By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
A state audit found 11 compliance and internal-control problems in Birmingham City Schools, including issues involving vendor payments, payroll, and the handling of student fees. Eight findings had also appeared in the district’s previous audit.
The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts reviewed the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2025. Auditors said the district paid two fitness-training vendors a combined $554,468, exceeding the school board’s combined approved limit of $300,000 by $254,468. The district could not provide executed contracts for either vendor, according to the report.
Auditors also identified weaknesses in payroll procedures. A former employee continued receiving payments after being terminated in 2022; the district stopped the payments and reached a repayment agreement. Other findings concerned approval and documentation of payroll changes, some supplemental compensation, and payments to eight teachers above the applicable state-approved salary schedule.
At one school, an employee collected athletic fees through a personal payment account contrary to district policy. Auditors could not locate documentation establishing whether those receipts reached the school’s official account.
The findings concern oversight and compliance. Auditors did not conclude that the district’s overall financial statements were materially misstated; they issued an unmodified opinion on those statements.
Birmingham City Schools said it would add controls to flag spending above approved amounts and had hired an internal audit officer. The next measure of progress will be whether corrective steps eliminate the repeated findings in a future audit.