Brunswick County Schools audit returns clean opinion; fund balance rose about $6 million
Loading...
Summary
An audit presented Dec. 3 found Brunswick County Schools received an unmodified (clean) opinion for the most recent fiscal year; the district’s general fund balance ended around $34 million after adding roughly $6 million, and auditors reported no financial findings.
Shannon Dunison, the audit partner from Anderson, Smith & White, told the Brunswick County Board of Education on Dec. 3 that the district received an unmodified opinion — the highest-level, “clean” result auditors can issue. The firm identified no financial-statement misstatements and reported no difficulties or disagreements with management.
Dunison said Brunswick County Schools ended the year with an approximate general fund balance of $34,000,000, after adding about $6,000,000 during the fiscal year. The capital outlay fund finished the year near $4.5 million after an addition of roughly $400,000. On federal and state awards, auditors reported about $32,000,000 in federal spending and a little more than $100,000,000 in state funds; no issues were identified in how those funds were used.
The audit presentation highlighted the waning of ESSER pandemic-era funds: the district began drawing down those balances and, as of June 30, 2024, had approximately $580,000 remaining to be spent under program timelines. Dunison reminded the board of administrative deadlines noted in the audit materials: purchase orders for ESSER funds had to be issued by Sept. 30 and checks by Dec. 31.
Board members publicly thanked the finance staff for the clean audit and the work behind the numbers. The presentation did not propose policy changes; it delivered financial results and timelines the board will use in upcoming budget discussions.
The board received the audit report and members praised the finance director and staff for their work.
