Audit finds widespread procedural exceptions in Knox County Schools’ internal funds; district and auditors point to staffing and process fixes

Ted, the auditor leading the internal‑school‑funds review, told the Knox County Audit Committee that auditors examined cash receipts and disbursements across more than 90 schools and found a mix of recurring compliance exceptions and areas of improvement. "The combined cash of all 90 plus schools in Knox County was $18,654,004.48," Ted said, and total school‑level receipts were about $27.5 million with disbursements near $25.8 million.

The audit is performed on Tennessee’s regulatory basis of accounting, Ted said, which requires an adverse opinion under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles but an unmodified opinion on the state regulatory basis; committee members were advised to read the opinion language in the report. Auditors flagged 12 finding areas overall and walked the committee through the most common problems.

Most frequently cited was segregation of duties: auditors identified 49 schools with segregation‑of‑duties issues this year, up from 44 the prior…