Cabot schools report two unauthorized bank withdrawals; district says bank reimbursed funds and controls tightened

The Cabot School District Board of Education on Tuesday reviewed a legislative audit that identified two unauthorized withdrawals from a district bank account and discussed steps the district has taken to prevent future fraud.

The finding was the only formal audit issue the review team recorded, district officials said. Board members were told the bank returned the funds after the unauthorized transactions were discovered during routine reconciliation.

Superintendent Michael Byrd and finance staff described corrective actions already implemented. The district said it added automated pre‑check verification that confirms payee name, amount and date before checks are released and has pushed more vendors to electronic ACH payments. "We are working with the bank to strengthen internal controls to further reduce the risk of checks being fraudulently diverted," an administrator told the board during the meeting.

Board members noted the audit covered months of review across operational and federal accounts and praised the finance team's overall work. The board also discussed the district's reporting to the Division of Legislative Audit and to law enforcement as appropriate.

The board approved the audit documentation and related corrective actions as presented and voted to adopt fiscal signing authorizations for district financial officers.

A formal dollar total for the two withdrawals was not clearly stated in the public transcript of the meeting; district presenters told the board that the bank reimbursed the district for the unauthorized transactions and that the incidents are reflected in the audit report.