On Tuesday, North Carolina’s Local Government Commission (LGC) voted in favor of a resolution requiring an outside audit firm to conduct an internal controls audit of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System.
An audit from State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office revealed a $46 million budget deficit for FY 2025. It also showed the school system handed out $75 million in bonuses during the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, and 350 positions were eliminated.
The audit also flagged multiple practices on the part of WS/FCS, including the use of temporary federal COVID-19 funds for ongoing salary obligations, approving purchase orders without sufficient budgetary authority, delayed account reconciliations, and the improper use of “suspense accounts” — temporary holding accounts that auditors found contained more than $332 million at one point and lacked clear tracking…