District audit returns clean opinion but shows $4.3 million gap as enrollment falls

The district’s independent auditors reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on the Lapeer Community School District’s basic financial statements at Tuesday’s board meeting, but they also outlined fiscal pressures tied to lower enrollment and higher personnel costs.

Donna Hanson and Madeline Coy of the district’s auditor (transcribed as Van Moran, PLLC) told the board that the federal compliance supplement, recently released, is delaying finalization of the single audit but that the work performed to date supports an unmodified opinion. Hanson said auditors tested the child nutrition cluster and found no findings or questioned costs.

Auditors presented summary figures to the board: total revenue was described in the presentation as about $59,000,000 and total expenditures were presented at approximately $63,200,000, producing an approximate deficit of $4,300,000 for the year and a year‑over‑year decline in fund balance. Hanson attributed the revenue pressure in part to declining student counts and noted related state funding effects; she also referenced adoption of a new governmental accounting standard affecting how compensated absences such as sick and vacation days are reported.

Board members thanked auditors and district staff for the clean opinion. The superintendent warned that although the audit was clean, projected budget pressures mean district leadership is reviewing programming and that some reductions — including schedule and calendar changes — could appear in upcoming budget discussions.

The board asked staff to continue monitoring the single‑audit completion and to return to the board with budget implications as state budget detail and enrollment forecasts are refined.