The Cherokee County School District will spend a maximum of $10,000 on an audit to assist attorneys with legal work for the school district. 

The school board met in closed session Tuesday afternoon to receive legal information from attorneys concerning a pending lawsuit and potential claims. 

After the closed session, school trustees voted 6-2 to have Gaffney accountant Ben Kochenower do additional fact finding and audit work in conjunction with district attorneys. Kochenower has conducted annual audits of the school district's finances over the past decade as required by state law. 

School trustees Barry Bailey and Donnie Lee Smith opposed the motion. School trustee Mike Ellis did not attend the meeting.

Citing pending legal matters against the district, school board chairman Billy Blackwell said no specific information about the nature of audit work can be released at this time. The board chairman did say the new audit by Kochenower is separate from a proposed forensic audit discussed by the school board earlier this month.

School trustees have requested information on how much it would cost to conduct a 3- and 5-year investigative audit of the district's financial records by an accounting firm. The proposed forensic audit would look at instances in which district business has been done with individual school board members, school administrators or their relatives. 

In other news, the school board received a brief update about the Granard Middle School principal vacancy. Interim superintendent Kim Bagwell is still in the process of interviewing candidates for the position. The district is seeking a replacement for Shirley Sealy, who took over as Gaffney Middle School principal on July 1.