Gatesville ISD presents FIRST financial report, earns a perfect score

Miss Goodley presented the district's annual Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) report, explaining the program's 21 indicators and the four primary measures that trigger automatic failure if not met. She told the board the district earned full points on the first four indicators (timely submissions, unmodified audit opinion, compliance with debt terms and timely payments to governmental entities) and scored "meets or greater" on the remaining indicators, resulting in a perfect 100 score for the year and a "superior" achievement classification.

"The criteria is yes or no ... so those are the biggies," Goodley said, noting the district received maximum possible points across the indicators. She credited prior finance leadership for preparing the district and said the result reflects fiscal stewardship.

Board members congratulated staff for the report and acknowledged the work that went into meeting the reporting and accounting requirements. Goodley opened the floor for questions and did not receive substantive challenges to the report during the public hearing; the presentation fulfilled the required public-hearing step for the FIRST report.