External auditors told the Howard County Board of Education on Dec. 4 that they would issue unmodified (clean) opinions on the fiscal year 2025 financial statements and expected to issue an unmodified single‑audit opinion for federal programs.

Steven McCall, a partner with the audit firm, said the engagement produced “a very clean audit” with no material weaknesses identified and no general journal entries of concern. The auditors thanked district management for full cooperation during the audit process.

Auditors flagged a limited but important risk area: staffing levels in finance and certain school front‑office roles. The audit team noted that a smaller staff increases vulnerability to loss of institutional knowledge and can constrain separation of duties, particularly for cash handling and receivables. District staff explained their use of Workday as the system of record and described iterative improvements to workflows after an accelerated implementation.

On a motion from the board, members voted to approve the FY25 audit report; the motion carried unanimously according to the roll call recorded in the transcript.

What's next: The finalized annual comprehensive financial report and the single‑audit package will be released in the coming weeks, per the auditors’ timeline. The board and staff discussed follow‑up on staffing and system optimizations as part of ongoing financial oversight.