Bogalusa board accepts clean audit; federal awards drop to about $7.8 million

Miss Baker presented the boards audit package and told members the district received a clean opinion with "no material weaknesses and no instances of noncompliance." She said the single audit, which reviews federal awards, found federal awards expended of about $7,800,000 this year compared with about $12,800,000 the prior year, reflecting the phaseout of ESSER/COVID funding.

Miss Baker also summarized the districts fiscal position: net position held steady, the district paid off a longstanding loan and had about $4,700,000 in cash on hand. She said total revenues were about $36,700,000 and total expenditures about $44,000,000, but noted $6,100,000 in debt-service payments inflated that expenditure figure and that, excluding debt service, expenditures decreased roughly $1,000,000 year over year. "We had a large amount of ESSER money the year before," she said, "and some COVID money that kinda inflated that normal funding. So we're kinda getting back to those normal levels of funding now."

After an opportunity for public comment (none offered), a board member moved to accept the audit report and the board voted in the affirmative. The board recorded no management letter was required this year and that agreed-upon procedures related to BESI showed no exceptions.

The acceptance of the audit closes the districts formal review for the 2025 fiscal year; officials said staff and auditors are available for follow-up questions.