Dearest reader,
We have reached Step 5 for Jefferson Schools in Monroe County — the financial position and the audit.
First, the General Fund.
Jefferson ended 2024-25 with a General Fund balance of $6,103,817 after adding $159,694 during the year.
That puts the fund balance at approximately 28.34% of expenditures.
Looking ahead, General Fund appropriations increase from $21,413,541 in the 2025-26 final budget to $22,186,348 proposed for 2026-27 — an increase of $772,807, or 3.61%.
But there is another part of this Step 5 ledger worth reading.
The district's independent auditor reported:
🔴 2 material weaknesses
🟠 1 significant deficiency
The findings involved internal controls over cash receipts and bank reconciliations, federal award compliance involving major programs, and financial reporting/account reconciliations.
Those terms matter. A material weakness is an auditing classification involving a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control serious enough that there is a reasonable possibility a material misstatement would not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis.
A significant deficiency is less severe than a material weakness, but still important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance.
That does not mean Lady B gets to invent something the auditor did not say. It means the findings belong in the ledger alongside the healthy fund balance and the budget numbers.
Receipts aren't very useful if we only keep the convenient ones. 😉
And with that, Jefferson Schools Steps 1 through 5 are complete.
With receipts and respect. 👑📖
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