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Auditor: Atlantic Comm School District earns clean opinions; auditors flag routine control and reporting items
Summary
Bergan KDV audit director Dustin Opitz told the district the 2024 and 2025 financial statements received unmodified opinions but identified a common internal-control weakness (segregation of duties), minor enrollment reporting issues and one certified-budget function overage of about $55,000.
Dustin Opitz, audit director with Bergan KDV, told the Atlantic Comm School District board that the district's 2024 and 2025 financial statements received unmodified opinions, the highest level of assurance an auditor provides.
"Both years we did give an unmodified opinion," Opitz said, adding that an unmodified opinion indicates the statements are "fairly presented, you know, in all material respects." The firm also performed single-audit testing of federal programs and reported no compliance or internal-control findings for the child nutrition program.
The presentation highlighted several routine findings the auditors said are common in small districts. Opitz described a material weakness tied to inadequate segregation of accounting duties driven by limited office staffing: "It's a very common finding that we give." He characterized the issue as an oversight item that increases board-level oversight obligations rather than evidence of fraud or misstatement.
Opitz also reported two material instances of noncompliance identified through state checklists: an enrollment reporting discrepancy and a single certified-budget function that exceeded its appropriation by approximately $50,000–$55,000. "On a $22 million budget, that one function was over budget by $55,000," he said, and called it "nothing concerning, but just something we're required to dig deeper on."
The audit review included operational and trend analysis. Opitz noted the district's regular program district cost per pupil rose modestly in recent years and enrollment increased roughly 113 students from 2021 to 2025, with only a small recent decline. General-fund revenues rose from 2023 to 2024 by about $954,000 but fell by roughly $801,000 from 2024 to 2025 as one-time federal COVID-era funding tapered off. Expenditures rose in 2024 and 2025 largely because of added instructional positions, salary adjustments and increased security and custodial costs.
Opitz drew attention to the unassigned general-fund balance, which increased to $4.6 million (about 23.7% of expenditures) in 2024 and decreased to just under $4 million (about 19.1%) in 2025. He advised the board that the school nutrition enterprise fund produced a small gain in 2024 and a small loss in 2025 as elevated COVID reimbursements normalized.
Board members asked whether formal acceptance of the audit requires a separate board action; staff said it does not obligate formal approval but the board could accept the report in a future meeting if it chooses. The district did not take a formal vote to accept the audit during the presentation.
The board received paper and electronic copies of the audit and was invited to contact the auditor with follow-up questions.
