Ouachita Parish schools receive clean audit; district notes federal grant tapering, keeps AA- bond rating

The Ouachita Parish School Board heard an audit presentation February 11 showing an unmodified ("clean") opinion on the district's June 30, 2024, financial statements and no findings in the single-audit of federal programs.

The summary auditor said the district received a clean opinion and the single-audit reported no findings. Marjorie Williamson of Allen Green and Williamson, CPAs, told the board, "we did issue an unmodified or clean opinion on the financial statements, which that's the best opinion you can get." The audit covered financial statements on a full-accrual basis and included federal-compliance testing of the education stabilization program.

The audit presentation highlighted several operating figures the board discussed: general-fund revenue for 2024 was $159,700,000 and general-fund expenditures were $162.8 million, yielding an overall increase in the general fund of $405,000 for the year. The district's ending general-fund balance was $22,600,000; the unassigned portion of that balance was $17,100,000 (about 11% of expenditures). The audit also noted that certain federal grants previously supporting the general fund's indirect-cost transfers have ended; an education stabilization grant contributed $3,000,000 to indirect-cost transfers in 2024 and that program has closed, meaning the district expects lower transfers in 2025.

Williamson reviewed other fund highlights presented in the packet: the maintenance-and-operations sales tax produced about $10,600,000 in 2024; a West Ouachita sales tax yielded about $16,700,000 and transferred nearly $6,000,000 to debt service to cover bond principal and interest; the 68/95 sales-tax funds collected about $35,900,000 combined; school food service recorded roughly $13.7 million in revenue, of which about $11.6 million was federal. The audit listed total federal revenue for 2024 as $50.5 million and said the education stabilization program provided about $24.7 million in 2024 and $69.9 million over the life of the grant so far.

Board members and staff praised accounting and purchasing staff for the work that produced an audit with no findings. One board member told the meeting the district had just received its bond rating from Standard & Poor's and "we maintained a double A minus bond rating," a result the board member attributed to the district's financial stability.

The audit was submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association and the Association of School Business Officials for review; the district has historically sought and received awards for its reporting. No formal action was taken at the meeting on the annual report; the presentation and materials were entered into the record and questions from board members were answered by the auditors and district staff.

The board also reviewed an interim financial report for the six months ending Dec. 31, 2024. That report shows a Dec. 31 general-fund balance of $20,800,000 (about 77.9% of the balance at the same point the prior year), a difference the chief financial speaker attributed to the timing and distribution of state stipends. The M&O sales-tax fund showed a Dec. 31 balance of $30,300,000 (about 108% of the prior-year level). District staff said sales-tax growth has leveled compared with recent strong gains, and they will continue to monitor receipts.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the timing of stipends, the district's 1:1 device program and ongoing ESSER/education-stabilization reporting. Staff said reimbursements for some Medicaid claims can be delayed by two to three years and that indirect-cost transfers in 2024 were unusually high because of stabilization funds that are now closed.

The presentation closed with thanks from board members to the auditors and district finance staff for the work that produced the clean audit and with staff noting the budgetary implications of the end of the stabilization grant.