Middletown School District Will Likely Look For New Auditing Firm In The Spring

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — When will the Middletown school district be getting a new auditing firm?

The school district will likely put out a request for proposals (RFP) for a new auditing company in the spring, business administrator Amy Doherty said at the most recent school board meeting, held last Tuesday night, Nov. 25 (watch it here).

The school board will then appoint whichever new auditing firm the district hires at its reorganization meeting in May 2026.

Doherty said this is the timeline she recommends if the district wishes to hire a new auditing firm.

Why is Middletown school district looking for a new auditor?

Because at the Oct. 30 school board meeting resident Ashley Studd — who once ran for Middletown school board — revealed that HFA, the audit company used by the Middletown school district for the past several years, is treasurer of a political action committee (PAC) that handled campaign donations for certain Middletown school board candidates.

The PAC is Proven Leadership, a Republican fundraising group that handles campaign donations for Republicans across the state. In 2025 in Middletown, Proven Leadership was the PAC used by the Students, Parents, Taxpayers slate of James Cody, Sara Weinstein and Chris Aveta (Aveta and Weinstein won election to the Board).

This is listed on public Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) reports, which all New Jersey political candidates are required to file, and are available to the public here.

Joseph Sarno, a director at HFA, is listed on ELEC filings as the PAC's treasurer.

It was Board member Mark Soporowski who first asked the Middletown school district to put out a request for proposals to find a new auditing company.

"I'm concerned about this audit," Soporowski said at the Oct. 30 meeting. "If our auditor is making contributions to political candidates running in our district, that's concerning to me. And it should be concerning to everyone. There should be independence with the people handing our finances, and auditing our finances."

At the Oct. 30 meeting, the board unanimously approved Soporowski's suggestion to find a new auditor.

However, the district will pay HFA $27,000 for the audit it already did on the 2024-'25 school year budget. That audit is due to the state by Dec. 5.

At that same meeting, board member Joe Fitzgerald suggested not paying the $27,000 bill due to a possible conflict of interest HFA auditing firm may have with the newly elected school board candidates (Weinstein and Aveta).

More on the Middletown school district: Middletown School District Still Waiting For Results Of Redistricting Study It Paid Consultant To Do (Nov. 26)

There Will Be A Middletown School Board Workshop Committee Meeting Dec. 9