Gates County commissioners ask state auditor to review school board finances after daycare funding dispute

The Gates County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to request that the state auditor review the Gates County Board of Education’s financial operations after the school board declined a county funding offer tied to a matching requirement and announced plans to close New Beginnings daycare.

Chair Emily Truman read a hand-delivered letter from Sally J. Ryan, chair of the Gates County Board of Education, that said the school board had accepted an earlier $50,000 commitment but, after the county approved funding with a required $50,000 match, the board ‘‘respectfully decline[d] the new offer of funding with the required match’’ and set New Beginnings’ last day of operation as Dec. 31, 2025. The letter recounted related motions and meetings on Nov. 10, Nov. 19 and Nov. 26, 2025.

Commissioner Dave Forsyth, who introduced the motion, said the county had been ‘‘stonewalled’’ when staff tried repeatedly to coordinate with the school board and raised concerns about budgeting and responsiveness. ‘‘I’m making a motion that we request as a board the state auditor to come and audit our school board’s finances,’’ Forsyth said. He and other commissioners said the county needed an independent review to resolve outstanding fiscal questions.

Board members discussed the wording and timing of a letter to the state auditor. A county official said staff would prepare a draft for the board’s review; the motion was amended to request that the draft be prepared and returned to the board for approval at a subsequent meeting. The amended motion was seconded and carried by a unanimous show-of-hands vote.

The dispute centers on a county offer and a school-board response tied to a required match. According to the letter read at the meeting, the county commissioners voted Nov. 19, 2025, not to provide the $50,000 unless the Board of Education could provide the required $50,000 match; the school board then voted Nov. 26, 2025, to decline that new offer and cited concerns from its finance director about sustaining the program.

Next steps: county staff will draft the audit-request letter and forward it to the board for review and approval; commissioners discussed a target of bringing the draft back for action at the next regular meeting or, if needed, a special meeting in mid-December.

Why it matters: the county’s motion aims to clarify how public funds were managed and whether county oversight is adequate; the New Beginnings closure, if carried out, would affect families who use the daycare and the school system’s provision of the service.