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Auditors give Bladen County Schools a clean opinion but warn of shrinking local reserves
Summary
External auditors issued an unmodified ("clean") opinion on the district's 2024-25 financial statements but warned that the district has used substantial local fund balance and faces rising liabilities and pressures as COVID-era federal funds expire.
Auditors presented the Bladen County Board of Education with a draft, unmodified opinion on the district's 2024-25 financial statements and walked trustees through the numbers, but they warned the district is drawing down local reserves and must plan for rising liabilities.
"This is what's considered a clean, unmodified opinion," the auditor said while reviewing the opinion letter and the government-wide statements. He told the board the audit is being held open as a draft while the federal compliance supplements are finalized; once those supplements are issued the audit will be redated and resubmitted to the Local Government Commission.
Why it matters: the audit separates "fund balance" (what the district can appropriate now) from government-wide net position (which includes long-term liabilities). The auditor said the district's general fund had about $1,115,000 on hand and the other special revenue fund about $1,947,000, and that the district used roughly $2.5 million of local fund balance during the fiscal year. At the government-wide level, the auditor cited approximately $82 million of long-term liabilities that include annual leave, sick-leave valuation under GASB 101, and pension/OPEB obligations.
What auditors emphasized: the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's GASB 101 requires valuing sick leave as a government-wide liability; this change affects presentation on the government-wide statement but does not change fund-balance amounts the district can appropriate. The auditor also reviewed the single-audit compliance letters and reported no questioned costs for the major federal and state programs tested.
Key numbers and trends noted by the auditor: - State public-school funding remains the district's largest revenue source (~$36.6 million). - Federal grants have dropped from pandemic-era levels; the auditor said federal revenue this year is about $7 million and that one-time COVID-era pots used in 2024 have expired. - The auditor called attention to the district's use of local fund balance (roughly $2.5 million consumed over the year) and said if spending patterns continue the district will face more difficult choices in 2026-27.
Board action and next steps: the auditor said the draft will be updated and reissued once federal compliance supplements are finalized; he offered to meet individually with trustees to review line items. The district will continue monitoring fund-balance trends and discuss fiscal options with the board and county officials.
Sources: Presentation and statements by the district's external auditor to the Bladen County Board of Education during the Oct. 13 meeting.
