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Audit finds RSU 18 financial statements receive clean opinion; single-audit flags two federal compliance issues
Summary
RKO auditor Jennifer Connors told the RSU 18 board the fiscal 2025 financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion; the single audit found two compliance issues in the special education federal cluster—an allowable-costs timing error on a multi-year software purchase and undocumented vendor suspension/debarment checks.
Jennifer Connors, the RKO auditor who led RSU 18’s fiscal 2025 audit, told the school board the work "went really smoothly" and that the district’s financial statements received an unmodified opinion, commonly called a clean opinion.
Connors said the audit included testing of internal controls and compliance work required under government auditing standards and the Uniform Guidance for federal grants. "Typically, if we do find something as a result of our testing, we will report those as findings," she said, explaining the difference between a material weakness, a significant deficiency and routine recommendations.
On federal grant testing – the single audit required because RSU 18 spends more than $750,000 in federal awards – Connors said the school nutrition cluster had no findings but the special education cluster produced two compliance findings. The first related to allowable costs: a five‑year software purchase was included in fiscal‑year reimbursements even though part of the expenditure was for future use, which the auditor said is not allowable under the guidance. The second finding involved procurement suspension and debarment checks: the district performed online verifications but did not retain documentation of those checks, so the auditor reported the absence of documented evidence as a compliance finding.
Connors emphasized there were no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies identified. "We did have 1 minor recommendation included in there, but we usually do," she said, characterizing the report overall as clean. The board and administration discussed the findings and noted the procurement verification procedure is in place and needs better documentation moving forward.
The audit presentation closed with a reminder that the single-audit findings require corrective steps and documentation; the administration said it would follow up with details and adjustments to internal records and processes.
Ending: The audit report dated Jan. 12 will be included in RSU 18’s packets and the administration said it will provide corrective-action steps and documentation to the board in follow-up materials.
