According to the year-end report by the Florida auditor general’s office, only 7% of the 708 reports on the state’s public charter schools had findings such as issues with finances, transparency or governance.
According to the report, there were 67 findings included in 46 of the 708 audit reports for fiscal 2023-24. Thirty-three percent of them were repeat findings and 41 of them (67%) were considered by auditors to be significant deficiencies.
Public charter schools are defined by state law as “public schools that operate under a performance contract, or a ‘charter’ which frees them from many regulations created for traditional public schools while holding them accountable for academic and financial results.”
Nine schools didn’t file their required reports with the Auditor General’s Office, according to the report.
Six schools were found in their audit reports to have a deficit in their fund balances. Four schools didn’t comply with state laws requiring transparency on their websites. In the case of five schools, accountants noticed inadequate controls over budget administration that the report says increased the risk of inefficient or inappropriate use of financial resources.
Three schools had inadequate cash controls that could increase the risk of theft and misappropriation and two had an inadequate separation of duties for financial staff that could result in financial mismanagement and reporting errors.
One of the trends from the report was the improving financial condition of charter schools. In fiscal 2021-22, the average financial ratio, which is a measure of the health of a school’s fiscal balance, found by auditors was 27.93% and that increased by fiscal 2023-24 to slightly more than 32%. The number of schools with above average ratios increased from 270 to 285. The number of schools with ratios below the average ratio but with positive or zero balances increased from 367 in fiscal 2021-22 to 394 in fiscal 2023-24, while those with deficit balances decreased from 51 to 29 in the same time period.
Most of the state’s charter schools are located in Miami-Dade County with 156, followed by Broward (86), Hillsborough (55), Palm Beach (47), Orange (43), Duval (42), Polk (33), Osceola (25), Lee (18) and Pinellas (17) counties.
Charters are located in 47 of the state’s 67 counties and the number of charter schools has increased 8% since fiscal 2019-20. There are 391,804 students enrolled in these schools, an increase of 12,023 from the year before.