Appoquinimink’s School Board addressed the State Auditor’s special inquiry into the district and its $4.9 million deficit at its regular meeting Tuesday.
The report released last week included several audits and found the district fell short of state and district expectations for budget keeping.
Appoquinimink Superintendent Matthew Burrows said the report echoes district staff findings, including that expenses were understated in financial reports and didn’t match the state financial reporting system.
Appoquinimink Board of Education President Richard Forsten concurred.
“I don't think people realize this,” Forsten said. “The Auditor of Accounts conducts the Delaware Annual Comprehensive Financial Report every year. So in other words, they look at school district finances at the end of every year, and it goes on to say there were no findings relating to the district in the reports for the last three fiscal years.”
But the special inquiry released last week includes performance audits of the district’s local funds in Fiscal Years 2021, ‘22 and ‘23.
There, the State Auditor’s office found evidence of “accounting system approval issues, policy compliance and match tax expenses not meeting the purpose of the tax.”
Burrows noted staff spent the summer focusing on how to avoid these errors moving forward. But he added that the State Auditor’s team got something wrong.
“The district only knew about the current budget situation beginning in late May of 2025, while the report indicates the district has known for longer,” Burrows said. “That is not accurate.”
The district put forward two referendums in 2023 that residents voted against, which led to more than $5 million in cuts. The district asked for less money in the second referendum, but it did not win the public over.
Burrows said district officials also disagree with the special inquiry’s claim that they didn’t notify residents of the financial situation at the time. He said the district began dipping into its surplus that year, which triggered a referendum.
“[We] had the lowest paid staff in New Castle County, so in 2023 unfortunately, that referendum did not pass,” Burrows said. “... We were pretty clear that we're in deficit spending if we continued on without a passed referendum, that we would have to make $5 million in cuts.”
Burrows told a disgruntled crowd district officials are taking this issue seriously and trying to be as transparent as possible as they address the issues listed in the audit.
The district is set to release its internal audit in the coming weeks.
