Auditors give Connetquot largely unmodified opinion; board accepts 2024-25 external audit
October 29, 2025 | CONNETQUOT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, School Districts, New York
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
Jill Sanders of the accounting firm Cohen & Danasky told the board the unmodified opinion represents the highest level of assurance for the governmental activities and major funds. Sanders said the qualified opinion applies only to the extra-classroom activity fund, where auditors cannot trace the inception of cash receipts from fundraising and therefore render a qualification commonly seen in suburban school audits.
Sanders highlighted a decline in fund balance and said the district's unassigned fund balance was 3.62% of the upcoming budget, below the 4% threshold allowed under state Real Property Tax Law. She said the district had used a combination of appropriated fund balance and board-approved reserves'about $13.7 million in total'to support the next year's budget, and recommended continued monitoring.
The audit also implemented Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 101 presentation (GASB 101) for compensated absences, Sanders said, which increases reported long-term liabilities for presentation purposes but does not itself indicate operational insolvency. She told trustees the large post-employment and compensated-absence numbers reflect actuarial valuation requirements under GASB 101.
Sanders said the audit's management letter included no new significant deficiencies; two prior comments were cleared, one comment remained in progress, and four were being worked on (two of those involved extra-classroom activity fund recordkeeping). She said the district provided requested information promptly and that proposed journal entries will be posted by the business office to align the books with the audited financial statements.
Trustees moved, seconded and approved a motion to accept the 2024-25 external audit as presented.
View full meeting
This article is based on a recent meeting—watch the full video and explore the complete transcript for deeper insights into the discussion.
View full meetingSponsors
Proudly supported by sponsors who keep New York articles free in 2025
