Bangor Township Schools - Audit & Budget

[Shadowninja]

Dearest reader,

We've followed Bangor Township Schools through enrollment, staffing, compensation and the check register.

Now for Step 5: the audit and the budget.

And this is where the picture gets interesting.

Bangor's 2025 audit was clean: an unmodified opinion, no material weaknesses and no reportable noncompliance. Prior FY2023 findings were also reported as corrected.

The district's amended 2025–26 General Fund budget projects:

$36,578,081 in revenue
$36,509,345 in expenditures
$68,736 surplus
$7,668,587 ending fund balance
21.00% fund balance

So this is not a story about a district staring at an empty bank account.

But look at where some of the spending is moving.

Executive Administration:
$599,749 → $975,149
Up 62.59%

Central Services:
$1,170,245 → $1,752,597
Up 49.76%

Basic Programs: +6.80%

Operations & Maintenance: −28.32%

That is the part of a budget I find worth examining.

A clean audit tells us whether the financial statements fairly present the district's finances and whether auditors identified certain problems.

It does not tell taxpayers whether they agree with the priorities reflected in the budget.

Those are two very different questions.

And after five steps through Bangor's numbers, I think we have some very specific rabbit holes worth following next. 🐇

With receipts and respect.

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