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External auditors give Hyde Park Central School District a clean opinion; OPEB liability drives district-wide deficit
Summary
Bonadio Group presented an unmodified (clean) opinion on Hyde Park Central School District's 2023–24 financial statements and extracurricular funds, reporting no material weaknesses. The district showed a net district-wide deficit due mainly to Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) accounting; the general fund remains positive.
Bonadio Group partner Alan Walther told the Hyde Park Central School District Board of Education on Oct. 10 that auditors will issue an unmodified opinion on the district's financial statements and on extra-classroom activity funds for the year ended June 30, 2024. He said the firm found no material weaknesses in internal controls and no instances of noncompliance at the financial-statement or federal-awards level.
That is the highest level of assurance the board can receive from independent auditors. "We will be issuing an unmodified opinion on the school district's financial statements," Walther said, adding the same opinion will be issued on the extra-classroom-activity fund financial statements.
Walther highlighted three headline figures: the district shows a school-district-wide net deficit of about $181,300,000, which he attributed primarily to the required accounting recognition of the district's full other postemployment benefits liability, estimated at roughly $253,000,000; the general fund had a positive fund balance of $35,100,000 (with an unassigned portion of $4,800,000), a level Walther said falls within New York State's 4% guideline; and the capital projects fund showed a $4,900,000 deficit on paper because of nearly $19,000,000 in outstanding bond anticipation notes, a timing effect of governmental accounting.
Walther also reported that federal-program spending audited for the year totaled nearly $7,000,000, driven in part by COVID-19 relief funds, and that there were no compliance findings related to federal awards. He thanked district business office staff for their cooperation in completing the audit.
Following the presentation, the board voted to accept the audit results. A board member thanked the business office for its work. The board approved the external audits later in the meeting.
The board's acceptance of the audit closes the formal reporting cycle for 2023–24; administration said the documents will remain available to stakeholders on the district website.
