Independent auditors reported to the school board that South Washington County Schools received an unmodified (clean) opinion on its basic financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2025.

Aaron, the presenting auditor from the contracted audit firm (formerly MMKR, now merged with LB Carlson), told the board the financial statements are "fairly stated" for the year and that audit testing found no material weaknesses or instances of noncompliance in internal controls.

Key financial points

- Average daily membership (ADM): auditors reported an ADM of 19,220 students, an increase of about 211 students from the prior year.
- General fund revenues: reported as $346,500,000 for the year.
- General fund expenditures: approximately $346,000,000 and within 1.8% of budget when capital lease and other financing offsets are considered.
- Fund balances: assigned fund balance decreased from $5,000,000 to $2,000,000; the district met the new fund balance policy earlier than planned.

The auditor also described a change in accounting presentation driven by recent GASB guidance (referred to in the presentation as GASB 101 and related updates) that changes how compensated absences (vacation, sick leave) are accrued for entity-wide (government-wide) financial statements. That change required new estimates about how many sick days employees are more likely than not to use in the future, which can reduce unrestricted net position even where operational practices have not changed.

Federal single audit and other funds

The auditor explained the federal single audit guidance was issued late and that the district's single audit would be completed before the March 31 deadline. The food service fund showed a larger-than-expected fund balance (timing and capital spending cited as reasons), while the community service fund was in a deficit position and will be part of broader budget planning considerations.

Questions from board members focused on GASB accrual mechanics, pension-liability presentations (TRA and PERA are presented as statewide liabilities prorated to the district's share), and small rounding variances between reports (explained as presentation/rounding conventions and whole-dollar financial statements). The auditor offered to stay for follow-up questions and the finance team acknowledged staff contributions to audit preparation.

The report was presented as an information item; the administration said it will seek board acceptance of the audited financial statements at the next meeting after completing the single audit work.