requiring chartered public schools, school administrative units, and cities or school districts not audited under RSA 671:5 to be audited by an independent public accountant after the end of the fiscal year and requiring the results of such audits to be made available to the public.

Added the word 'and' to the list of required items in audit reports to improve grammatical clarity.

Added chartered public schools and school administrative units as entities required to undergo audits.

Included cities or school districts not audited under RSA 671:5 in the requirement for independent audits.

Changed the primary requirement from simply publishing a report to mandating an audit by an independent public accountant for specific entities.

Expanded the required content of audit reports to include employee benefits, pension liabilities, and other post-employment benefits.

Added a requirement for audit results to be made available to the public on websites in a searchable electronic format.

Clarified that state grant funding (excluding specific education grants) will be withheld from non-compliant entities.

Adjusted the deadline for submitting audit reports to 9 months after the end of the fiscal year.

Removed a mandatory requirement for the report to include an itemized list of all employees, their pay, and benefit contributions, reducing the administrative burden on schools.

Changed the deadline for submitting the audit or financial report from a fixed date of September 1st to a flexible window of within six months after the fiscal year ends.

Updated the fiscal note methodology to reflect that audits are now due by January 1st (six months after the June 30th fiscal year end) rather than September 1st.

Added a new clause stating that the Department of Education may grant extensions for disputed items and clarified that state funding will only be withheld if the district is not actively working to resolve audit deficiencies.