Georgia eyes stricter school finance rules for districts. What we know

Twiggs County Public Schools has been behind on its audits for at least the past four fiscal years, adding to concerns about the district’s mounting financial distress.

The Middle Georgia school district is working to catch up on audit reports, according to state and district officials, at a time state lawmakers consider new bills aimed at strengthening oversight of school district finances, including expanded audit monitoring and potential state intervention in financially distressed systems.

Sara McLeod, deputy director of the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA), said officials knew Twiggs had “outstanding audits” but were not fully aware of internal problems due to backlogs.

“Timely completion of annual audits is really important for transparency and financial accountability and being significantly behind is not common,” McLeod said. “(Late audits are) not something we see across Georgia school districts often, but it does make it difficult to be aware of any sort of financial distress issues that are occurring, from our side.”

The district did not submit its fiscal year 2022 audit until October 2024, she said, underscoring how delayed its reports have been.

Twiggs was also one of six school districts that did not have FY24 independent audit reports readily available, according to a Feb 2026 state report.

The report gave the district a cautionary fiscal health rating from 2020-2022, noting an operation reserve ratio of 5.5% and a -17% decrease in its unassigned fund balance.

The operating reserve ratio measures a school system’s ability to cover general fund spending using its fund balance. The unassigned fund balance is the portion of the fund balance not restricted to a particular purpose, such as a grant.

Years-late audits, prior risk flags

In FY22, Twiggs County Public Schools was designated “moderate-risk” under Senate Bill 68 after auditors flagged a revenue recognition issue — how the district recorded its revenue, McLeod said. The state law tracks financial irregularities or budget deficits in schools systems’ annual audits.

During that period, the district did not “properly record revenue, accounts receivable and unearned revenue related to grants and SPLOST revenues,” according to a corrective action plan James Austin, former assistant superintendent of business and finance, presented to district leaders in April 2025.

TCPS Interim Superintendent Tyrone Bacon said the district is working with an independent CPA firm, Mauldin & Jenkins, to finalize previous audits and review its financial position to strengthen oversight. He said they are working with both the independent auditor and the state during this time.

The state last audited Twiggs County schools for FY20. An independent certified public accountant conducted the 2021 and 2022 reviews and is now responsible for completing 2023, McLeod said.

At the district’s request, the state will resume auditing Twiggs starting with FY24 but cannot begin until the overdue FY23 report is filed, McLeod said. As of Wednesday evening, the state has not received the district’s report but was told to expect it this week, she said.

Late audits do not always indicate immediate financial distress for a district, McLeod said, noting turnover in finance roles can also cause delays.

But the combination of late reporting and other warning signs has raised concerns in Jeffersonville’s public schools as district officials work to stabilize years of fiscal mismanagement. Bacon previously said the problems included an annual overspending of $1.1 million and late payments for health insurance, vendors and the state retirement system.

Bacon noted that because the district is late on its audits, financial data were not available, and only its current cash flow position could be seen. He did not respond to follow-up questions about why the district has been behind in previous years before publication.

Proposed bills seek ‘teeth’ for troubled districts

Lawmakers are advancing new measures to tighten districts’ financial oversight, ensure audit readiness and hold accountability on all levels.

“With the current legislation that’s in place, there’s really no teeth or repercussions for not having your audit done. There’s nothing that the department of audit can put in place to enforce a timely audit,” McLeod said.

These two proposed bills would give the state broader authority to intervene if a school system’s finances deteriorate and move toward a more proactive approach, McLeod said.

SB 472, which passed the Senate and is under review in the House, would allow the suspension of school board members if the state auditor finds financial mismanagement or misconduct, following a hearing and recommendation from the state board of education.

The measure would also limit superintendent contracts to one year in districts designated as high-risk and establish monitoring and intervention plans for those districts. If the superintendent violates the provision, the local board is authorized to terminate the superintendent’s contract.

HB 1164, which has passed the House and is being reviewed in the Senate, would require the state board of education to create an audit committee that meets regularly to review financial reports and monitor the fiscal health of public and charter schools.

The bill also requires public school systems and state charter schools to annually certify compliance with audit reporting requirements and confirm they are not delinquent on payments to retirement systems or health benefit plans).

Repeated failure to meet audit readiness requirements on time may be considered a deficiency in internal controls or governance and reported in audit findings, according to both measures.