(The Center Square) – The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system welcomes help from the state of North Carolina as it works to improves its trouble financial situation, a school system spokeswoman told The Center Square.
The school district, the state’s fourth largest and among the nation’s 100 most populous, still owes the state $3.4 million for spending more state funds than were allotted. The state board approved a repayment plan last week. The system’s total unpaid debts are around $38 million, spokeswoman Amanda Lehmert told The Center Square.
“We still have about $15 million that is still owed to three large vendors of the school district,” she said.
The state school board last week voted to review the internal financial controls after a recent state auditor’s report uncovered mismanagement. A state board resolution calls for the hiring of a separate independent auditor to review the school systems finances and safeguards.
“We are working to ensure that we have sound financial practices going forward,” Lehmert said. “It’s very important for the district to work to rebuild the trust of our community and show good stewardship of public dollars. If this what the state board and auditor needs, then we are going to do that.”
According to the state auditor’s report issued last month, bonuses of $75 million over two fiscal years – 2022, 2023 – awarded by the school system contributed to an estimated $46 million budget deficit.
The school system now has a new superintendent and chief financial officer as it seeks to restore its financial health, Lehmert said.
The problems were a result of a more than a decade of “long-standing systemic inefficiencies and lack of controls,” the new superintendent, Catty Moore, said in a statement last month.
“Without the federal pandemic-relief funds, there is every indication we would have been in this spot five years ago,” Moore said.
However, she stressed that “there was no fraud or misappropriation.”
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All of the money was spent on educational services.
“We simply did not have enough revenue to match these expenses,” the superintendent said.
