Zero-zero audit status achieved for third consecutive year at Detroit Public Schools Community District.
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Normalizing its strong fiscal systems and processes through sustained balanced budgets, Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) earned another “zero-zero” independent financial audit, meaning the review yielded zero audit findings and zero dollars in questioned costs for the 2021-22 school year.
The zero-zero audit findings for the 2021-22 school year marks the third consecutive year that DPSCD, the state’s largest public-school district, achieved zero-zero audit finding status. Since the 2019-20 school year, the zero-zero audits demonstrate the continued commitment to responsible stewardship led by a locally elected school board and appointed reform superintendent.
“I commend our Board, Dr. Vitti, our CFO, the Finance Committee, along with the Finance team for their continued work in executing our priority of responsible stewardship,” said Sonya Mays, Board Treasurer, Detroit Public Schools Community District. “Whether we are responding to ongoing challenges related to the pandemic or managing additional funding through COVID Relief dollars, we continue to manage and thoughtfully deploy our resources responsibly. Our goal is to now translate our responsible stewardship to accelerated reform to improve student achievement.”
Other signs of DPSCD’s solid financial controls are the continued maintenance of the Rainy-Day Fund as well as allocated one-time funding for $700 million in capital funding to address outstanding facility issues such as outdated HVAC systems, to rebuild neighborhood schools, such as Cody and Pershing High Schools, and to build a new K-8 in Southwest Detroit.
“The school district the School Board and I assumed responsibility for five years ago is not the school district we lead today!” said Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent, DPSCD. “We have remained focused and dedicated to responsible stewardship while still investing significantly in student programming and employee salaries and wages. Our challenge now will be making difficult budget decisions next year without COVID Relief Funding and inflation. We will do this by focusing on what is best for our students while continuing to raise teacher salaries. Our goal will be to raise student achievement after the pandemic challenges and remain fiscally responsible. Our track record should give everyone the assurance and confidence this team can accomplish these goals.”
For more information, visit detroitk12.org and follow @detroitk12 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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