Missouri State Auditor opens review of Independence School District
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri State Auditor, Scott Fitzpatrick, announced on Wednesday he launched an audit that will evaluate the finances and overall educational performance of the Independence School District.
The audit is a part of Fitzpatrick’s plan to review the performance of Missouri schools regularly.
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After taking office in January 2023, Fitzpatrick described that although schools are required, by law, to have financial audits every year, these audits do not measure the efficiency or effectiveness of the school district.
Fitzpatrick said that the State Auditor’s Office can perform audits for more than 500 school districts in Missouri. However, previous administrations, on average, only conducted one audit each year.
He even said some school districts were only evaluated because residents of the districts created successful petitions that got the minimum number of required signatures.
“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,” Fitzpatrick said.
“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.”
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The Independence School District is the third audit launched so far. Currently, the Kingston K-14 School District in Washington County and the Francis Howell R-III School District in St. Charles County are being audited.
If you want to provide the State Auditor’s Office with any additional or confidential information about the Independence School District, call the State Auditor’s Whistleblower Hotline at (800) 347-8597, send an email to moaudit@auditor.mo.gov, or go to www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.
FOX4 has reached out to the Independence School District for comment but has not heard back.
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