Primero School Board Reports Clean Audit, Reviews Response To Feb. 4-5 Closure

Primero School District received a clean audit opinion and is maintaining roughly eleven months of financial reserves, the board heard at its Feb. 17 meeting. Auditors told the board the district’s financial statements were “presented fairly” and found “no fraud and no material misstatements detected,” and trustees were told the reserves amount to nearly a year’s cushion against fluctuations in state funding.

Auditors did identify two procedural items for correction. Board members were told refinements to the district’s compensated absences policy - covering vacation, sick leave and PTO - “have not yet been fully implemented.” Auditors advised that the policy be clarified and applied consistently to avoid complications, particularly in the event of staffing changes; the board did not vote on a specific timetable for those changes at the Feb. 17 session.

The meeting also reviewed a social-media-driven reported threat that prompted a school closure. Wilson said someone impersonating a school employee posted claims about a “hit list” and included specific timing details, and the reported incident “led to a one-day school closure.” Investigators and cybercrime contacts are pursuing the impersonation angle, though Wilson cautioned such cases can be difficult to trace. The board discussed its response procedures during the same session that covered the annual audit.

Board business ranged beyond finance and safety. Trustees discussed gym equipment purchases and contract structure, and the board was told it “may soon offer its superintendent a longer contract.” The meeting’s sequence was characterized in board remarks as moving “from audit figures to Facebook rumors, and from gym equipment purchases to contract structure,” reflecting the mix of fiscal oversight and operational decision-making on the agenda.

School policy excerpts provided to the board offer the backdrop for handling threats and misconduct. Board Policy JICDE states the district “supports a secure and positive school climate, conducive to teaching and learning that is free from threat, harassment, and any type of bullying,” and policy language lists prohibited behavior including conduct “that is detrimental to the welfare or safety of other students or school personnel” and “repeated interference with the district’s ability to provide educational opportunities to other students.” Those policy passages frame the district’s stated goals for safety and conduct even as auditors push for clearer personnel leave rules.

Trustees left the Feb. 17 meeting with a clear financial picture and outstanding operational items to resolve: implement the compensated-absences refinements and continue coordination with investigators on the impersonation matter, while the board weighs a longer superintendent contract and equipment purchases. The district has not announced additional public actions tied to the Feb. 17 meeting.