Citizens challenged the school district’s financial integrity during the Knoxville School Board meeting’s public comment portion Monday night. 

This comes after a recent successful financial re-audit and 21 years of clean audits by Business Manager Craig Mobley. Two citizens on Monday night, who have addressed concerns regarding the district’s financial integrity in several other meetings, questioned the district in regards to alleged lack of the State Auditor’s report concentrating on the issue of the administration offices being moved to the new middle school building, the roof at the new middle school leaking, and the perception that teachers cannot speak out, and the alleged lack of confidence in the report issued by the State Auditor’s office, as well as negative comments one citizen received about the district as she went around town asking questions.

A petition was recently filed to State Auditor Rob Sand’s office relating to concerns of how $26,250,000 General Obligation School Bonds were used in regards to HVAC at Northstar Elementary and construction of new district offices. The audit found no issues related to the use of the bonds. For the re-audit, the district had to submit all documents related to the issue dating back to 2020, which Mobley and Superintendent Cassi Pearson spent four days total working on. Mobley, who has had clean financial audits during his entire tenure with the district, says it is one thing to question how money is being spent, but it’s another thing to accuse the district of wrongdoing that has never occurred. Mobley hopes the community can see that the district has always maintained financial integrity and transparency.

“The community has to know that they can have an opinion of I don’t agree with how that money is spent, I don’t agree with maybe the decision the administration or the board made on how that money should be spent, but to actually not be following the law and misspending funds, that’s a whole new statement. I hope that the results of this re-audit by the State Auditor’s office shows that we are following the law. We are spending funds in the correct manner and the way those funds are intended to be spent.”

KNIA/KRLS reached out to Cindy Fenoglio who spoke during public comment at Monday’s meeting and she said that she is in the process of following up regarding the results of the financial audit, and she is waiting to hear back from the State Auditor’s office as she is looking for clarification regarding some details surrounding the effort. The school district released a statement after the re-audit findings, saying they are pleased with the results, which they say validate commitment to transparency and fiscal responsibility. Hear more from Mobley and Pearson regarding the audit on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.