Auditors give Oak Park–River Forest District 200 a clean FY25 audit; recommend IT awareness conversation

Auditors from Lauterbach presented the Oak Park–River Forest School District 200 FY25 audit at the Community Finance Committee meeting on Jan. 20, stating the district received an unmodified (clean) opinion and a 4-star ISBE financial profile. McKay Ford, audit principal, said the result reflects staff preparation and the district’s financial position: “Once again, it was a very successful clean audit overall,” Ford said, singling out Tony and Brian for assistance.

The auditors walked through the annual comprehensive financial report and explained the state profile methodology, which scores districts across several metrics including days cash on hand, revenue-to-expense trends and debt. Ford said the district received the highest profile score under the ISBE algorithm. Committee members asked about wording; one member noted the cover memo refers to an “unqualified” opinion while the auditors used “unmodified.” Ford said the terms are effectively synonymous under different reporting frameworks and recommended the cover memo include both terms for clarity.

The auditors flagged several informational and best-practice recommendations in the management letter but reported no operational deficiencies. A recurring recommendation is heightened IT awareness: Ford described growing external cyber risks (email impersonation and other forms of fraud) and urged the committee and administration to discuss vendor evaluations, disaster recovery planning and whether procurement documents should include cybersecurity expectations. “With AI and technology changing, it’s now more external outside factors that provide the highest risk,” Ford said.

The packet also notes GASB standard changes that will alter the presentation of management’s discussion and analysis and capital-asset disclosures; auditors said these changes primarily increase auditor work and will require coordination with district staff. The auditors reported two prior-year recommendations were implemented (revisions to the capital asset policy and certain purchase/check procedures) and identified a debt certificate issued in FY25 in the long-term debt schedules.

Committee members requested a copy of the revised capital asset policy and asked staff to add clarifying language about where an “unmodified/unqualified” audit opinion appears in the report for board use. The committee also discussed how the district recognizes property-tax receivables (recording 50% of the levy as receivable and deferring the remainder), the district’s fund-balance policy (cited in discussion as a 25%–80% policy) and whether normalizing fund balance could affect future ISBE scores. Auditors and staff said ISBE scoring is weighted; a lower days-cash metric alone may not lower the overall recognition if the district’s composite profile remains above the recognition threshold.

The committee thanked the audit team; the auditors left after the presentation. Next steps: administration to circulate the capital asset policy copy and the audit cover memo will clarify opinion language for the board meeting.