The Mississippi Department of Education gives lots of reasons as to why a third of the school districts in the state are behind on their annual financial audits.
According to MDE, the accountability first got off track in 2011 when the State Auditor’s Office had a staffing shortage and fell behind in reviewing the audits, which are performed by private accounting firms hired by the school districts. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed everything down again. Plus, there are fewer accounting firms doing this type of work.
Although those sound like valid excuses, these factors would have been true statewide, but still two-thirds of the districts are caught up on their audits. How were they able to stay current?
Maybe the districts that are behind didn’t make the audits a priority because MDE hadn’t made them a priority either until one of the laggards, the Okolona Municipal Separate School District, dropped the bombshell two months ago that it was broke and would soon not be able to make payroll. That district hadn’t had a financial audit performed since 2021.
The state has now taken over that district, loaned it $1.5 million in emergency funding, cut staff and consolidated two schools.
To stave off further surprises, the state board that oversees MDE wants it to crack down on the late audits. The board is considering a tiered disciplinary process that could ultimately result in a suspension of state funding to a district until its audits are caught up.
Something needs to be done.
A financial audit is a critical piece of information in the operation of any organization, especially one funded by taxpayers. If audits get behind, those who are running or overseeing the organization may know its cash balance is shrinking, but they may not know why.
Okolona’s financial crisis is a warning. Enough with the excuses. Get the audits caught up statewide and do it quickly.
