Bolivar R‑I board accepts clean 2024–25 audit; management letters flag cybersecurity and GASB changes

Bolivar R‑I school officials on Tuesday reviewed an independent auditor’s report that gave the district an unmodified — or “clean” — opinion on its 2024–25 financial statements and then approved that audit by voice vote.

Wayland Mueller, a manager and CPA with KPM CPAs, told the board the firm’s opinion letter states, “in our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly,” and that the clean opinion means the statements can be relied upon as an accurate representation of the district’s finances for the year. Mueller walked the board through fund balances: the general fund held $6,100,000 in cash and investments, the debt service fund $1,560,000, and the capital projects fund roughly $11,560,000, for a combined balance the auditor cited as $19,229,354.

Mueller said the capital projects fund decreased year over year by roughly $2.5 million because bond proceeds from the 2024 bond issue are being spent on projects already under way. He also pointed to two written recommendations provided to management: improved cybersecurity and internal controls around electronic disbursements and preparations for the reporting changes required by the forthcoming GASB Statement 103, which will expand discussion and budget‑to‑actual variance reporting in next year’s statements.

Chelsea Aberdand, the district’s director of finance and human resources, introduced the auditor and answered board questions about timing and cash-management practices. On questions about wire‑transfer fraud and vendor banking controls, Mueller described typical schemes (fraudulent change requests for vendor payment information) and cautioned that large ACH or wire transfers can be difficult to recover if routed to the wrong account.

After discussion, the board approved the 2024–25 audit in a voice vote. The meeting packet included the audit, notes to the financial statements, and two letters from the auditors: a management recommendation letter and a governance letter. Mueller told the board auditors encountered no difficulties in performing the audit and reported no disagreements with management.

The board also addressed a consent‑agenda check (check number 25509 to Coral Supply). A motion to approve the payment was made with an abstention noted on the record; the item passed by voice vote with the abstention recorded.

What happens next: the auditors will finalize and deliver the federal single‑audit materials once the OMB’s compliance supplement is finalized; Mueller estimated that work could be available in January. The board will continue tracking GASB implementation work to accommodate the reporting changes required in 2025–26.