john.deem , Lisa O'Donnell

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ reliance on temporary federal dollars to cover pay and benefits for hundreds of employees likely papered over years of financial mismanagement by the district, Interim Superintendent Catty Moore suggested Thursday.

“Without the federal pandemic-relief funds, there is every indication we would have been in this spot five years ago,” Moore said after the Office of the State Auditor released details of a months-long probe that confirmed many of the same issues she has outlined since taking charge of the school system June 2.

In 2020 the district, like thousands of other systems nationally, began receiving federal COVID-19-related aid through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program, or ESSER.

The

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