The West Fork Community School District saw a “significant decrease in revenues” and “significant increase in expenses” for their year ending in June of 2025, according to a recently-released audit report from Cornwell, Frideres, Maher & Associates.
According to the report, the school district’s general funds revenues decreased from $11,305,076 in fiscal year 2024 to $10,851,793 in fiscal year 2025, while general fund expenditures increased from $10,758,326 in fiscal year 2024 to $11,412,072 in fiscal year 2025. The district’s general fund balance decreased from $2,078,695 in fiscal year 2024 to $1,503,735 in fiscal year 2025, a 27.7% decrease.
The audit states that the decrease in general fund revenues was attributable to decreases in revenue from federal sources and that the increase in expenditures was due primarily to an increase in negotiated salaries and benefits.
As noted in the report, the school district is facing issues with declining enrollment.
The fall of 2025 certified enrollment indicated 122 students open enrolled out and 67.5 students open enrolled in.
“This net loss of 54.5 students can be linked to a number of things including geography of the District, lack of available childcare in the District, the lack of specialized special education programming, change in Open Enrollment laws and parental convenience,” the report states. “Open enrollment is an area we would like to see improvement in. We have closed the gap in the number of students Open Enrolling out vs Open Enrolling in. We continue to see challenges with the voucher system, especially being so close to a Private School.”
The entire audit report can be found at www.auditor.iowa.gov/audit-reports.
