said the audit examined programs including extraordinary state aid, reimbursements for Social Security, and federal Title I. The auditor reported no control deficiencies or compliance issues in the districtinternal-control testing and said the audit contained one finding that was a repeat review comment: the district needed to increase supporting documentation for its application for state school aid. The auditor characterized that item as not a material weakness and not a significant deficiency.

Why it matters: an unmodified opinion means the auditor judged the financial statements presented fairly in all material respects. The fund-balance breakdown matters to the districtbudget and to the amount the district can apply toward the 2025-26 budget. The auditornoted the excess surplus number that feeds into next yearbudget planning and provided page references in the audit where officials can find the detailed schedules.

Details and context: the auditor pointed attendees to the report's letter of transmittal and to "management's discussion and analysis" for narrative context; the Independent Auditors Report (the opinion letter) appeared near the beginning of the report. The auditor said the single-audit review targeted risk-based programs and reiterated the threshold the district must exceed in grant spending to trigger a single-audit requirement. The auditor thanked the district business office staff for their cooperation in preparing materials.

What the board asked and next steps: board members asked whether the audit contained adverse opinions (it did not) and confirmed the audit date (year ended June 30, 2024). The auditor supplied the precise excess-surplus number, $1,693,279, for the board to use in budget planning. No formal board action was recorded in the public transcript tied to accepting the audit during the excerpt provided.

Ending: the auditor closed by thanking the business office and offered to answer additional questions after the meeting; board discussion moved on to principals' presentations and later budget and finance work that will use the auditfigures in the coming weeks.