WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=qj1GfkihxAM

Part: 1

1
00:00:15.720 --> 00:01:33.880
[clears throat] >> Good morning, Ms. Joyce. >> Good morning. >> And that L is Leondre Campbell. I'm about 8 minutes away from you, but I wanted to sign in before I got there. Just in case I can count as quorum.

2
00:01:33.880 --> 00:04:39.480
Because I have to be present. But I am 8 minutes away from you all. >> Okay. And hello, Mr. Dixon. >> Hi, good morning. >> Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. >> I say it's 9:00 and uh we'll go ahead

3
00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:57.080
and uh get the meeting started. Welcome everyone today and we'll start out. Joyce, if you'll do the roll call, please. >> Dave Tally. >> Here. >> Mark Biomaster. >> Here. >> Alyssa Davin. Michael Dixon.

4
00:04:57.080 --> 00:05:16.919
>> Here. >> Doreena Baereman. >> Here. >> Leondre Camel. >> Here. >> Frank Barbieri. >> Here. >> And Alyssa just logged on. >> Here. >> We have quorum.

5
00:05:16.919 --> 00:05:32.800
>> Okay, and now we'll do introductions and we'll start down at the end with Heather. >> Heather Frederick, Chief Financial Officer. >> Bob Bliss, Office of Inspector General. >> Randy Loss, IG's Office. >> Tracy Shear, Inspector General's Office. >> Dave Tally, Audit Committee.

6
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:47.960
>> Teresa Michael, Inspector General. >> Gary High, Counsel to Inspector General. >> Joyce Sedison, um IG Office. >> Christina Daniels, Inspector General's Office. >> Mark Biomaster, Audit Committee. >> Frank Barbieri, Audit committee.

7
00:05:47.960 --> 00:06:04.200
>> The Re-Empowerment Audit Committee. >> Great. We have any You want to introduce yourself? >> Sure. >> Please. >> I'm Stephanie Johnson. I'm the director of accounting. >> Oh, good. Nice to have you with us. Okay, we'll move on now. If you'll take

8
00:06:04.200 --> 00:06:29.840
a minute and review the long minutes of the June 11th uh meeting. And after you've had a chance to review those, I'll accept a motion to approve. >> Mr. Chair, I'm the Andrea office of motion to approve the minutes as read. >> Have a motion. Is there a second?

9
00:06:29.840 --> 00:06:45.360
>> Second. >> Discussion. All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> All opposed? Passes unanimously. Okay, uh public comments. >> No comments. >> Okay, then we'll go to the Inspector

10
00:06:45.360 --> 00:07:00.640
General update. Terry. >> Uh first I want to recognize Ms. Branch, the board member is present. Ms. Branch, did you >> Thank Yeah, I just wanted to you know, I was here for the minutes. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. All right. We could put my I'm not going

11
00:07:00.640 --> 00:07:17.640
to do uh an update. I'm going to go right into um the risk assessment discussion so we can keep this moving as quick as possible for everybody. I'm sure you'd appreciate if I stop babbling for once. All right.

12
00:07:17.640 --> 00:07:32.840
All right. Uh good morning, Chair Tally and members of the audit committee. Today I'm providing a direct, independent, and practical look at our uh district's current operating landscape. My goal is to highlight recurring patterns and critical operational risk

13
00:07:32.840 --> 00:07:49.480
for your strategic consideration. As a reminder, the role of the Inspector General's office is to identify vulnerabilities and report objective facts. It remains the responsibility of executive management to address root causes and implement daily fixes. And this is just a an overall guidance

14
00:07:49.480 --> 00:08:07.880
as to how we operate and some of the limitations. Let us plainly look at the environment environment we're navigating. The district is dealing with severe budget shortfalls from decreased enrollment and reduced state funding compressed further by the rapid expansion of state vouchers

15
00:08:07.880 --> 00:08:24.000
allowing students to exit traditional schools. This has forced district-wide layoffs. Our office has also been directly impacted. We have laid off one investigator and we are currently carrying three vacant audit positions. Because of our internal resources are severely constrained and hiring is

16
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:40.360
hindered by regional employment instability, we can't review everything. As much as I'd like to, we just cannot. We must use a strict risk-based approach to ensure our remaining time targets the areas of highest vulnerability. And again, this this is there's no way a

17
00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:55.240
combination of everything. It's just kind of being as transparent as I possibly can with everything. We just lost one of our newest auditors. He was going to be a rising star, but I knew FPL grabbed him up and I knew he was not long for us our

18
00:08:55.240 --> 00:09:13.160
world. So, but I wish him the best. >> [snorts] >> All right. We sent out the survey to the board. We sent it out to the audit committee. We also send it to key stakeholders and we received some responses and these are the top

19
00:09:13.160 --> 00:09:28.240
identified by the survey. Artificial intelligence, legislative changes, school capital outlay sales tax, charter school financial oversight, threat assessments, and compliance and regulatory requirements. I think these are all

20
00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:44.880
things that we've kind of discussed over different different meetings and none of this is really new to any of us. The top audit priorities identified number one and then they're ranked through

21
00:09:44.880 --> 00:10:00.880
facilities construction, charter schools, risk management, workers comp. The CFO and I and I don't think it's I think it's more of the ability to reach down. It's nothing is an indictment to the CFO, but she handles the money, so that's where everybody's concerned.

22
00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:18.327
As coming from DFS, I understand, you know, the auditor general was at our door every two days. Of course, we have IT security and school capital outlay. You would major projects are always an issue and then you have the last five on there as well.

23
00:10:18.327 --> 00:10:34.000
>> [snorts] >> Some of these things again, you know, there's not much we can do about declining student enrollment. I can't go around and grab kids from Broward, although I understand they're trying to do that with us. I think we need to speak to Dr. Heppern about that.

24
00:10:34.040 --> 00:10:52.120
Palm Beach is the choice for all students, by the way. Navigate the mandatory workloads versus our scope boundaries. Okay, we do have a mandated financial review of all 177 schools and that's done every year and that's where we have the internal funds. And again,

25
00:10:52.120 --> 00:11:08.080
those those results bring and that that information is is extremely important. The dollar value at each individual school may not be anything that that you can really, you know, stress over. But having that contact and giving that

26
00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:23.160
support to the principals, to the schools, to the treasures, to the bookkeepers, especially with the turnover rate that that some of the schools are encountering, they really do need as much support as possible. And that's really what an audit should be looked at as support. We're here to to

27
00:11:23.160 --> 00:11:40.200
help them identify an issue before it becomes a real problem. Before we can evaluate our flexible discretionary bandwidth, we must establish what we're legally required and what we can try outside of our local scope. And these are some of the things that that some of the people have suggested that we do um through the the

28
00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:55.760
surveys. Um the mandate requires the vast majority of our team's available hours. We also uh their individual charter schools are mandated to do CPA um audit each year and submit that. And we are going

29
00:11:55.760 --> 00:12:12.360
to up our um our game a little bit with the the review of the charter school audits and uh we'll be making some presentations on the annual audits as they come in. Um and we're going to work a little bit more closely with the audit department.

30
00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:29.040
We've got a excellent audit department here. And work with them to make sure that if they're having issues, make sure those communications are open and we can get some feedback and maybe we can step in and help where we can. Um there's also some issue on the fact the vouchers and empowerment scholarship

31
00:12:29.040 --> 00:12:46.000
reviews. And a lot of that is managed at the state level. As much as I'd love to come in there, I really have a I think they might have a little hard time with a local IG stepping up there. But that's always something that I can communicate to the my colleagues in Tallahassee and

32
00:12:46.000 --> 00:13:02.720
work with the DOE IG as well as DFS and some of the other uh and the auditor general when we have concerns. And last the one of the concerns that um our our principal representative um was about the threat assessments and the the time consumptions that threat

33
00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:19.720
assessments take. That's something we can't There's there's no way we can step in there or make any changes. Um we can help where we can, but that's all mandated at the state level. There's so there's not much we can do um to navigate that or help with that.

34
00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:37.120
Okay. I want to address an important point regarding some of the pushback some of our office sometimes receives from school leaders who believe that our findings focus on minor administrative minutia. Um and a a local multi-million dollar contract requires forms, vetting steps, cash logs

35
00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:54.000
are not bureaucratic nuisances. Uh they are essential instrumentation panels that protect our operations. When an administrative requirement skipped or preventive barriers dropped, adhering to these details protect student safety through verified background checks, safeguard public trust during fiscal crisis and

36
00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:08.920
eliminates the financial blindness that occurs when missing documentation prevents us from tracking funds or catching contract overcharges. Administrative discipline is a defensive asset that protects our principals and directors, not a nuisance that burdens them.

37
00:14:08.920 --> 00:14:25.240
And I I understand that there are a lot of of additional red tape and and paperwork that has to go into it. And I think that we can help assist with getting the best system available to them. I know that Ms. Frederick's office works directly with with the schools and

38
00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:41.920
the principals and they're looking at lowering, you know, or raising the P-card because of some of the the changes in the cost. I mean, we see that when we go to the grocery store. So, I think between the combination of the the administration here and my office, we can try to see if we can get some things that a little bit flow a little bit

39
00:14:41.920 --> 00:14:57.560
better for the principals cuz they do have so much on their plates. Um as much as we can do to take it to make it so they're a little bit more bulletproof. Um where things are kind of automated where it's not such manual. If we can get some more processes to work

40
00:14:57.560 --> 00:15:16.600
together. And I think that's where I'd like to to focus some of our our attention. And this is kind of a a illustration of how, you know, if we don't care take care of the problems during an audit finding, we can end up

41
00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:33.480
with an investigation and a finding. Um this slide addresses the core friction we sometimes see from the field. When our team issues findings regarding unsigned lease forms, unrecorded unrecorded safe entries or skipped purchase orders, the natural response from busy school leaders is that these rules just are minutia or red tape.

42
00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:48.640
Let's look at what the data actually says. Our multi-year analysis reveals that a staggering 71% of all substantiated financial misconduct investigations carried out by our office directly reference a prior history of these exact same school-level

43
00:15:48.640 --> 00:16:04.600
weaknesses. Furthermore, if you look at the chart, 8% of our office financial findings are uncovered reactively through investigations, while only 20% are caught through routine checks. This tells us that by the time an issue escalates past these standard baseline checkpoints, the

44
00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:20.360
damage has already occurred. When you analyze where our financial catches concentrate, they match the top compliance failures: incomplete documentation, unauthorized card spending, and unvetted fundraising loops. A form is not just a piece of paper, it's a preventative shield. When

45
00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:35.640
a school routinely treats documentation as optional, it doesn't create a reporting issue, it creates an active operational blind spot that lets vendor overbillings and financial leakages go completely undetected until it's too late. And I think this is that that we've got

46
00:16:35.640 --> 00:16:51.200
to understand that that although we may not have missing cash at, you know, when we do our cash counts, we do have money that is not being spent properly or misspent, and I think it's just one more issue that that you know, can cause more issues for the

47
00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:09.040
whole district in total. The data from our five-year trend analysis underscores why minor procedural breakdowns must be taken seriously. Over the past five cycles, individual findings across our campuses surged by 153% scaling from 367 to 929

48
00:17:09.040 --> 00:17:24.079
annually, resulting in over 3,000 total undocumented a total documented vulnerabilities. These are heavily concentrated in fundamental transactions, delayed cash deposit, missing principal approvals, and incomplete inventory tracking.

49
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:40.680
To be absolutely precise, a repeat finding does not automatically prove wrongdoing, nor does it establish direct blame. However, our data reveals undeniably the relationship factor. 71% of our substantiated financial investigations reference underlying history of these exact school level

50
00:17:40.680 --> 00:18:01.920
process weaknesses, repeat control breakdowns, and exact pathway that leads to active loss. We saw this exact risk pathway manifest in a recent audit of our charter bus. Um our our team sampled invoices. This is a sample, so you imagine if we it was 100%

51
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:17.320
and found that pre-qualified vendors had over billed our schools by over 167,000, a stunning 22% overcharge. Schools were blindly paying incorrect hourly premium rates and accepted non-billable line items like fuel charges and safety compliance fees

52
00:18:17.320 --> 00:18:32.640
because school level controls were not accurately verifying invoices against contract sheets. Now, I understand that that a lot of this has been addressed, but I I believe this identifies some issues that we have with just contracting and um the ability for

53
00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:48.880
the people that are paying invoices to know what the contract requires. And the uh Ms. Frederick's office has done amazing job with the charter buses. If if you have somebody over paying now for a charter bus, it would they're doing there's there's a serious problem there. Um [snorts] but I'd like to see if we

54
00:18:48.880 --> 00:19:05.120
could also look at doing some of those same things with some of the other issues cuz I know when we have gone out to do other um audits, um one of the first things we will do is we'll ask for, you know, a copy of the contract. And we've had people that are paying invoices saying, "I have never seen the

55
00:19:05.120 --> 00:19:20.480
contract." And that's that's scary. So, I believe this is just uh it's just one individual's, you know, indicator of maybe an issue overall where people trust these invoices or trust somebody else is going to check it and know that

56
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:36.840
it's not should should or should not be paid. Despite our deep staffing constraints, our office maintains absolute compliance with their own professional standards. Our team recently completed our review this past year and by the Association of Inspector

57
00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:51.960
General. Um furthermore, team actively monitored recommendations, historical reports, and we look forward to our governing framework gives the commitment to a clear oversight options. You may choose to accept certain baseline risks, request status updates management, or

58
00:19:51.960 --> 00:20:07.640
monitor corrective actions. I have included suggested actions on this slide to help guide our discussion today. And again, the key message is that independent oversight doesn't manage operations. It just provides information needed so that the board and can make an

59
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:25.360
informed decision and the audit committee can make those suggestions to the board for that. Because we are operating three vacancies in our mandatory school reviews consume our baseline hours, our flexible capacity must be highly targeted. To make sure work plan maps directly to

60
00:20:25.360 --> 00:20:41.960
your highest anxieties, I'm opening the floor to get your direct feedback on three potential pathways that reside entirely within our local jurisdiction. Uh we focus on school accounts, providing early diagnostic support to onboarding principals. Uh to break cycle of repeat findings, we

61
00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:59.040
focus on vendor procurement compliance, helping our treasurers verify contract billing rates, and check background check drivers. Um uh others similar to that, should we fact all focus on capital assets, reviewing compliance for districts school cert tax.

62
00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:16.200
And again, this is just the the overall streaming. As we open the floor discussion, I ask you to keep one final baseline fact in mind. In a severe budget deficit, we do not have a single dollar to spare on preventable contract overbillings. We do not have a single inch to spare on

63
00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:32.880
student safety. By ensuring our work plan focus on non- mandated local risk and reframing it our administrative compliance is an executive shield that protects our schools. We can maintain our absolute independence, drive accountability, and structurally defend the district's core resources.

64
00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:48.760
I look forward to your priorities. I welcome your guidance. This time, I'd like to open it up for a discussion on from anybody as far as any input they'd like to give. Okay. Frank.

65
00:21:48.760 --> 00:22:04.440
>> I don't know whether this is a question for Ms. Frederick or the IG, but reading contracts at the school level, you have a bookkeeper that is struggling even to be a bookkeeper because we just don't pay enough for those people to have, you know, high enough education to actually

66
00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:20.920
an accounting level. How easy is it for them to get an answer on a contract? I mean, you they they expect the school the audit the school's secretary or or the bookkeeper to be able to read a, you know, a 30-page contract and determine

67
00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:36.680
exactly what should be paid and what shouldn't be paid is is not reasonable to to to believe that that can happen at the school level. How easy is it to go Are they able just to call your office or do they call the CFO's office? How how do they get an answer? Do they call the legal

68
00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:51.800
department? >> It depends on what the question is, but most all of them would be referred to the the purchasing department. And when you think about the contracts that the schools are actually dealing with, I would say that the contracted

69
00:22:51.800 --> 00:23:08.880
transportation is probably the the most complicated. They're purchasing stuff, you know, goods and services. When you're looking at the other larger contracts, those are being those are usually centralized and they're being purchased from a a department. >> I was more

70
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:25.560
with respect to the charter school. I mean, not the charter school the >> the charter bus. >> the buses, yeah. >> Yeah, so there is a direct contact in the the purchasing department. And when you look at the purchasing website, we have we have it laid out so that they know which purchasing agent to to contact.

71
00:23:25.560 --> 00:23:41.440
>> Okay, and and do they all understand that I mean, you had all these findings. Do they understand that if they have any issue at all, they should call that number or they just Do they know that? I mean, have they been trained to call the number before they pay an invoice on a contract? >> Well, I mean, there

72
00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:57.520
>> On a contract like that. And >> On a contract like that, um they should know that they have the support. You have to also keep in mind we have turnover of our of our bookkeepers of 30 to 40% a year. Um that is something that we inform them of. Um

73
00:23:57.520 --> 00:24:13.800
it does work through the principal. But like I said, most of the com- complex contracts are not being administered at the school level. I would say the more complex complex contracts are being administered at the department level. And it you know, those are those

74
00:24:13.800 --> 00:24:30.200
individual contracts at the schools. Like the contract to transportation, we've centralized to do one bid. Um but the schools through their internal accounts are doing certain purchases directly through um you know, their own process where they have to get three bids to ensure

75
00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:46.360
that they get the the best price. But most of what they're doing is is really a goods and services and then consultants. You know, consultants for the band, maybe consultants for athletics. That's um you know, we talked about DJs. Um

76
00:24:46.360 --> 00:25:03.240
hotels for their for their parties, going to Disney or Universal. That's a lot of what's going through the internal accounts. That's not necessarily going through the the procurement. >> understand. It's just it seems that we found a big problem with the the those

77
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:20.360
contracts for transportation. Um the other ones I I I understand those, but that one seems to be a problem. She only did a 10% uh I mean there's if we checked all the schools, there's probably more than $167,000 in in overpayments there. So, that's a

78
00:25:20.360 --> 00:25:36.760
concern that I think we need to make sure that in the transportation area, since since schools are always hiring buses to you know to for field trips, for everything, different clubs and all that, I think they need to make sure they the principals need to make sure that they tell their bookkeepers, before

79
00:25:36.760 --> 00:25:51.200
you make a payment on a contract for transportation, if you read the contract, if you don't understand it, call this number and they'll tell you what the >> Well, we what the purchasing department did after, well, actually even before the audit was completed, you know, just based on the feedback that was provided

80
00:25:51.200 --> 00:26:07.120
by the IG, created a whole website dedicated strictly to the contracted transportation, out easily outlining the terms within the contract, cuz it is complicated and we don't expect the bookkeepers to read through, that but to be able to say what are what the hourly

81
00:26:07.120 --> 00:26:23.040
rate should be for each of the vendors, whether they they are allowed a fuel surcharge or not, highlighting all the the payment terms within those contracts, um and then the direct contact within the purchasing department of who to contact if they have any questions. I

82
00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:38.560
presented that to the principal group, I believe back in April. Um and went over the resources, showed them the webpage. Um it's also included as part of our opening of the school uh checklist. We provide a template

83
00:26:38.560 --> 00:26:53.840
presentation that walks through all the findings that the IG has each year, um and the school just has to insert their name, um and then they can use that as a presentation to their staff. Um so, that goes over all the fundraising,

84
00:26:53.840 --> 00:27:10.440
um, you know, making sure that your your submitting your your funds on time, that you're not you're not keeping any cash in your desk. Um, so it goes through all the highlights of all the IG findings that we have each year. So we put a template together of a slide presentation that the principals can use

85
00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:26.280
as part of their beginning of the year um, presentations. >> Okay, thank you. I have a question, if I may. >> I just want to follow up to to Kisha's comment. I think it really comes down I personally think it comes down to training of the bookkeepers, especially

86
00:27:26.280 --> 00:27:42.920
the one that are new, because the as you mentioned Heather, the contracts are pretty simple. So I would think the the fees stipulated in the contract are not hard to follow. Maybe it's more of the bookkeepers they don't go back to the contract to double check what they are

87
00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:58.120
charged by the vendor. This is the proper charge. So maybe if if there's some kind of checklist that they can follow or as you said at the beginning of the year quick refresher as to going back to the contract when they get an

88
00:27:58.120 --> 00:28:14.120
invoice to to double check that the appropriate fee was charged. Because it was 20% so when you extrapolate it over the whole population, most likely the the variance will be five times 160. Yeah.

89
00:28:14.120 --> 00:28:31.080
>> Mr. Dixon. >> Yeah, I I have a question. I I don't know the operational part of what this process on these buses, but um, because they're so complex, the contracts,

90
00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:47.160
and the bookkeeping people have with this serious um, turnover, 30 to 40% which Heather cited annually, would it make sense to consider

91
00:28:47.160 --> 00:29:04.280
because this is such a significant problem at the school level, would it be possible to coordinate this directly through the purchasing department? Have someone responsible for transportation at the purchasing air department because

92
00:29:04.280 --> 00:29:20.240
they're much more experienced in contracts and evaluations and compliance with payments. Would it be possible to have a coordinating person that there that all the schools could go to when they want to do a bus, just say, "This is what we're doing. Could you help us with

93
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:35.280
this?" And take it out of the school and move it into purchasing. I don't know. I don't know what's involved. I'm just saying it would make sense to me with an inexperienced staff doing these complex

94
00:29:35.280 --> 00:29:51.640
uh contract evaluations and payments. And and the results of the examination that we did, I understand the website being established, and that's a step in the right direction, but I don't think that's going to be significant enough to

95
00:29:51.640 --> 00:30:08.800
really address this issue. I mean, but I again, I don't know the total operational part of it. I don't know if if buses are hired the next for the next day, I would think there's some planning in hiring buses. So, if there's a time element that could be identified to get

96
00:30:08.800 --> 00:30:24.320
the request to purchasing, purchasing gets the contract, they have already evaluated various vendors. So, they know who they should be able to pick. It takes that whole responsibility out of your bookkeeping people who have the a a

97
00:30:24.320 --> 00:30:41.320
a learning job from anyway. I mean, training, yeah, but you can only train so fast and then they're gone. Then you come back and train again. It sounds like the training isn't going to be sufficient enough. And the longevity of this position isn't sufficient enough to handle this financially complex issue.

98
00:30:41.320 --> 00:30:55.800
Just my thought. >> It's not related to um the ordering of the buses. It's the payment of the invoices. I mean, we've already established the contract, the contract terms. Each vendor though has different payment

99
00:30:55.800 --> 00:31:12.480
terms in the or or hourly rates that they charge. So, that's where the difference is is that the the school just has to go back and look and see is this vendor charging me the right rate? Did they overcharge me for fuel? Um did they charge me for a tip? Which they are

100
00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:28.600
allowed to tip, but they have to earn the tip. It's not just built in. Um and so they the school has the right if they put it on the invoice that, you know, they want a a gratuity and they didn't deserve it, they can take it off the invoice. Um them just understanding that that that is their responsibility. And

101
00:31:28.600 --> 00:31:44.480
then these payments are made through internal accounts. They're not made and paid by the district accounts payable department. >> Yeah, I understand that. I understand. >> So, yeah, so I mean, I I do agree, you know, we could potentially provide them a checklist. I think that that's a good

102
00:31:44.480 --> 00:32:00.560
idea. And then give them the link to the website, you know, so that they have that. And then there's also training, I forgot to mention on the website as well that walks them through. So, it's uh the procurement department really did an I mean, I I was they went above and beyond what my anticipation and my

103
00:32:00.560 --> 00:32:17.680
expectations were as to what they would be able to provide for contracted transportation. And we received great feedback from the schools and we've already corrected um several invoices um as a result of that where there were companies that were charging uh fuel surcharges that didn't have that ability

104
00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:35.000
within their contract to do that. >> Okay. Mark. >> All I have to say with contract compliance, I would say that that's the one area that AI software would really come in handy. The ironic thing is the budget

105
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:50.560
constraint is probably going to stop that from happening. Cuz I know that for a fact that AI software would speed it up and be more accurate 100% >> Well, I can I can speak to that. So, we're actually in in the process right

106
00:32:50.560 --> 00:33:06.480
now. Um so, we implemented, I want to say 15 years ago, um optical recognition scanning of our invoices. We were one of the first districts to do that and it really created significant efficiencies within our accounts to payable department. We

107
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:23.640
were able to reduce the team by half. Um we have not There have not been additional upgrades to that software. So, we have that same OCR software from 15 years ago. So, we're now working with that implementer to upgrade to include

108
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:39.840
AI technology, which will make the cuz right now with the current technology we have, we have to train every single invoice. So, if a vendor changes their invoice and the date is in a different spot or the amounts are different spot, we have to go train the software in order to recognize it. The new software

109
00:33:39.840 --> 00:33:55.280
has the new technology and it's not going to be It is going to be a cost, but it is something that we that we can charge to the capital projects fund and it's not going to be as significant as what we initially thought. So, that's we're going through a pilot phase right now to ensure that we're going to see

110
00:33:55.280 --> 00:34:12.080
the efficiencies that we anticipate. Phase two would then be taking all of the contracts, having a workflow with all of our contracts and and keep in mind this is the the ones that are centralized here through the district, not the school internal accounts, but we're going to try to figure out try to see whether

111
00:34:12.080 --> 00:34:28.560
there's a way to incorporate those some way. Be able to have a central warehouse for all of our contracts that work through the approval process. Once they're finally approved, this is where they're going to be stored. We're working with the legal department because it's not only procurement, it's also legal.

112
00:34:28.560 --> 00:34:44.240
There's several departments that have to work together. And the And what the what the legal department needs is a little different than what the purchasing department needs. So, it's been hard to get them to agree in the past. So, we're hoping that, you know, with this technology, there is the

113
00:34:44.240 --> 00:35:00.280
ability to do a whole contract warehouse. And then from there, we would be able to utilize AI to be able to tap into those contracts, compare them to the invoices that we're paying to ensure that we're paying in accordance with the

114
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:16.000
the contract terms. So, that is something that I am actively pursuing. And so, we but we have to do it in phases because I agree AI is the Yes, we can have a contract manager. We would need a team of 30 people to be

115
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:33.280
able to look at every contract and and agree them to every invoice every single, you know, before we process our checks. We're paying checks every single day. I want to say checks, but ACH or whatever. We're paying our vendors on a daily basis. We have thousands of of vendors that we

116
00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:49.040
work with. So, there there is no way to to validate that on a on a daily basis. But we do do a lot of that within our purchase orders. So, we have line item POs, so that we and and that matches up against the invoice when it comes in.

117
00:35:49.040 --> 00:36:04.960
So, there are certain items where we can build it in up front. But there there are others where we can't, you know, just based on the services that are provided. So, that is what we're working towards. >> Thank you, Heather. Yes. >> Chair Leondre here. >> Camera.

118
00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:22.920
>> Um couple things on the I appreciate the fact I know doing business with Palm Beach County Schools everyone wants to do business with us. But I I know I said this at the last

119
00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:39.720
meeting, payment terms with should be aligned kind of way that we're not having to constantly recreate how we do business with vendors. Vendors should want to >> [clears throat]

120
00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:54.560
>> do business with us and they should align their work. So, whatever it is that we're looking for, they should be able to pull it out so that we're able to read it easily and Palm Beach County is not having to

121
00:36:54.560 --> 00:37:12.320
have different systems in place for their invoicing. So, whatever it is that we're looking for, essentially alignment the payments should just be aligned with the way we're doing business internally and not us always trying to fix it.

122
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:27.080
Uh and I and I know there are some things from a internal operational space I am completely unaware of. I'm ignorant to them. But I do know from a contractual place, if you're going to do business

123
00:37:27.080 --> 00:37:41.680
with Palm Beach County, you don't have to recreate your invoices or um how you receive your payment, but you do need to know these are the things Palm Beach County needs to set aside and make sure that they're easily read

124
00:37:41.680 --> 00:37:58.200
because we have our systems in place and our departments that's going to look at them, our own internal auditing process. So, let's make sure what whatever you're doing for Palm Beach County, we pull these things out. And I understand that operationally

125
00:37:58.200 --> 00:38:14.080
those are some things that I've heard Heather say um several occasions they're working on them. They're working on them and they're working on them and that is something that I'm excited to hear about. Um so, thank you because

126
00:38:14.080 --> 00:38:29.680
if I think back to when I started sitting on this committee, we've come a a way and I'm excited about it. So, just working with the CFO's office, working with the IG's office, the relationship between the two,

127
00:38:29.680 --> 00:38:46.080
I do see gr- I mean, improvements. Major improvements. However, on a second note, I lost connection um on you say pushback at school level, and

128
00:38:46.080 --> 00:39:01.680
that's where I lost connection. So, I don't want you to repeat it. I just what what Is that something we're going to present to the principals at the school? You're You're presenting this somewhere so that everybody knows what we're going

129
00:39:01.680 --> 00:39:18.240
to be looking for um this coming year. >> I I think part of the the the the issue is and and um is is understanding um the roles and and what you know, we don't always agree with the

130
00:39:18.240 --> 00:39:33.720
rules, and and as somebody I don't always agree with Tallahassee or Department of Education or or you know, the the powers to be or sometimes even the board, no offense, my bosses. Um but you know, they set the rules, and

131
00:39:33.720 --> 00:39:50.140
they set the the what we have to follow. And what we found is is that when we do reports a lot of times, and it's not just the schools, there's we've also had it from director levels as well, it's like, "Why are you picking on me? Why are you picking on this? This is

132
00:39:50.140 --> 00:40:07.320
[laughter] just red tape. I just need to get the job done." And I we tried to explain to them, "These are all safeguards. These These things are not It's not red tape. You know, if we don't have these documents, I have no idea what's walking out the door." And so, there's a resistance

133
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:23.000
um against the compliance. I think a lot of times they're hit over the head with so much compliance, and then we come in. So, I'm I'm we're trying to to I'm trying to educate um as much as I can that these things will help you. If you follow the rules, if you follow these

134
00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:40.480
processes, it will help you safeguard against losses, against vulnerabilities, against risks. You cannot pick and choose what you want to follow and what you want to do. And and please stop shooting the messenger. You know, I'm not the one that developed the rules. Um, nobody has yet asked me

135
00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:57.520
to, you know, and which I can't, um, you know, which rules I want to follow. It They're all there. And it's up to the board to decide which rules and what actions, if they're going to take. I just report on it. So, I'm just trying to get them to understand that that please stop fighting the controls.

136
00:40:57.520 --> 00:41:14.520
They're safeguards. They're not restrictions. Um, so that's that's where that that motion's in. And I And we're going to do more outreach with the principals. >> So, in your presentation, when you were speaking about pushbacks, pushbacks is something you experienced

137
00:41:14.520 --> 00:41:31.000
in the prior years. It is, uh, is something that's going to get addressed this year coming, or you're just speaking to I I guess I'm trying to align pushbacks. >> Yeah, I'm speaking to it. I want I You know, we're we're going to we're going

138
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:47.720
to try to, uh, Mr. Bliss is going to be doing a lot more outreach with with the principals. I think we need to do a lot a lot better job on, um, speaking with the principals, speaking with district leaders. Um, so we're not uh, seen so much as the enemy.

139
00:41:47.720 --> 00:42:03.080
Um, that it's like, "Oh my gosh, here comes the IG." And you know, and then there's even some people that, you know, I've introduced myself, they're like, "We have the IG?" So, I was I'm still kind of, you know, this is 7 years we've been, you know. So, I think this is something that's part of the plan we need to ramp

140
00:42:03.080 --> 00:42:19.480
up, um, our our outreach, our education, and to understand that that although we are independent, we all want the same things. We all want to provide the students with the best education possible and we do that by giving the staff the best tools and the best

141
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:36.400
environment to work in. >> Okay, thank you. So, that goes back to the relationship question that I was that you all have developed. Is that relationship being just you're working towards that relationship through the CFO's office

142
00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:52.840
through to the principals or to the school sites? How is that being fostered? >> Well, we we do work very well with the The CFO understands our office extremely well and and all the accounting and purchasing it is excellent. They know and they say audit,

143
00:42:52.840 --> 00:43:08.240
they understand, you know, they don't take things personally. Um I think that because the the schools are so decentralized and it's so hard um because they they are um siloed a lot to to you know, to

144
00:43:08.240 --> 00:43:23.240
get to them and they're so busy. Um to get to get them their attention and everything. Um so, I want to work closer with the deputy superintendent um to see if we can do a do some better working with with

145
00:43:23.240 --> 00:43:38.840
the principals and try to see if with the deputy superintendent's office um see if we can get an understanding. Um having the the principal representative um give me such good feedback it it it tells me what principals are thinking.

146
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:55.080
And I need to understand that mindset. >> All right, thank you. I I just don't want haha moments with those I got you moments. >> No, I don't >> And none of us like that. That's the relationships if anybody knows me, you know, I'm talking about relationships and policies. And and how do we move forward? How do we improve the work that

147
00:43:55.080 --> 00:44:11.960
we're doing? So, that is those are the things I'm going to constantly talk about as long as I sit here because sitting on one being one who sat before auditor general, the governor's office, um any other federal office I don't like those type of moments and I

148
00:44:11.960 --> 00:44:26.720
wouldn't want to put that on any person who doesn't operate at our level. Um, and view thing view paperwork and documents the same way we do. So, that's just working the best relationship possible at the school

149
00:44:26.720 --> 00:44:44.600
level like you all have developed at the CF with your office and the CFO's office. >> And and and that's that's one of the major differences between um, an internal IG versus an external IG. An internal IG is solely focused on

150
00:44:44.600 --> 00:45:02.360
and on what's happening here now and it's more preventative. Um, external is kind of like the fire department, you know, they come after the fire started. We're more of the smoke detector. So, what what I say quite often is I can

151
00:45:02.360 --> 00:45:19.160
point out where the landmines are or I can report on the carnage after you step on it. It's your choice. But when I point out the landmines, it's up to management to decide what actions they take and to to you know, be open to to listening to

152
00:45:19.160 --> 00:45:35.920
those. >> Okay, Corey. >> Yeah, so I am the elementary division chair. So, all of the principals have a division chair. And one of the things that could be done is if you reached out to all of the

153
00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:51.800
chairs, which would be myself and two others, we could then schedule time for you to come to division meetings and have that conversation and actually explain some of that information because like for me representing 80 uh, 9

154
00:45:51.800 --> 00:46:07.840
principals uh, there's a lot of um, dissension with the IG office and by doing and going to that intimate meeting, it may actually provide more support and information for all of us.

155
00:46:07.840 --> 00:46:23.600
>> I I I appreciate that and I would like to get the you know the communication and the understanding that we really are not here to try to make your life even more difficult. Um I and I understand the principals you know a little bit of what you all

156
00:46:23.600 --> 00:46:39.000
do. I'm not a principal so I can't say completely. Um you know I I hear my from my sister who's a principal and she tells me quite often every time I don't even want to bring up cares to her cuz she gives me a dirty look each time I say cares. So Thanksgiving's really entertaining at

157
00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:53.840
my house. Uh but you know it it's it's also a give and take where you know I have a job to do as well but I don't make the rules. You know don't don't shoot the messenger here. Um you know aim to Tallahassee or you know that's you know all I do is

158
00:46:53.840 --> 00:47:10.000
report on the facts but I think we can help the principals with a very tough job and I think we will do a lot more outreach and Mr. Bliss will be reaching out and we're going to have that as part of our audit work plan. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other comments?

159
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:26.200
Uh I just want to point out that back on June 29th Terry sent out to each of the board members a summary of the top issues pertaining to the risk assessment survey and although she didn't ask for any comments, only two people from the

160
00:47:26.200 --> 00:47:42.800
committee responded to her. So I just I assume even if you didn't respond that everyone read that cuz I think you did a very good job with that and I want to thank you. >> And you're any questions? >> Any questions?

161
00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:58.400
Okay, if not we'll move on to the chair vice chair election or extension discussion and Carrie. >> Allison Hitsman >> Oh, Allison. >> Um I I've shared this before and I just wanted um the Inspector General to hear

162
00:47:58.400 --> 00:48:16.520
as well from the um high school principal uh perspective as uh Corey shared. You know, I I understand these are state statutes and these are things that um cannot change, but there are cases where with these CARES report

163
00:48:16.520 --> 00:48:32.040
reports and allowing anonymous reports, that people are actually retaliating against administration, principals, and assistant principals and going in and putting in reports in some cases that

164
00:48:32.040 --> 00:48:48.760
are not true. And so, when you put in a DCF report on that landing page where you put it in, it tells you that if you're putting in something false, you're subject to blank blank blank blank. So, I understand that we can't disallow

165
00:48:48.760 --> 00:49:06.080
um anonymous reports, but I do think that that's one of the things um that is very bothersome to the principals and the administration because I had an exact incident here where a student um had to be suspended for an incident that

166
00:49:06.080 --> 00:49:22.760
occurred here on campus and the parent went in and put a CARES report in on that assistant principal alleging things that did not happen in that meeting with the student. And that's where um you know, some of the fear and some of the

167
00:49:22.760 --> 00:49:39.760
issues come from the side of the principals with the IG office. It's not the IG office in and of itself. I think that they do an excellent job and you know, Ms. Michaels really takes her time to make sure that she's treating principals with respect. I think the

168
00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:56.400
fear is the anonymous piece of it. I have a saying that I kind of live by. When you want to remain anonymous, you don't really want a solution. You want to just put out and unfortunately, we have some people in this world that want to hurt other people once their children have been hurt. And I just want to make

169
00:49:56.400 --> 00:50:13.200
sure that we're keeping those things in mind as we're going through these IG office complaints that there is retaliation at times. >> Thank you very much. >> And and and each one of those the complaints that come in,

170
00:50:13.200 --> 00:50:31.200
um they go from our intake person to our director of investigations and then I review them. And I do take I I do understand and that's one of the reasons why we had some of the the changes where not everything is put on the website because people have, you know, weaponized that.

171
00:50:31.200 --> 00:50:47.080
Um although there are times when people do want to remain anonymous, especially employees when they're reporting, you know, but I we do we take everything into consideration and just because there's a complaint does not mean that there is a a substantiated finding and that's why we take things so seriously

172
00:50:47.080 --> 00:51:03.720
cuz you want to make sure that I don't want anybody's career ruined. We I you know, I'm I'm ruthless with the staff and even with OPS and everybody when we send things out, when they give something back, I look at it. So before we close out a complaint, I look at what they did to make sure that's addressed,

173
00:51:03.720 --> 00:51:18.960
it's fair, it's it's it everything's all, you know, done and then we then we close that loop. But I understand the fear, believe me. It's, you know, and you and you do have some disgruntled people and we do take everything into consideration, but nothing is handled very lightly. We so I spend the majority

174
00:51:18.960 --> 00:51:36.120
of my day looking at complaints. >> Thank you for your input, Allison. Anything else? Okay, we'll move on. Terry, do you want to or Carrie? >> Oh, yeah, sure. >> Terry Carrie. >> [laughter] >> Our names rhyme. Uh this should be really quick. Uh item number five, we uh

175
00:51:36.120 --> 00:51:52.560
we need to either hold an extension discussion uh or or sort of establish that at our organizational meeting uh next month we'll be holding an election for chair and vice chair. Um pursuant to uh the audit committee policy 1.091, a audit

176
00:51:52.560 --> 00:52:09.080
committee or really any advisory committee chair is limited to four consecutive years as a committee chair. Currently, Mr. Tally is in his seventh consecutive year of dutiful service to our committee. He is allowed under policy to extend that term limit based

177
00:52:09.080 --> 00:52:25.840
on a recommendation from the audit committee that is then presented to the school board. This past year and the two years prior, we've made that recommendation and Mr. Tally's request for extension has been approved. So, at this time, I would like to call for a motion to open discussions for any

178
00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:42.840
recommendations to extend Mr. Tally's term. >> So moved. >> There we go. Is there a second? All right. I think at this point I can either do it the hard way or the easy way. Mr. Tally, would you be interested in us asking for an extension? >> Yes. >> All right. So,

179
00:52:42.840 --> 00:53:00.000
that being said, could we have a motion? >> [laughter] >> All right. I I think that the time would be Can we have a motion again just so that we can send a letter over to the board for the for the meeting? >> motion. >> All right. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right. All those in favor? >> I. >> All right. No opposition. Passes

180
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:16.480
unanimously. We will get >> Before you go on, I just want to thank you all, but I want to let you know this is going to be my last uh year as chair. I've been chair going on eight years and it's it's really time to relinquish that. I want to stay on the committee and I want to thank you all

181
00:53:16.480 --> 00:53:32.800
for the honor. It's really been a lot of fun and an honor to do this, but I'll do this one more year and then I'm going to turn it over to someone else. So, thank you all for your your assistance. >> [snorts] >> Thank you, Mr. Tally. So, what we'll do at the next meeting then is we will hold

182
00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:51.760
our essentially just a vice chair election. So, that doesn't preclude anyone, if they choose to run for chair, from doing so under the rules, um, but uh thank you, Mr. Tally. We'll take care of it on our end and that's all. >> Then item six, recommendation

183
00:53:51.760 --> 00:54:10.040
implementation status report, June 30th. >> Bob. >> Good morning. >> Hi, Bob. >> This is our, uh, quarterly report that summarizes all the open outstanding recommendations that have not been fully implemented

184
00:54:10.040 --> 00:54:26.560
within 6 months after the issue date of one of our reports or an external auditor investigation report. Um, the first one on on this page uh, there's one outstanding finding for our audit of change management for the PeopleSoft system that we performed in

185
00:54:26.560 --> 00:54:42.560
2023. Um, since that time IT department has acquired and has been implementing a new IT service management system. Um, that system will improve the change request tracking and eliminate the need for multiple tracking systems.

186
00:54:42.560 --> 00:54:58.640
And the part of the system that will do that is expected to be operational, uh, in September. Unless, uh, Heather has any updates for us. No? Okay, good. Um, the next the next item on the next page uh, this is the first time you're seeing

187
00:54:58.640 --> 00:55:14.800
this one. It relates to a report, uh, that we issued to this committee in October on a review of subcontractor fault insurance purchased by construction managers. Um, management has been working to to make improvements to the standard contract language for construction

188
00:55:14.800 --> 00:55:33.080
contracts. Uh, that will address the recommendations that we had in this report and they hope to finalize that contract language around November. >> And we are aiming for prior to that. Um, we're working with the external audit firm right now. Legal has gone through

189
00:55:33.080 --> 00:55:54.360
the contract changes, um, and so we're having the external auditor, CRI, uh, that we're using for, um, the the construction uh, process review, um, to receive their feedback. So, we're getting close. >> Does Does this have to do with the with

190
00:55:54.360 --> 00:56:12.360
the the construction companies were using certain types of insurance that you weren't quite sure wasn't compliance with the contracts? >> Yeah. >> Correct. >> Also, Mr. Chair, um, the PeopleSoft, that's the one that had to do with the former former employees

191
00:56:12.360 --> 00:56:28.240
having access and all of that's being cleared up. Is this that one? >> No, this is not that. This is how we we track our change management. So, we're always we know we can always improve. So, we're always looking to make changes within the system to make it more efficient.

192
00:56:28.240 --> 00:56:44.520
And so, this is tracking all of the the changes within our PeopleSoft system. And right now it's in I think three different systems, um, and with ServiceNow, we'll be able to have it all in one. Um, and the reason why this portion was kind of pushed off in the

193
00:56:44.520 --> 00:57:03.800
implementation schedule is cuz we have internal mitigating uh, procedures in place to ensure that there is no duplication and we're tracking all of the change management. It's just this is going to make it easier for the department. >> Thank you, Ms. Fedrick. >> Are there any other [clears throat]

194
00:57:03.800 --> 00:57:21.760
comments? If not, is there any other discussion, uh, before we adjourn? >> Yes, Mr. Mr. Chair, um, I heard your silent and your soft retirement from the audit chair, and I just want to tell you, since I heard it, I have to say thank you, although I have another 11 12

195
00:57:21.760 --> 00:57:36.080
months to do that. I just want to say thank you for the services that's rendered to the audit committee. Um, your leadership has taught me some things. Just the way you approach issues. So, I wanted to say thank you

196
00:57:36.080 --> 00:57:52.440
since you gave us your soft um walk away today as the audit chair. >> Thank you. Okay, is there anything else? Uh if not, our next meeting is scheduled to be August 21st. We're back to the Friday schedule. Uh

197
00:57:52.440 --> 00:58:00.080
so, if there's no further business, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Thank you. Meeting adjourned.