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Blue Ridge Unified accepts FY25 audit, reviews spending report as enrollment slips
Summary
The Blue Ridge Unified School District board accepted an unmodified FY25 audit and reviewed a spending report showing 1,573 students, a 21% district poverty rate (state 14%), a reported graduation rate of 89%, and a correction to a first‑year teacher salary figure. Board and staff flagged transportation reporting errors under review.
The Blue Ridge Unified School District board on Tuesday accepted the district’s FY25 audit and spent the bulk of a meeting reviewing state audit data and district spending patterns.
Ms. Hotmire, who presented the spending report, told the board the Auditor General’s statewide K–12 total for FY25 was $13.4 billion and reviewed comparisons between state averages, operational peer groups and Blue Ridge. "We received an unmodified opinion, which means we passed," she said, referring to the district’s financial, single and USFR compliance audits.
Why it matters: the board is weighing resource pressures as enrollment falls and operating costs shift. Ms. Hotmire said Blue Ridge’s student attendance for the report was 1,573 students, the district’s poverty rate is 21% versus 14% statewide, and the district’s graduation rate was shown at 89% compared with a 78% statewide figure on the slide deck.
The presentation flagged two items board members pressed on afterward. First, a reporting error in the district’s Annual Financial Report showed an incorrect first‑year teacher average salary ($31,777 on the slide); Ms. Hotmire said the figure should be $36,872 and that the district has opened an AFR revision with the Auditor General to correct the record. Second, transportation was reported as unusually high on the Auditor General’s page because of a discrepancy in route miles. "We are working right now with the Department of Education and their transportation department to rectify some of these miles," Ms. Hotmire said, and district staff are doing a deep dive into driver logs dating back to 2022.
Board members and administrators also discussed academic measures, including FY25 passing percentages in math, ELA and science. Ms. Hotmire said the district is roughly in line with its operational peer group but below statewide averages and emphasized ongoing work to identify contributing factors.
Financial detail noted in the presentation included roughly $370,000 in supplies spending in the prior year falling to about $238,000 in the current accounting pull, and total transportation spending trending down from approximately $1.2 million last year to about $900,000 at the time of reporting.
The board conducted a roll‑call vote to accept the audit and voted to approve it unanimously. Chair announced an upcoming public bond and override study session May 23 at 5:00 p.m. and reminded the public the next regular meeting is May 12 at 5:00 p.m.
The district said it will publish the corrected AFR and continue work with the Department of Education to resolve transportation reporting discrepancies; no further action was required at Tuesday’s meeting.
