State Superintendent Mo Green discusses academic gains during a meeting of the State Board of Education, Sept. 3, 2025. (Screengrab: NCDPI video stream)
The North Carolina State Board of Education on Monday approved a contract with the accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins LLC to review Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ financial practices, after the district reported a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall earlier this year.
The contract, valued at $97,770, calls for Mauldin & Jenkins LLC to examine how the district authorizes spending, tracks purchases, and follows state and federal rules. A report is due by December 31, with a public presentation scheduled for February 15.
State officials ordered the review in September after the district disclosed a roughly $46 million deficit, prompting questions from families and school employees about how the problem went undiscovered for so long. Earlier audits pointed to spending approvals without sufficient budget checks and the use of temporary federal pandemic funds to support permanent staff positions.
Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth) said he supported the board’s decision, calling it “a well thought-out and necessary move.” He added that it was disappointing the local board and administration had not acted sooner, saying the directive had to come from a state agency.
The district’s financial turmoil has led to hundreds of job cuts this year, with assistant principals, support staff and employees in the Exceptional Children’s program among those affected.
A state audit report released in August found the district used temporary COVID-19 relief funds to pay permanent salaries, approved spending without money in the budget and delayed basic account reconciliations. Auditors also flagged misuse of “suspense accounts,” where at one point more than $332 million sat without clear tracking.
While auditors found no fraud, state leaders have said the report revealed years of weak oversight.
During a presentation in September on the state’s new strategic plan, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green also linked the district’s budget crisis to the state’s underfunding of public education. Green noted that North Carolina ranks 48th in the nation for per-pupil education spending, spending thousands less per student than neighbors like Virginia and South Carolina.
When adjusted for regional cost differences, North Carolina’s per-student spending is nearly $5,000 below the national average. The state ranks 49th in “funding effort,” a measure of how much a state spends on education relative to its economic capacity.
“While I think there was certainly mismanagement of resources in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools,” Green said last month, “it also is the case that it’s operated in a situation where we are underfunding our public schools pretty dramatically.”
The district is preparing for a leadership transition, with Dr. Don Phipps set to begin his tenure as superintendent on December 1, succeeding Interim Superintendent Catty Moore.
Moore didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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