Delano schools receive clean FY25 audit; auditors note recurring internal-control overlap

Aaron Dahl of Bergen KDB told the Delano Public School District board that the district’s fiscal 2025 financial statements received an unmodified opinion — the highest auditor assurance — and that the audit found no compliance violations under government auditing standards.

Dahl said the auditors reported one recurring internal-control finding tied to "the lack of segregation of accounting duties," which he attributed to the district’s small staff size and overlapping responsibilities. "We did have 1 internal control finding again this year," Dahl said. "There is some overlap in duties within kind of the district's office in the accounting." He added auditors discussed controls with staff but called the finding a disclosure rather than a compliance failure.

The presentation included a review of revenue and enrollment metrics. Dahl noted state general education aid is the district’s largest funding source, accounting for roughly 77% of general-fund revenue in 2025, with local property taxes about 16% and other sources (including federal funds and investment earnings) about 7%. He said changes in federal COVID-era grants contributed to the fluctuation in the “other” category.

On enrollment, Dahl reported resident average daily membership (ADM) was largely flat in the most recent year (about 2,258 to 2,266), with small shifts by grade and a 0.6% decrease in pupil units in 2025 influenced by open enrollment outflows and some homeschooling or charter school movement. "More students did leave through open enrollment," he said.

The board also saw budget-to-actual figures: an original FY25 projected deficit near $1.4 million narrowed after revisions (final projected deficit about $855,000) and actual results showed a deficit of roughly $285,000, a variance of about $570,000 from budgeted projections. Dahl noted operating capital fund balance declined (about $912,000 to $488,000) tied to planned projects, while the unassigned general fund balance edged up slightly.

Dahl closed by reviewing special revenue funds: the food-service fund essentially broke even (revenues exceeded expenditures by $494) while the community-service fund ran a surplus of about $250,000 and a year-end balance near $781,000. He recommended continued attention to controls while acknowledging it may not be cost-effective for the district to fully segregate duties.

The board asked clarifying questions about comparisons to state peers and drivers of student departures; Dahl and staff emphasized regional differences and charter-school growth as partial explanations. The board signaled staff would continue to review fee and fund-balance policy for community education programs.