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By Savanah Weed

The Troy City Schools Board of Education received “no findings” on its audit report for Fiscal Year 2021, according to Tyler Dunaway, a partner at the Carr, Riggs and Ingram accounting firm in Enterprise.

Zero audit findings is the highest opinion given, Dunaway told the board at Monday night’s meeting.

“This is a great testament to the team at (the) Central Office at how well of a job they’ve done. It’s also a testament to the school board,” Dunaway said. “It’s rare that a school board has no findings. You all did a great job. The financial statements present fairly in all material respects and accurate information.”

Compared to having one month’s operating funds in reserve in 2018, Troy City Schools now has four months of reserve funding.

“You’ve really moved forward with getting the school system in better financial shape. That’s a good indicator,” Dunaway said. “There is a lot of COVID funding that is non-recurring that is available during the year we’re looking at, but I’ve seen that you’ve been very targeted and thoughtful in how you spend that money. Either way, it’s a good testament to the school board that the reserve has built up from where it was in 2018.”

Like the majority of schools across Alabama and the nation, the system spent over $750,000 in federal funds, triggering a separate, single audit, which is a compliance audit over certain programs. This year, the Title I program and the Education Stabilization funds were inspected, and the result was no findings.

“I’m very happy with the findings Mr. Dunaway presented today,” said Superintendent Cynthia Thomas. “It’s a testament to all of us working together to make this happen.”

During her superintendent’s report, Thomas welcomed students back to school on Aug. 9.

“We’re very excited for the upcoming school year and some new things we’ll be able to offer our students to help prepare them for their path going forward,” she said. “We’re happy to have them back in the building to make sure they’re successful when they leave us.”

In other business:

• The Fiscal Year 2023 salary matrix was approved.
• The purchase of a cargo van for the technology department was approved. One bid was received from Ed Sherling Ford in Enterprise in the amount of $34,000.
• A bid from CCS Technology Center for fiber optic cable replacement at Troy Elementary School was accepted. The low bid was $31,432.
• The board approved a policy that would allow parents/guardians to opt-in for mental health services for students 14 and under. Thomas said this waiver does not apply to students with specialized care plans.