Brainerd school auditors give clean opinion but flag weaknesses as superintendent warns of steep enrollment-driven budget pressure

The Brainerd Public School District board approved the district’s 2024–25 audit after auditors from CLA issued an unmodified (clean) opinion while identifying a material weakness in the preparation of financial statements and several significant deficiencies, including untimely bank reconciliations, inventory listing problems and repeated payroll reporting errors.

Becca Nielsen, manager on CLA’s audit team, told the board the firm performed a risk-based audit and did not identify unusual transactions, but said implementation of GASB 101 (compensated absences) required retroactive restatements of beginning balances and contributed to a delayed audit. The firm noted immaterial adjustments to inventory, food-service unearned revenue and accounts receivable, and recommended tighter controls over bank reconciliations and year‑end inventory processes. "We issued an unmodified or clean opinion on the financial statements," Nielsen said; she also flagged a recurring material weakness related to preparation of the…