Accountability and Transparency are Essential for Trust
A damning special inquiry reveals fiscal failures in one of Delaware's fastest-growing districts.
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Our children, our schools, and our community deserve leaders who honor their word, manage funds responsibly, and serve with integrity
Delaware school districts have been in shambles! From single digit proficiency. high school drag shows, hiding sex changes from parents, ousting superintendents in the wee hours of the morning, to Delaware’s award winning schools grappling with a dire crisis in academic proficiency, Delaware government schools are failing!
Appoquinimink Audit (Special Inquiry) 2025
A special inquiry into the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend-area school district culminated in a 14-page report published by State Auditor Lydia York on Wednesday that reveals “failures in budgeting, reporting, and review that have resulted in Appoquinimink running large deficits for several years running.”
I recently learned from a real estate agent on the WDEL Rick Jensen Show that Appoquinimink teachers were giving s seniors (students 18+) extra credit for voting for the Appoquinimink referendum! If this did happen, it would likely violate Delaware election laws1 or school policies against using public resources to influence votes.
This is reminiscent of a May ‘23 Delaware bill HB 962, a bill that would have allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections, but was tabled in a House committee . The bill was sponsored by none other than Representative Eric Morrison.3
Should 16-year-olds be able to vote in school board races?
This Special Inquiry report by Delaware State Auditor Lydia E. York investigates a $4.9 million budget shortfall announced by the Appoquinimink School District in July 2025, attributed to “accounting errors”. The district responded by raising current expense taxes by 10%, a unique provision allowed during the year of a reassessment.
It was not just Appoquinimink who took advantage of the max 10% tax increase. 98-year-old Lewis resident Carol Orr saw her tax bill increase by a whopping $4,379.62, $4.6K of that tax bill being for Cape Henlopen and Sussex Technical HS!
From $842 to $5200; 98-year-old Lewes neighbor sees bill jump after Sussex County property reassessment4
Between the reassessment and school property taxes, many Delaware residents are seeing their tax bills increase by $1,000+
“We were astonished at their ability to correctly project their revenue and their inability to correctly project their expenses,”
"The report from Auditor York reveals a pattern of incompetence by Dr. Burrows. For years the Superintendent has failed to address the systematic financial issues the district had, and by doing so misled the public. He has lost the trust and confidence of the community. Dr. Burroughs should resign and allow someone else to lead and fix the systematic failure at Appo.”
-New Castle County Council member Caneco
“There is a strong tradition of and need for local control in public education, … However, the lack of standardization across school district fiscal departments may contribute to situations like the one at Appoquinimink evading the view of regulators and auditors until they become crises.”
-Delaware State Auditor Lydia York
“[They] not only blindsided families with a 10% increase of prior year current expense tax revenue but also damaged public trust,”
The inquiry provides actionable steps, split into governance and financial reporting:
- Governance: Establish internal controls, document approvals, train staff/boards, implement review processes for reports, document FAC meetings, and use clear formats.
- Financial Reporting: Collaborate with DOE for stability, adopt standardized budgets, present reports earlier, reconcile to FSF, add automated features, review before submission, and ensure timely DOE filings with change explanations.
This delayed disclosure of the shortfall (warning signs like low reserves were evident months earlier), has damaged public trust and "blindsided" residents with the massive tax hike. It is the people's responsibility to hold the government accountable!
We should act on the report's call for a statewide examination!
Delaware Representative Bryan Shupe (R) of District 36 lays out a concise, easy to understand assessment
🚨AUDITOR’S REPORT ON APPOQUINIMINK SCHOOL DISTRICT
The State Auditor has released a Special Inquiry into the Appoquinimink School District’s $4.9 million budget shortfall—and the findings are deeply concerning.
Here’s what happened:
Last year, the district announced during a School Board meeting that they had a $4.9 million deficit, blaming it on an “accounting error” that supposedly went unnoticed in prior financial reports.
To fill this gap, the School Board used a loophole in Delaware law that allows districts to raise property taxes up to 10% after reassessment—and they voted to do just that, putting the burden directly on taxpayers.
📑The Auditor’s report revealed:
The Superintendent allowed errors to accumulate unchecked and failed to meet obligations for fiscal stewardship, accurate reporting, and transparent communication.
The CFO submitted incomplete reports, excluding critical supporting documents, and failed to compare budgets to actual spending.
This led to large discrepancies between budgeted and actual expenses for three consecutive years—errors hidden from the public.
The School Board failed to warn the community, even though warning signs like dangerously low reserves were evident months earlier. Instead, families were blindsided with a 10% tax hike.
The Auditor concluded:
➡️“By delaying disclosure, they not only blindsided families with a 10% increase of the prior year expense tax rate, but also damaged the public trust.”
⚠️This was a failure at every level—Superintendent, CFO, School Board, and even lawmakers in Dover who left an antiquated law in place that lets school boards raise taxes by 10% after reassessment, even when their own mistakes created the problem.
👉Accountability must be demanded.
The Superintendent, CFO, and School Board must answer for their actions—and lawmakers who voted to keep this loophole open must explain why they continue to give districts the ability to cover up mistakes with more of your money.
Delaware families deserve transparency, accountability, and protection from reckless financial practices.
Kevin Caneco (D); New Castle County Council District 12 has been a resonating voice in calling for an audit of the Appo School District and the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Matt Burrows, even putting out a July 9 press release titked “Quick and Dirty: The High Cost of Appoquinimink School District's Bail Out”
Below is Appoquinimink School District's officially response to this special inquiry.
Communication was sent on September 3, 2025 to all ASD families:
Dear ASD Families,
Today, the Delaware State Auditor’s office released their Special Inquiry report regarding the budget situation we’ve faced this summer.
I want to start by thanking the State Auditor and the team who dedicated their time and attention to this report.
Please know, as a district, we do not take this situation lightly. Since information was first shared regarding this situation, we’ve been focused on understanding what happened and creating a plan to ensure it does not happen again
The auditor’s report echoes the same findings we’ve been sharing with our families and community throughout this summer
Those findings include:
Expenses were understated in financial reports (including employee costs, payrolls, summer school, etc.)
Expenses that were reported did not match the state’s financial reporting system
Financial Position Report errors
Financial Advisory Committee meetings need more detailed documentation
Throughout this summer, we’ve been highly focused on our path forward to ensure this does not happen again. The work we’ve already undertaken aligns with the State Auditor’s recommendations, including:
Welcoming our new finance director, who joined the district in August
Working with outside financial experts to thoroughly review our documentation and processes to date to provide detailed reports and guidance for the future
Increasing financial training for various groups, including our School Board and Finance Advisory Committee teams as well as team members who oversee finances
Adding additional Financial Advisory Committee members with specialized school finance backgrounds
Creating a centralized location for all Financial Advisory Committee documents
We are committed to continuing our work with the State Auditor’s Office alongside our outside financial experts to ensure all recommendations are implemented in our district.
While the State Auditor’s report indicates that the district was aware of financial shortcomings for some time, we have and will continue to be clear on the timeline of when the district leadership and School Board became aware of budget concerns.
As we shared with families in July – information regarding the district’s carryover balance was first discovered near the start of summer.
In late May, concerns about forecasted or projected expenditures were first shared with district leadership.
In June, the district brought in subject matter experts. Those experts made the district aware of the full impact of the budgeting errors – including underestimated employee costs.
At the June 25, 2025, School Board Workshop, it was confirmed by outside expert analysis that the district carryover would be $3.1 million – which was less than the anticipated carryover and also less than the state-required $4.2 million (two payroll cycles).
In July, the school board voted on the tax rate (also called tax warrant) for the upcoming year, utilizing the one-time 10% operational tax increase that’s allowable by state law the year of a reassessment. As a reminder, school taxes have four components: operating tax, tuition tax, debt service tax, and match tax. This one-time 10% increase applies only to the operating portion of the school tax rate.
The one-time operational increase was utilized only in conjunction with $2.5 million in spending reduction for the next fiscal year. As a district, we focused on reductions that will have the least impact on our staff and students, aligned with our core value of always doing what’s best for every student.
The key areas where reductions have been implemented are:
Department budgets
School building budgets
Staff reassignments
Program/initiative/position reductions
On August 14, 2025, the district held a Community Information Night to share details about the budget situation – including the timeline, the path forward, and our commitments. You can watch the recording of that meeting here.
On August 21, 2025, the school board voted on a revised tax warrant based on new state legislation (passed on August 12, 2025) that allows school districts to split tax rates between residential and non-residential properties. You can watch the recording of that meeting here.
As a reminder, School Board Meetings in our district take place on the second Tuesday of each month. We share meeting reminders on our website, social media, and newsletters. All families and community members are welcome to attend in-person or watch the livestream on our Appoquinimink YouTube channel. In addition to the regularly scheduled School Board Meetings, School Board Workshops also take place periodically throughout the year. These meetings are also shared on our website, social media, and newsletters.
Please know that we are committed to the path forward, which includes frequent communications with our families and community. We understand that we must rebuild trust with our community, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that happens.
Respectfully,
Matt Burrows
Appoquinimink School Board Meetimg Tonight!
🔗Appoquinimink Public School Board Meeting; Tuesday Sept. 9
Marion E. Proffitt Training Center (formerly the Appoquinimink Training Center) located at 118 South Sixth Street, Odessa, DE.
Meeting will begin promptly at 7:00 PM
Appoquinimink had years of financial errors, auditor finds5
September 3, 2025 | SpotlightDelaware
The most directly applicable statute is 14 Del. C. § 1079, which prohibits bribery in public school elections (including referendums). This section makes it illegal for any person to offer, promise, or provide "any money or other valuable thing as a compensation, inducement or reward for giving or withholding or in any manner influencing the giving or withholding a vote at any public school election." Extra credit qualifies as a "valuable thing" since it provides tangible academic benefits, such as improved grades that could impact college admissions or scholarships.
