Independent audit: Snowline receives clean financial opinion; state compliance flagged for expanded-learning program

Andrew Park, the districtauditor, told the board his firm issued an unmodified opinion on Snowline Joint UnifiedSchool Districtfinancial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and that federal-award compliance (including child-nutrition and ESSER remnants) was reported without exception. On state compliance, Park reported the district passed overall "with exception" because auditors identified deficiencies related to the Expanded Learning Opportunity Program (ELOP).

Park explained the ELOP finding reflected a statewide pattern: districts received ELOP funding and found the program expensive to operate under the state-prescribed requirements. "A lot of districts that had these similar findings decided not to offer it because it just cost too much," Park said, noting personnel and funding gaps made full program operation difficult with the money provided. He directed board members to the formal findings and corrective-action plan in the audit report (pages cited in the presentation).

Park said the district resolved a prior-year internal-control classification issue (2022-23) and that the current audit showed improvement; he called the financial-statement opinion "unmodified," the highest-level audit opinion. He also noted there were no current deficiencies identified in the financial-statement internal controls or the federal-award compliance work.

Board members asked for details. Park pointed to the audit findings documentation (the report pages identified during the presentation) and said the district had supplied a corrective-action plan; he added that some of the ELOP challenges were operational (personnel and facility costs) and that several districts saw similar findings when the state rolled out ELOP in 2023-24. The board also asked whether the immunization issue noted in previous audits was likely to recur; Park said immunization compliance audits fluctuate year to year depending on community factors.

Superintendent (Dr.) Homman and other staff emphasized the district is addressing the ELOP item through staffing increases and program expansion, and noted the audit included corrective-action steps. The board did not take an immediate vote on the audit document; Parksaid the report summarizes how the district performed and pointed trustees to the summary-of-auditor-results page for the clearest snapshot of issues and opinions.

Park urged trustees to focus on the reportsummary page for a concise view of the audit opinion and to consult the detailed findings and corrective-action plan in the numbered pages cited during his presentation.