AVUHSD gets good news on finances

LANCASTER — Antelope Valley Union High School District received a favorable review on its annual state-mandated financial audit for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which outside auditors assigned an “unmodified” or clean opinion.

Auditing firm EideBailly conducted the audit remotely to protect the firm’s and the district’s employees during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The highest level of assurance that the audit can provide is an unmodified opinion,” Royce Townsend, a partner at EideBailly, said during a presentation at the April 21 Board of Education meeting.

Townsend directed the Board to page 87 of the 114page audit report, which shows a schedule of financial trends and analysis, such as whether the District is projected to deficit spend.

“For the past few years, I identified that only one of the past few years did you deficit spend, which is what you want to hear,” Townsend said. “However, you are projected to deficit spend in the current year.”

Townsend cited one positive trend for the District in relation to districts statewide — an increase in average daily attendance.

The District’s average daily attended increased by 1,083 over the past two years. An additional increase of 38 average daily attendance is projected for the current fiscal year.

“It does obviously suggest that there would be more revenue in the future but it also means there would be more cost with that,” he said.

Townsend added that the District’s available reserves

remain static.

“In an environment where you had fiscal impacts as a result of the pandemic, that’s certainly where you want to be,” he said.

The audit report noted opportunities to strengthen internal controls and operating efficiency in regard to the Associated Student Body at Antelope Valley, Palmdale, Quartz Hill, and R. Rex Parris high schools, and SOAR Preparatory Academy.