UPDATE: LPSS Superintendent Francis Touchet issued the following statement on this issue:
“We began sending the final draft of our audit to Kolder Slaven & Company, the independent auditor for LPSB, a month ago and have responded quickly and fully to every request since. We’ve done everything asked of us to move this process forward.
In October 2025, the School Board put the audit out for bid to ensure we weren’t overpaying for those services. In the current fiscal year alone, we have been billed nearly $650,000 by Kolder Slaven. The firms that did submit proposals all came in at or under approximately $200,000 for the scope of services necessary to perform an audit, saving the school district roughly a half million dollars annually.
The School Board chose EisnerAmper who will conduct the audit from their Lafayette offices.
Given that, the continued back-and-forth raises real concerns about objectivity. Still, we’ve met every requirement and will continue working to get the audit finalized and submitted to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
Additionally, any stories written prior to the release of the official report from the LLA does not present a complete or accurate picture to the public. Sharing partial information in this way is irresponsible. ”
Here's our original story:
The Lafayette Parish School Board may lose access to state funding after missing the March 31 deadline to file its annual audit with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office, The Current is reporting.
“As of today, our office has not received the School Board’s 2025 audit report, and no extension beyond March 31 has been granted,” Chris Province, manager of the LLA’s local government services division, told The Current via email Monday morning. “As a result, the School Board will be placed on the noncompliance list, and state funds may be withheld until the report is submitted.”
The Current reported last week that the Lafayette school district’s previous auditors could not determine the financial condition of the system for 2025, likely because records were incomplete or couldn’t be verified.
The disclaimer of opinion was issued by longtime auditor Kolder, Slaven & Company, which LPSB used for more than 30 years before switching this year, citing a need to cut costs. The Lafayette-based firm had previously pointed out public bid law violations in LPSB’s 2024 audit.
The school board’s fiscal year ends June 30.
Disclaimers are rare for a public school system in Louisiana, the newspaper reports.
Generally speaking, a disclaimer of opinion “means basically that they were unable to audit,” Judith Dettwiller, the LLA’s director of local government services, told The Current in a March 24 interview.
School districts across the state were given until March 31 to submit their audits after a delay by the federal government, Dettwiller said.
Still, LPSB missed the deadline, which school system spokeswoman Tracy Wirtz had assured The Current the system would meet. “We are abiding by all mandatory deadlines,” she wrote in a March 30 email.
To read the whole story, click here.
