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Larcus Fuller, an accounts examiner for the state’s Public Examiners office, presented the routine audit report for the Chambers County School District for the period of October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. 

The Chambers County School District’s audit report for the 2022-2023 fiscal year had two findings in which the school board did not comply with regulations.

The audit report was conducted as a part of the state’s School Fiscal Accountability Act. The audit was performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards to determine whether the board complied with laws and regulations, Fuller said during the meeting. 

Fuller said they also conducted an audit of the board’s federal financial assistance programs, the Education Stabilization Fund and the child nutrition program. 

Each year, the examiner’s office chooses one or two schools for a comprehensive review on a rotating basis. They selected J.P. Powell Middle School for comprehensive testing and all other schools were subjected to limited testing this year.

The examiner’s office reported the following findings in its report:

Finding number 2023-001 found that the board failed to include prevailing wage rate clauses in a federally funded construction contract exceeding $2,000. This contract was a project for the purchase and installation of temporary classrooms. 

According to the audit report, “money from the COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) was used to fund a construction project in excess of $2,000.00 without the inclusion of prevailing wage rate clauses.” The project used $358,258.50 of Education Stabilization Funds.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the prevailing wage “is the average hourly wage rate plus any fringe benefits paid to a majority of workers in a specific classification or type of work in a given area.”

Because of the use of federal funds, the project must comply with the Davis-Bacon Act. According to County Audit Division Director Nikki Morrison, this is a fairly common omission. 

Finding number 2023-002 found that the board failed to bid the purchase and installation of temporary classrooms in accordance with Public Works law. 

Because the project used federal funds, the board was required to bid it out according to the Public Works Law rather than the Alabama Competitive Bid Law. The Public Works Law is a federal bid law. 

The school board responded to the findings, stating a correction that both regulations will be followed from here on out. As the project is currently underway, they cannot retroactively correct these instances on noncompliance.