Duplin County Schools board hears clean audit, swears in new superintendent and approves school plans

Chairman Davis opened the Duplin County Board of Education's Nov. 6 business session and introduced sixth-grader Chasen McLamb of Kingsville Elementary to lead an invocation before the board moved to formal business.

The board then administered the oath to its newly appointed superintendent; the appointee thanked the board and said he was "humbled and honored" for the opportunity to serve. (The meeting transcript contains inconsistent spellings for the superintendent's name.)

The board received a presentation of the district's independent fiscal audit for 2024-25 from Adam Shapurick of Anderson Smith and White. Shapurick said the audit is being presented as a draft because federal compliance supplements that guide testing for Title I, exceptional children services and child nutrition remain in flux; he told the board the numbers themselves are final pending only a date change when supplements are issued.

"We believe that these financial statements accurately reflect the net position and the fund balance of Duplin County Schools as of 06/30/2025 and for the year that ended," Adam Shapurick said during the presentation. He walked members through the exhibits, reporting a general fund balance of about $6,396,000 (an increase of roughly $10,000 from the prior year) and county appropriations of approximately $10,500,000. Shapurick said the district received roughly $81,300,000 from the state public school fund and nearly $16,000,000 in federal grants in the audited year; about $7.33 million of that was education stabilization (COVID-era) money that expired on Dec. 31, 2024.

Shapurick also highlighted the district's child nutrition fund: the audit shows roughly $6,400,000 in school nutrition cash on hand and federal reimbursements of about $6,663,000. He told the board the nutrition program produced a net increase in cash of about $266,150 for the year and emphasized that those funds are restricted for child nutrition purposes and cannot be used for general operations.

Board members praised finance staff and the auditor for the report. Chairman Davis and others noted that, while many districts are drawing down fund balances as COVID-era funding has ended, Duplin County Schools is entering the year with a positive cash position that gives the district flexibility for planned work.

Following the audit presentation the board handled routine business: it approved the consent agenda, moved into and returned from an executive session addressing personnel, attorney-client matters and school safety planning, and then approved the superintendent's personnel recommendations. The board also approved the district's 2025-26 school improvement plans by voice vote.

In his superintendent's report the new superintendent reminded members that an agricultural awareness day is scheduled for schools the next day and that schools will be closed next Tuesday for Veterans Day. With no further business, the board adjourned.

What happens next: the auditor will issue final statements after required federal supplements are released and the Local Government Commission accepts the submission; the board will implement personnel and improvement-plan actions approved in open session.