By Tom Blodgett
Mail |
X: @sp_blodgett

Gilbert Public Schools received a clean audit of five federal funds for fiscal year 2022-23. 

Jennifer Shields of auditor Heinfeld, Meech & Co. reported to the GPS governing board Jan. 30 no significant deficiencies nor material weaknesses in the district’s handling of the funds.  

Typically, the annual “single audit report” covers two federal funds, but this year it did five: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title I, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, and coronavirus state and local recovery funds. 

Shields also praised district leadership for their cooperation with the audit. 

The board unanimously approved the audit report’s draft on a 5-0 roll-call vote with Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz noting that if any changes occur beyond typographical errors for the final report, it will come back to the board. 

Betz also presented the annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal year 2022-23, which she called the most significant financial report of each year. 

Among the findings shown in the report:  

The district’s net position increased by $32.78 million, which Betz said reflects positively on the organization; 

The fund balance was $208.14 million, down from $213.93 million due to some policy changes and assignment of some funds; 

The district spent 57% of its funds on instruction, a figure likely to closely resemble what the Arizona Auditor General’s Report will show later this spring, Betz said; 

The district’s net financial position has trended toward improvement over the past 10 years;  

The district’s overall tax rate has continued to fall over those 10 years; 

The district’s full-time equivalencies over the past four years show supervisory positions, instructional positions, support and administrative positions to be down slightly, though mostly stable, while the number of student services positions has grown slightly as the district has funded more social workers. 

The report is available to the public online on the district’s website, Betz said. 

The board unanimously approved the report on a roll-call vote. 

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).