Audit committee told APS external audit for fiscal 2025 is in early stages; charter school entrance conference complete

Courtney Jackson, chairman of the Board of Education Audit Committee, heard an update July 22 that Albuquerque Public Schools' (APS) external audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, is in its early stages and that charter-school audit work has begun. Presenters included Renette Apodaca, APS chief financial officer; Mark Turnbull, CPA, APS executive director of accounting; and auditors Sheila Quintana Filosa, CPA, and Laura Beltran Schmitz, CPA, of CliftonLarsonAllen.

The update matters because the district must close its books, submit required reports to the New Mexico Public Education Department and complete a single-audit review of federal programs. Renette Apodaca told the committee that APS is still closing its year-end books and completing required reporting to the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Mark Turnbull said the district is working on year-end closing and the auditors confirmed they are in the early sampling and review phases. Sheila Quintana Filosa of CliftonLarsonAllen praised APS staff responsiveness: "They've been super responsive to all of our questions and have gone out of their way to make sure that they can accommodate us on-site whenever we have requested to be there." She said CliftonLarsonAllen has completed interim sample selections, is reviewing provided support, and that small follow-up items remain.

Quintana Filosa said preliminary discussions with program managers about the single audit occurred earlier in the day and that auditors had received the documents requested so far. She said auditors would push an Excel listing of outstanding items through their portal by the end of the week so APS could upload remaining support. Turnbull and APS staff member Amanda were identified as holding an Excel listing of outstanding items for upload.

The auditors said they held an entrance conference for charter schools the prior week and have begun sample selection for those schools. CliftonLarsonAllen said it is providing Roberta, an APS staff member, weekly status updates identifying any schools that may be falling behind on requested items.

Board member Josefina Dominguez told the committee she had spoken directly with the lead auditor and asked whether auditors were reviewing contracts beyond charter-school agreements. Dominguez said she requested a review of the procurement process used for contracts with the Council of Great City Schools covering the last two contracts and publicly stated she "stands by that" request. The transcript does not show whether auditors accepted that request as a formal engagement scope change.

No formal board action was taken on the audit status update during the meeting. The auditors and APS staff said they would continue to provide requested documents and status updates as the audit work progresses.