South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Mehlville School District receives clean 2021 audit

School districts must audit finances per DESE rules

The Mehlville School District received a clean audit of its finances for the 2021 fiscal year. 

Certified Public Accountants Daniel Jones & Associates presented the audit report at the Dec. 16 Board of Education meeting. School districts are required to have an audit performed every year per guidelines from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. To receive funding from DESE, districts must have a favorable audit report. 

The audit is broken into three main parts: financial statements, state requirements and federal awards. The district’s financial statements received an “unmodified opinion,” which is the highest opinion a district can receive, according to Daniel Jones & Associates Senior Auditor Derek Gokin. 

“That means there was a clean audit and that everything was presented fairly in all material respects,” Gokin said.

The audit of state requirements found that the district was in compliance with all state, transportation, budget and other statutory requirements. 

For federal awards, because the district expended more than $750,000, the money was subject to an audit. Title 1 expenses, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security funds and Education Stabilization funds were tested and received an unmodified opinion from the auditors.

“Everything went very well, very smooth. It was a clean audit,” Gokin said. 

The board unanimously accepted the audit as presented. 

“All good news,” Board President Kevin Schartner said. 

The school district has the second-lowest blended tax rate out of all the 22 school districts in St. Louis County and in the 2019-2020 school year, it had the third-lowest amount of spending per student at $9,592. 

More to Discover