Schools

School District 2012 Audit Receives a 'Clean Bill of Health'

The Cherokee County School District's fiscal year 2012 audit is now online for the public to view and scrutinize.

The Cherokee County School District's fiscal year 2012 audit report has been given a "clean bill of health."

The district's fiscal year 2012 final audit report, which is now posted online under its Open Government Project section, remains unchanged from the "clean bill of health" status in a draft report given to the School Board, Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo and staff during its October work session.  

Christian Hatch of Williamson & Co. Certified Public Accounting firm said the district received what's called an "unqualified" opinion, which is the best opinion that can be given by the auditor. 

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Hatch also reviewed the findings of the fiscal year 2011 audit and observed four of the six findings had been "resolved" in fiscal year 2012. Changes to address the other two remaining findings were made during fiscal year 2013.

The district noted on Tuesday that none of the six findings "rose to the level of being 'qualified,' which means of significant concern." The fiscal year 2013 audit is expected to be completed in early 2014. 

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"Candler Howell, CCSD Assistant Superintendent for Financial Management, and his staff are focused on strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars," Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo said, noting the School District’s financial operations are highly transparent, with three years of annual budgets and independent audits, as well as monthly financial reports and other current and archive documents, all posted publicly in the Open Government Project section of the School District website. "The public can see how their tax dollars are being wisely used to fulfill our primary mission of teaching and learning."

The district's fiscal year audits have become a hot topic since District 1 Board Member Kelly Marlow earlier this year raised questions about the six findings on the 2011 audit. A website, Audit Cherokee, has recently been created and has a general list of questions that are critical of the district's practices. 

The district in October voted to ask Mauldin & Jenkins, the company that performed the audit, to discuss the audit and its findings with the board in January.

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