WESTLAKE, Ohio - The Westlake City School District is among less than 10 percent of districts statewide to be recognized by State Auditor Dave Yost with a clean audit report. The district's record-keeping qualified it for the Auditor of State Award with Distinction.

 "We are pleased to receive this award, which provides external validation to our community stakeholders," said Todd Hopkins, the district's chief financial officer and treasurer. "This is a significant achievement for our administration and staff, and represents the commitment to our mission of excellence."

 This is the fourth time in five years that the district was honored by the state for its audit reports. Previous awards were received in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

 Yost said the Award with Distinction is presented to local governments and school districts upon completion of a financial audit. Fewer than 10 percent of the 5,800 entities that are audited by the state earn the Award with Distinction. Those that receive the award meet the following criteria for a "clean" audit report:

• File timely financial reports with the state auditor's office in the form of a comprehensive annual financial report.
• The audit report cannot contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, single audit findings or questioned costs.
• The management letter cannot contain comments related to ethics referrals, questioned costs less than $10,000, lack of timely report submission, reconciliation, failure to obtain a timely single audit, findings for recovery less than $100 and public meetings or public records.
• Also, no other financial or other concerns can exist.

  "Taxpayers expect accurate financial records from their local governments," Yost said. "The Westlake City School District's dedication to accountability is evident."

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