A record number of D.C. public charter schools have asked for extensions on their annual financial audits this year, meaning it could take at least a month longer than usual to fully evaluate the schools’ economic situations, according to officials.
As required by law, charter schools have until Nov. 1 to submit extensive financial audits to the public charter school board, which then does its own financial analyses.
But Nona Richardson, spokeswoman for that board, told The Examiner that 17 of the 55 charters didn’t get their audits in by the deadline and have been granted 45-day extensions. Two other schools asked for extra time as well and are now waiting for a decision on their extension requests.
The audits are critical because they provide a more comprehensive examination of schools’ spending and savings than the monthly and quarterly reports schools submit to the board.
Often the audit findings will be the first indication to the charter board that a school is not financially viable, and could start the process of suspending or revoking its charter.
Richardson said in an e-mail to The Examiner that the two primary reasons schools asked for and were given more time were because accounting inefficiencies were identified or the schools didn’t receive certification documents from funders and public agencies about funding on time.
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