County school system gets favorable audit

Published 7:20 pm Friday, July 24, 2009

An audit of the Chilton County Board of Education for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2007 and ending Sept. 30, 2008 came back positive.

The state’s Department of Examiners of Public Accounts found no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the areas of financial reporting and major programs for the stated fiscal year.

“Basically, we had a good audit with hardly any findings or questions,” Steve Yeargan, the board’s chief financial officer, said Friday.

The annual audit examines the board’s internal controls to see that everyone is following guidelines and keeping up with paperwork. It also looks closely at the use of federal, state and local dollars.

Yeargan said principals appear to be doing well to back up each school’s faculty and staff, and teachers are working with bookkeepers to turn in receipts from school fundraisers.

While no deficiencies were found, the department did emphasize the importance of pre-numbering tickets for athletic events to make sure all money is collected.

It also emphasized the updating of paperwork for fee money.

“In our opinion, the Chilton County Board of Education complied, in all material respects, with the requirements…that are applicable to each of its major federal programs for the year ended Sept. 30, 2008,” the department’s official report stated.