At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Park County School District 1 Board of Trustees discussed the annual audit. The audit was completed by Porter, Muirhead, Corina and Howard, a certified public accounting firm out of Casper. The report was presented to the board by Cindy Kretzer of that firm. The meeting was held virtually, via Zoom for trustees, and streamed live on social media.

Kretzer started out by saying that most of the changes to the audit reflected plans made for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020, but could not be accomplished because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those plans included laptops that were ordered but not delivered because of a dry up of supply lines and a similar situation for school buses on order that could not be built because the production lines were halted to keep those workers safe from spreading the virus. There is still no firm delivery date on the buses, although the laptops are expected before Dec. 22, the beginning of Christmas break.

The audit carried a “fair” opinion, which is the best that can be issued. That opinion means the information is reported fairly in all material respects and meets general accounting principles applied to audits in the U.S.

Much discussion was centered on the district’s general fund. This year the report was on an accrual basis, which includes receivables and accruals, changing the cash reserve amount, where the report is generally based. The difference in the accounting methods means a cash reserve of $6.4 million was reported to Wyoming Department of Education, whereas there was actually $437,000 less on hand, with the difference being in anticipated funding not arriving by the closing date of the audit. State law holds cash reserves for districts at or below 15% of the budget.

Kretzer said the audit this year tested the Title 1 program. Trustee Kim Dillivan questioned Kretzer about the testing, which she said would probably be investigating child nutrition funds in the upcoming audit.

Testing involves going through programs to cover 20% of expenditures of federal funding. For example, one district might only have one or two programs tested annually, while smaller districts might have up to three of the largest budgets poked through to reach the 20% mark.

The testing also takes into account risk assessment, so a new program might face scrutiny to ensure the funding is being dispensed appropriately.

The testing examines expenditures for only the tested program, searching to determine whether the salaries paid are for teachers who are part of that program, if the expenses recorded are coded correctly, if the principal’s signature on the form is from a school where the program is executed and whether the reports are issued in a timely manner. The expenditures must be paid first, then the reimbursement made, and the test checks for that as well. Lastly, the procurement process must follow the procedures put in place by the district, taking bids and quotes properly.

Testing is applied to those districts that receive $750,000 or more in federal funding. At Park County School District 1,  Title 1 alone received $685,000 in the 2019-20 audit year

Further review of the general fund for the district, Kretzer said, showed that there were $28 million in deposits into that fund. The money comes largely from two sources: Federal funds make up 77% of the income, while property taxes account for the rest.

Expenses paid from that fund — 84% — include instruction and instructional support, in the form of teacher and staff salaries and equipment.

Kretzer said there was no money spent on debt service and very little on capital outlay, speaking well for the financial stability of the district.

The money goes toward the students, with about $15,000 spent on each student, up by $1,500 from the last fiscal year.

“These financial statements look great,” Kretzer said. “There is nothing out of the ordinary.”

Kretzer also said the reserve fund on hand was enough to keep the schools running for 84 days, a slight increase over the last audit.

“That’s much higher than many other schools,” Kretzer said. “Some are as low as two or three days of reserve.”