Rockingham County Schools get clean audit; calendar survey strongly backs exams‑before‑Christmas

Paul Carson, an auditor with Anderson, Smith and White, told the Rockingham County Schools board on Jan. 13 that the district's audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2025, received a clean, unmodified opinion. "We are happy to report that it is a clean, unmodified opinion," Carson said, adding that the audit found the district's governmental funds to be in decent financial condition as of 06/30/2025.

Carson highlighted several fund results included in the audit packet: he read a general‑fund balance line showing, as reported in the audit, a figure presented in the meeting materials for 06/30/2025 (the auditor read it aloud during the presentation). He also cited improvements in the school food service fund (turning a prior loss into a year‑end improvement, driven largely by higher USDA reimbursements) and in the child care fund, and he noted one compliance finding (finding 25‑01) related to a child nutrition inventory item that had been keyed into the accounting system incorrectly and corrected by management.

The audit presentation emphasized internal controls and compliance testing. Carson told the board auditors saw no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and that the federal/state awards testing was near completion with no findings yet reported. "We do not see that everywhere," he said, thanking district staff for providing requested documentation during the audit.

In other business, Dr. Perkins presented results from the district's calendar feedback survey, which drew 1,392 responses. Perkins said roughly 75% of respondents favored "option 1," the calendar that schedules exams before the winter break. He reported that 805 of those responses came from parents (78.4% of parents favored option 1) and 587 from staff (about 71% of staff favored option 1). Perkins described the calendar committee's proposed adjustments based on that feedback: moving an annual leave day to Dec. 22, shifting a workday to Dec. 21 so the last student day would be Dec. 18, and moving one January workday to Sept. 28 to break up a long August–October run of uninterrupted classroom days. Perkins said he expects the calendar committee to vote on a recommendation and to bring it back to the full board for approval.

The presentations also included routine updates on district programs. Sherry Barnett, director of professional development, described multi‑layered PD this year — district‑led, content‑specific, and choice sessions — and highlighted an "engagement mini‑series" for secondary instructional coaches and a slow rollout of Canvas for grades 2–5. Doctor Corcoran summarized instructional support services, noting the district remains below recommended ratios for school psychologists and counselors and reporting expansion of student health centers and telehealth/teletherapy encounters; he said a ribbon cutting for expanded middle school health centers is planned for Feb. 16.

The board did not adopt a final calendar at the Jan. 13 meeting; Perkins said the calendar committee will review the adjustments and return with recommendations. The audit report and the materials presented at the meeting will be posted in the board packet and are available to the public.