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.
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