NCDPI notifies district of virtual audit after exceeding '1%' threshold; superintendent warns payroll software issues and potential teacher pay impacts

Superintendent Wesley Johnson informed the Board of Education on Aug. 20 that the district received a memo from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) notifying the district of a virtual audit related to an "extend 1" threshold. The memo covers a desk review scheduled Aug. 18–Sept. 12, Johnson said, and the district will be notified of any findings or corrective actions following the audit. He credited Miss Pope and her staff for identifying and placing students properly.

Johnson also briefed the board on payroll and legislative matters. He said federal funds that had been frozen were restored about a month prior, and that a recent mini‑budget provided step raises for teachers while health insurance premium increases may reduce take‑home pay for many staff when new premiums take effect Jan. 1; "Most of our teachers, if something is not done between now and January 1, they'll actually have less in their paychecks than they did at this time last year," Johnson said.

Separately, Johnson described recurring payroll processing issues linked to the Link payroll software used by many North Carolina districts; he said Link is the source of most payroll problems and outlined four examples of recent issues (confidential). He asked the board to be aware and to show urgency and empathy to employees affected by pay errors.

The board did not vote on audit matters or payroll actions at the meeting; these items were presented as informational and staff said they will follow up with documents and any corrective actions resulting from the NCDPI desk review.