CUSD board unanimously approves 2024 audited financial report and $55,000 warehouse contract increase

The Chandler Unified School District governing board on April 9 unanimously approved the district’s annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) and single audit reporting package for the year ended June 30, 2024, and separately voted to increase a warehouse stock support services contract by $55,000.

Board members moved and seconded the ACFR approval after an audit presentation by Josh Jumper, a partner with Heinfeld & Meach, the district’s external auditors. Jumper told the board the firm issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district financial statements and reported no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting or federal compliance. The single audit, required for entities that receive more than $750,000 in federal grants, included testing of ESSER spending and other programs.

“There were no disagreements with management and no known or likely financial misstatements,” Jumper said in his presentation. He also described the Uniform System of Financial Records (USFR) questionnaire process auditors use to test district compliance across accounting, procurement, attendance and other areas.

District finance staff reported six findings in the USFR compliance questionnaire; the board was told the findings are relatively few given the district’s size and the volume of transactions audited. Staff described the findings as routine training and process issues, including: a teacher who delayed depositing fundraiser cash beyond the five‑day deposit requirement; one procurement that should have been competitively procured because district funds mixed with student activity dollars pushed the total over the $100,000 threshold; several attendance reporting items that require clerical corrections; and a transportation reporting calculation performed on too few days by a newly assigned staff member. District staff said corrective training and updated procedures are underway.

Board members then approved a staff request to increase an existing warehouse stock support services contract from an estimated $450,000 to $505,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year. Finance staff said the increase is not due to a price change but to increased use: support services are now fully staffed, enabling expanded preventative maintenance at school sites, and the district expects higher quantities of a pre‑emergent herbicide (identified in procurement as Pendulum) will be required.

“Last year we were not fully staffed and couldn’t keep up with preventative maintenance,” Tom Dunn of support services said. “Now we are fully certified and able to apply more pre‑emergent product to keep weeds down.” Board members asked whether the district planned four annual applications; Dunn said the district had tried to apply four times a year when staffing allowed and that the increase is driven by the ability to apply more treatments across sites.

Both motions passed by voice vote with unanimous ayes. The board also approved the consent agenda earlier in the meeting by unanimous vote.