Second Audit of Charter School Shows Improvement

BY ALEXIS GUSTIN agustin@loudounnow.com

Weeks after a divided School Board voted to put the Middleburg Community Charter School on probation, the findings of a second unannounced, onsite audit were released Tuesday.

The audit, conducted April 17, showed improvement, but still highlights a few areas of concern, according to the presentation to the School Board’s Specialized Programs and Centers Committee.

Division Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby said of the seven items flagged in the Feb. 8 audit, only two remain.

“While we still see concerns, the level

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continued from page 12 nan O’Donnell, with the goal of bringing Loudoun car enthusiasts together to help raise money to help low-income kids and their families through the Backpack Buddies Foundation of Loudoun.

Seymour said his main goal for the event has been making a difference/helping people. With his meticulous planning and the help of NOVA JDM member Dakota Smith, his vision is beginning to come to life. Smith has used his platform at NOVA JDM—an organization for Japanese Domestic Market vehicle enthusiasts—to spread the word about “Cars for of risk has been mitigated to a degree,” she said.

The two areas fall under cash disbursements and incomplete cash receipt documentation. Under cash disbursements, Willoughby noted nine times the school was charged for sales tax on purchases made by the school and late fees and over limit fees charged to the school credit card. Under incomplete cash receipt documentation, she noted two times money collected by the school wasn’t deposited in a timely manner.

She said the school needs to follow its own policy of making weekly deposits and to make sure it isn’t charged sales tax.

“We’ve already heard back from MCCS and they have already addressed and gave assurance that they will monitor the credit cards, for example, more closely to make sure that they are paid timely to avoid any interest charges or unnecessary fees, as well as the sales tax and same with timely deposits,” she said.

Willoughby said she looked forward to the annual audit that will look at the school’s entire year of records and have a much broader scope than the two internal audits, which looked at deficiencies that took place during a specific timeframe. That audit will take place in late June and its findings will be discussed later this fall, according to Willoughby.

“I think it does show significant improvement and still some grounds for them to work on,” Jeff Morse (Dulles) said. He said he was confident the school would take care of the final two issues.

The school was placed on probation April 25 after multiple discussions in both committee meetings and with the full School Board over the schools’ financial books.

Morse, John Beatty (Catoctin), Tiffany Polifko (Broad Run) and Denise Corbo (At-large) opposed the action.

This meeting is the first time the results of the second audit were revealed after the board put the school on probation.

The school’s charter could be revoked, and the school could be closed if its leadership doesn’t fix the issues, according to Chair Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge). n a Cause” and encourage members to join the event.

“[Smith] has been a big helper. I couldn’t have done any of this without him,” Seymour said.

Always a car enthusiast, Seymour found “Cars for a Cause” to be the perfect amalgamation of his love for cars and philanthropy. “Since I was little, I always wanted to do something that had a positive impact on the community, and when the opportunity arose and [my] school gave me time to do it, I had to jump on it,” he said.

Seymour hopes to eventually expand the event to include other car groups and host a “Cruises For a Cause” event, with a local route set up for participants to follow. “Right now, we are just starting with the most simple concept—a car show,” Seymour said. Events like car meets and “Cars and Coffee” events are also ideas Seymour would like to pursue down the road, even turning “Cars for a Cause” into a monthly event.

The event will take place May 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Ion International Training Center in Leesburg. The event is free to attend, but attendees may also register their cars for $25 for a chance to not only display their vehicles, but to also know that they’ll be “making a difference in the lives of those in need,” according to their GoFundMe page, where donations are being collected. Raffle tickets will also be available at the event for $1. All proceeds will go to the Backpack

Buddies Foundation of Loudoun, a local nonprofit that provides bagged lunches for students on weekends and extended breaks, ensuring that “no school-aged child goes hungry.’’ Established in 2014, the organization supports 85 elementary, middle and high schools and over 3,000 students.

For more information, follow the event’s Instagram page at @CarsForaCauseLoudoun. n

Nanaki Preet Bawa is a senior at Rock Ridge High School completing her Senior Capstone project at Loudoun Now. She is also managing editor of her school newspaper, The Blaze.