BATON ROUGE — BREC’s 2024 audit is now publicly available on the Louisiana Legislative Auditor website, with it showing a significant drop in deficiencies compared to the previous year.  

The audit was completed by third-party firm EisnerAmper, LLP and covers the financial statements, procedures and planning of BREC in 2024. It found no evidence of internal fraud or misappropriation.

The audit identified 8 deficiencies in 2024, down from 18 in the 2023 audit.

According to the audit, several repeated findings were the result of delays in the audit process itself. EisnerAmper noted that certain issues were not communicated to BREC in time for corrective action to be taken before the next audit period. 

Once those matters were formally identified, BREC began working to address them. Part of that effort included reducing the number of purchase cards used by department managers, supervisors and administrative assistants from 259 to 70.

"We monitor the usage of every card more closely by checking bank accounts and all transactions consistently," said Rhonda Williams, BREC Director of Finance in a statement. "It is also policy to penalize an employee for any personal or unauthorized purchases."

"We completed four audits in 18 months, which was a huge accomplishment," Williams said.

BREC is now current on all audits and plans to release the 2025 audit on schedule.

"We are being transparent with taxpayer dollars, following our policies and restoring confidence is our mission every day," said Janet Simmons, Interim Superintendent. "We are grateful for the immense efforts of the Finance Department and our entire team for helping get us to this respectful position."