DeKalb County, GA — For the second time in two months, the DeKalb School Board is considering a large contract to audit how the school district spends money.

The DeKalb County School Board, during its Nov. 14 meeting, approved a contract for an audit of how the district spent its COVID-19 relief money.

The school board awarded an $877,000 contract to FORVIS, LLC for the audit. At its meeting scheduled for Dec. 12, the school board will consider awarding a $761,000 contract to Plante Moran, PLLC to audit how the district is spending special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) money.

“The DeKalb County School District has determined that a comprehensive financial audit of DCSD E-SPLOST IV and E-SPLOST V spending, to include all spending areas, shall be conducted by an outside, third party firm in order to provide assurance to DCSD stakeholders of the District’s compliance with state and local law and that all expenditures of E-SPLOST IV and E-SPLOST V funds by the District conform to the rules and guidelines of the Program,” the Dec. 12 meeting agenda says.

If the school board approves that contract, it will have agreed to spend $1.6 million to do investigate its expenditures. The SPLOST audit will examine all construction, renovation and infrastructure projects funded with sales tax money.

While the cost of the audits have been confusing to some observers, school board members say the cost is justified.

During a recent school board audit committee meeting, school board member Anna Hill explained that the price tag for the audits reflects a process that will be more comprehensive than routine audits governments pay for every year.

During a traditional audit, teams test for weaknesses using transaction samples. The audits the school board is paying for will be a deep dive into the district’s spending. The audit is also likely to produce a report similar to the one that will detail how the district spent its COVID-19 relief money.

The School Board’s Dec. 12 meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. To see an agenda, click here. The meeting will also be live-streamed. To view the live stream, click here.

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