The Northumberland County forensic audit is now complete and YOU are to thank.  Over several years you raised concerns to the Board of Supervisors on school board finances and spending.  The Board of Supervisors acted on these concerns in December 2023 by voting to conduct a forensic audit on all County finances.  The preliminary results which were released in June 2024  HERE identified several areas of concern that needed further review.  The final audit was released on January 13, 2025 and is available HERE. The auditors identified several concerning issues that echo what you have been saying all along.  Of particular interest related to the school division are:

a. The School Board and school leadership are not maintaining appropriate documentation on finances, personnel, payroll and more. The auditors had to “limit the scope of our audit tests designed to identify fraud, waste, and abuse of funds,” (p. 4).  Among the documents missing are receipts, authorizations for payments, completed background information, and contracts. 

b. The School Board and school leadership are not providing the public or the Board of Supervisors with complete information of all budget activity (p. 8),”

c. The School Board and school leadership spent more than authorized by category in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 (see of Code of Virginia Chapter 8 §22.1).

The Board of Supervisors has called a special meeting on January 23, 2025 at 5:30 pm for a presentation by UHY to discuss their audit findings.  The meeting information is found on the county website HERE. 

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this informative meeting.  It is anticipated that public comments will be welcomed after the formal presentation.