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Auditors tell ABAC they’ll seek DOE guidance after State Auditor General presses district reporting on charter schools
Summary
Committee members reviewed audits for 60 charter schools and discussed a long-running professional disagreement with the State Auditor General over whether district‑sponsored charter schools must be reported as discretely presented component units; staff said the Auditor General referred technical questions to the Florida Department of Education and the district is awaiting FDOE guidance.
Chief Auditor John Goodman told the Audit and Budget Advisory Committee there was one finding in the federal single audit related to documentation supporting adjustments to the high‑school cohort graduation rate and that the district would work to reconcile state withdrawal codes with federal cohort documentation standards.
Goodman and audit staff also described a recurring professional disagreement with the State Auditor General over whether district‑sponsored charter schools should be reported as discretely presented component units on the district’s financial statements. The district and its external auditors contend charters are not component units and said the State Auditor General has taken the contrary position.
"The state auditor's position is that we should include our charter schools as what they call component units… Our position… is that charter schools are truly stand alone," Steiger said, describing the long‑running difference of interpretation.
Executive Audit Director Mike Hernandez presented audited financial statements for 60 of the district’s 160 charter schools and said 59 of the 60 had no significant fiscal issues; one school showed a deficit net position tied to decreased enrollment. Hernandez read a March 13 response from the State Auditor General’s office saying, in part, that the auditor general does not perform financial audits of charter schools and recommended contacting the Florida Department of Education for technical guidance.
"The auditor general does not perform the financial audits of the charter schools… we suggest that the district contact FDOE for further guidance," Hernandez said, reading the agency response to the committee.
Members asked whether that language implicitly questioned the district’s access to charter financial statements; some said the phrasing sounded legalistic and shifted responsibility to the Department of Education. Goodman and Hernandez told members the district had forwarded the inquiry to FDOE and is awaiting direction; for the 60 schools before the committee they recommended forwarding the audit results to the full school board so the matter can be closed for that set of schools.
The committee approved the presentation of the 60 charter-school audits by voice vote; members discussed recusal and abstentions where relationships with charter schools existed and noted staff would continue to seek the FDOE opinion before making broader reporting changes.
