Auditor Fitzpatrick conducting thorough review of the Independence School District

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced today that his office has launched an audit of the Independence School District that will look not only at the district's finances but also at its overall performance as it relates to providing a quality education to students. Auditors officially commenced the audit with an entrance meeting with the district's Board of Education on Tuesday, May 14.

The audit is part of Fitzpatrick's plan to more regularly review the performance of schools throughout Missouri. When he first took office in January of 2023, he said that while schools are required by law to have financial audits every year, they rarely have audits that evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of district operations. While the State Auditor's Office has the authority to perform such audits of the more than 500 school districts in Missouri, Fitzpatrick said previous administrations had on average produced one school district audit per year, with some of those only occurring following a successful petition by district residents which gathered the minimum number of signatures required to trigger a state audit.

"Parents and taxpayers deserve to know how their tax dollars are being used by their schools, and to have a better understanding of how district decisions impact their children's education," said Fitzpatrick. "We will take a thorough look at how the Independence School District is operating with the goal of providing parents with the information they deserve to know about how the district is performing and make necessary recommendations on how the district can make their schools more efficient and more effective for their students."

The audit of the Independence School District brings the total number of school district audits currently in progress to three. Fitzpatrick and the State Auditor's Office are already auditing the Kingston K-14 School District, located in Washington County, and the Francis Howell R-III School District, located in St. Charles County.

Individuals may provide confidential information for consideration during the audit of the Independence School District to the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline at 800-347-8597, by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.