Covington County Board of Education members breathed a sigh of relief when Alabama State Examiner of Public Accounts Lynn Otto read the audit report for fiscal year 2013 on Tuesday night.

The relieved response from board members came after Otto reassured them that an “unmodified opinion,” which was issued on the board’s financial statements, is a good thing.

“This means the financial statements were presented fairly,” Otto said from a written statement. “The board’s major federal programs that we audited were Title 1 grants to local educational agencies and the special education cluster. An unmodified opinion was also issued on the federal program.”

Otto said unmodified used to be called unqualified.

“They just changed the terminology this year,” she said. “There were no findings noted in the report as a result of the audit.”

Covington County Schools Superintendent Shannon Driver said Otto, along with her small staff, did an “outstanding job.”

“She had two working together in the office, and sometimes all three of them were working in the office,” Driver said. “They were always friendly, cooperated and helpful. They were very good to work with. We appreciate y’all working with us.”