San Felipe-Del Rio CISD board approves clean audit, reviews $12.6M excess fund balance and project options

The San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District board on Dec. 15 approved the district's comprehensive annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2025, after auditors from CRO LLC delivered a clean opinion on both the financial statements and federal compliance.

Jeff Jensen, the lead auditor, told the board the audit produced “an unmodified opinion” and “no material weaknesses,” noting one immaterial uncorrected misstatement and that the district adopted two new Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements, including GASB 101 on compensated absences that required a restatement to the opening net position of about $5,200,000. Jensen said the district’s total assets were approximately $174,000,000 and the June 30, 2025 fund balance was about $38,300,000, a decrease of roughly $1,800,000 from the prior year. “The district’s financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects,” Jensen said.

After the presentation, Amy Childress (administration) moved the recommendation to approve the audit; Ms. Webb made the motion that was seconded and the board carried the motion unanimously.

Why it matters: the audit and the related School FIRST hearing provide the board and the public with an independent assessment of the district's financial position and compliance. Amy also presented the School FIRST Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas results for the 2023–24 fiscal year, reporting that the district received an A (superior) score of 96. That presentation included indicator-level figures the board used to assess liquidity and solvency: 133 days of cash on hand and a current-assets-to-current-liabilities ratio reported as about 2.9282.

Capital projects and fund-balance options: Following audit and rating items, administration reviewed proposed construction and maintenance projects that had been on a failed bond list and other suggestions. The total package the staff presented adds to about $28,000,000, including: a new Bobby Verrara elementary campus (estimate $7,000,000), Buena Vista cafeteria expansion ($2,000,000) and classroom renovations ($5,000,000), a Memorial Middle gym addition (~$2,500,000), a New Tech Academy shell (~$4,500,000), athletic-field work (softball and baseball fields) and circulation improvements. Staff said the district currently shows approximately $12,600,000 in excess fund balance, in part because of pending state aid from a wind-farm tax-value audit. Administration described several borrowing scenarios using maintenance tax notes: $5 million (approx. $370,000 annual payment), $7 million (approx. $519,000), or $10 million (approx. $740,000), and urged the board to prioritize projects and consider timing relative to budget planning.

Board response and next steps: Board members asked for more detailed, teacher- and classroom-level reports for several instructional software contracts before committing to continued expenditures. On the capital side, trustees discussed timing and recommended further work during the budget calendar in the coming months; one board member suggested presenting a proposal in February after members have time to review options. Administration said it would return with refined project priorities and additional reporting options for ed-tech usage ahead of the budget cycle.

The board approved the audit and the School FIRST hearing closed with no public comments. The district's budget calendar for 2026–27 was also approved that evening, setting a timeline for the board's upcoming financial decisions.