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External auditors give Rialto Unified a clean opinion; bond oversight committee reports on Measures A and Y
Summary
External auditors presented the 2024 annual audit and said they issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district's financial statements, with one control deficiency noted for follow-up. The citizen bond oversight committee reported Measure A and Measure Y spending and said independent audits gave unmodified opinions for the bond funds.
External auditors reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on Rialto Unified School District's financial statements for the fiscal year presented, and the district's bond oversight committee presented annual reports on Measures A and Y at the March 11 board meeting.
Michelle Elusgrade, who presented the audit on behalf of the engagement team, told trustees that the auditors issued a "opinión no modificada" on the general-purpose financial statements and on the federal single-audit except for a limited compliance qualification tied to the program area described in the report. She said the audit identified one control deficiency that the firm classified as a reportable finding and that management had described corrective actions in the report. "We issued what is called an unmodified opinion," she said, noting that the auditors do not re-audit corrective actions but will review implementation in the following year.
The citizen bond oversight committee president, Michelle Train, presented the annual oversight report for Measures A and Y, summarizing projects funded by voter-approved bonds and showing supporting schedules and photographs of projects such as the Eisenhower high-school facilities. She told the board that independent audits for bond fund financial statements produced unmodified opinions and that auditors tested a high percentage of expenditures in the bond programs.
Why this matters: An unmodified auditor opinion typically signals that financial statements fairly present the district's financial position; taxpayers and bond oversight stakeholders watch these reports to confirm bond funds were spent as voters intended. The noted control deficiency and the auditor's explanation of follow-up work are relevant to the board's oversight responsibilities.
What to watch next: Auditors said they will re-evaluate management's corrective actions during the next audit cycle. Board members asked for pages and references the auditors cited (the audit report includes specific pages for the finding and for corrective-action descriptions). No board action was required on the audit or the bond oversight report; both were presented for review.
Attribution: Quotes and descriptions of the audit findings come from the auditor's presentation (Michelle Elusgrade) and from the bond oversight committee presentation (Michelle Train).
