Talawanda BOE 2025 audit report complete

The Talawanda School District’s audit report for fiscal year 2025, came back clean once again, Talawanda Board of Education member Pat Meade pointed out during a meeting on April 16.

Board members also discussed legislative updates, an award granted to Marshall Elementary School and a contract for new playground equipment.

The findings of the Ohio Auditor of State have been made publicly available on the school district’s website under “departments,” “treasurer/finance” and “finance reports.”

According to the report, “In our opinion, Talawanda School District complied, in all material respects, with the compliance requirements referred to above that could have a direct and material effect on each of its major federal programs for the year ended June 30, 2025.”

The summary of the auditor’s results also shows no deficiencies, weaknesses or material noncompliance among the categories measured by the Ohio Auditor of State.

As financial liaison, Meade said every year the state audits every school in the district to ensure the district’s financial department is following the Ohio Revised Code generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), as well as another higher standard of accounting.

To complete the report, Meade said the state reviews payroll, retirement, purchase orders, expenditures, incoming revenue, inventory, financial policies and meeting agendas, among other documentation. 

“They check a tremendous amount of stuff to make sure our financial department is doing things above board and correctly,” Meade said. “And of course, for probably at least the last 10 years and longer, there were no significant findings of recovery.” 

Meade added a finding of recovery could mean overpaying a staff member, for example.

According to Meade, the office of the Ohio Auditor of State sent a letter to board members suggesting they develop a different inventory system, as it took awhile to sift through. But Meade said the software needed to make this easier would be expensive for the school district.

“We also undergo other audits from the year, like the Medicare audit, a school nutrition audit, and they audit all our federal grants,” Meade said. “And so all these things come back, showing that our finance department is doing an exemplary job.”

Talawanda Treasurer Shaunna Tafelski said during the meeting, “Whether it be the Ohio auditors or whether it’s an independent contractor, they are charged with the duty of verifying that public funds are spent appropriately and lawfully within each entity. And (I’m) very proud to say that Talawanda has had excellent audits over the years, even with my predecessor and predecessor prior to him.”

Legislative report

Board member Matt Wyatt gave a legislative update on bills that may affect Ohio schools, including the introduction of Ohio House Bill 671, which would, if passed, withhold state foundation funding for school districts that are members of the lawsuit concerning the EdChoice Scholarship Program. 

EdChoice, the state’s school voucher program, was previously ruled unconstitutional by a judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, according to reporting by the Statehouse News Bureau, and is currently in the appellate court stage.

Wyatt also spoke about Ohio Senate Bill 113 (SB 113), which would, if passed, prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in public schools.

This bill would include prohibiting orientation or training courses regarding DEI; using DEI in offices or departments; establishing new DEI offices or departments; using DEI in job descriptions; contracting with consultants whose role is to promote admissions or hiring on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex or other criteria; or replacing any orientation, job, training office or position designated for DEI with another that serves the same purpose under a different name.

Wyatt said the “vagueness” of what DEI is defined as in SB 113 is a “pretty big concern.”

Ohio House Bill 42 was also introduced, which would, if passed, require school districts to report the immigration status of students who are not U.S. citizens.

Ohio House Bill  314 was introduced, which would, if passed, allow school districts and other public offices to seek a court order to limit block records requests that are “harassing” or “disruptive,” although journalists and attorneys would be exempt.

Last year, Talawanda saw a 900% increase in expenses related to fulfilling public records requests.

The Ohio General Assembly will meet again on May 13.

Other business 

Board member Dawn King said Marshall Elementary School received the Momentum Award from the Ohio Department of Education for its 2024-2025 academic year state report card. 

King said the award recognizes schools that improve their performance by three or more points from the previous year while also having a value-added rating of four or more stars.

The board awarded a $140,747 contract for new playground equipment and installation at the Talawanda Middle School playground to Recreation Insites LLC.

The board also approved a contract with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department for a school resource officer at Bogan and Marshall elementary schools for the 2026-2027 school year.

The last day of school for students is May 21, which is also the date of the graduation ceremony for seniors from 6:30-8 p.m. The last day for pre-K students at Bogan Elementary School is May 18.

The last three days of school, May 19 through May 21, will be early release days. A schedule of release times is available at talawanda.org. 

The board will meet again on May 14.