Accolades

Olentangy Schools has again been named a recipient of a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). The award, considered the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, is for the District's annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. "The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report," the GFOA wrote in a release announcing the award. This is the 22nd consecutive year that Olentangy Schools has received the coveted award. 

The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (Certificate Program) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. 

The Auditor of State has once again awarded the Auditor of State Award with Distinction to Olentangy Schools for a clean audit report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021. This is the tenth consecutive year that the district has achieved this prestigious recognition.

To achieve the award, the entity must file financial reports with the Auditor of State’s office by the statutory due date, on a GAAP accounting basis and prepare an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, Uniform Guidance (Single Audit) findings or questioned costs. Additionally, the entity’s management letter contains no comments related to: ethics referrals, questioned costs less than the threshold per the Uniform Guidance, lack of timely annual financial report submission, bank reconciliation issues, failure to obtain a timely Single Audit in accordance with Uniform Guidance, findings for recovery less than $500, public meetings or public records issues, or other financial or other concerns.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings, the international authority on credit ratings and market intelligence, recently affirmed Olentangy Schools' AAA bond rating in advance of the issuance of $27 million in bonds for the construction of the district's seventeenth elementary school. Olentangy Schools has held a AAA rating since 2016, allowing the District to pay the lowest interest rates on its debt and enjoy more flexibility when it comes to refinancing and paying off its bonds.