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Orleans Parish audit finds single budget variance tied to late adjustments; auditors report improved controls
Summary
Auditors for the Orleans Parish School Board presented the fiscal year 2024-25 audit, reporting one repeat finding tied to a timing issue under Louisiana's budget law and no material weaknesses or identified fraud. Board and staff emphasized corrective actions, monthly school revenue updates and tools to improve projections.
Tiffany Dorsainvil, lead auditor from EisnerAmper, told the Orleans Parish School Board on April 20 that the firm issued an audit opinion on the district's fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, after completing its procedures and statewide agreed-upon engagements. The audit identified a single repeat finding related to the Louisiana budget law's 5% variance requirement, which the auditor described as the result of timing and late audit adjustments to the prior year rather than new operational mismanagement in 2024-25.
Why it matters: The finding relates to required budget amendments when revenues or expenditures vary from budgeted amounts by 5% or more. Auditors said the district's late posting of 2023-24 audit adjustments and a delayed prior-year audit led to a technical breach of the law; the firm emphasized the distinction between timing-driven variances and ongoing material weaknesses.
The auditor summarized key results: total net position remained relatively stable at about $1.75 billion, restricted net position increased (largely due to school facilities funding), and unrestricted fund balance declined in part because of transfers including charter distributions. Dorsainvil told board members, "We did not identify any potential or known fraud" and confirmed that federal program audit findings for the year were cleared. She also noted steps the district can take to address management-letter items in areas such as information-systems controls, segregation of duties for school cash collections, investment-policy limits and subrecipient audit routing.
Board discussion and district response: Board members pressed auditors on a $35 million distribution to charter schools and on the possibility of state monitoring. The auditors confirmed the charter distribution and reiterated that the 5% budget-act finding stemmed from the timing of audit adjustments, not from fraudulent activity or new material weaknesses. The district said it had reduced the number of findings from prior years (from multiple federal findings to none for federal programs) through corrective action and outside assistance.
CFO Naisha Veal and district leadership described new controls and reporting practices instituted after the prior-year projection error. Veal said the district now holds monthly meetings with schools, shares updated revenue estimates, and uses a PFM-created local revenue-estimating tool to provide more timely projections. She said the district took a conservative approach to school disbursements in 2024-25 to avoid creating repayment obligations for schools.
State-level follow-up: Board members referenced a letter from the Louisiana Department of Education noting additional monitoring could follow if fiscal risk persists. Auditors and district staff said they would cooperate with state inquiries; auditors limited their opinion to what was evidenced through June 30, 2025.
What comes next: Auditors flagged upcoming GASB changes that will affect the 2026 financial statements (including subscription-based IT assets and additional disclosure requirements). District leadership pledged to track progress on management-letter items and to provide status updates to the board as corrective actions proceed.
The board did not take formal action on the audit itself at the meeting; the discussion concluded with thanks to finance staff and auditors for their work.
