001the October 8th audit committee meeting. Um I'm Clary Sarner, vice chair, but I'll be um running the meeting today. And um first item on the agenda is the um fiscal year 26 audit committee goals. I know we talked a little bit about the goals at the last meeting and I want to kind of refresh uh your memory about some of that discussion. >> One of the goals we talked about was the risk assess risk assessment or budget impact. um pretty much analyzing the impact budget reductions and what they've had on operations, financial accuracy, compliance, etc. would is what goal one would kind of look like. Goal two is uh CPS audit committee statement of value. We talked extensively about the uh statement of value uh document or something formal. says the audit committee values integrity,
002accountability, and transparency as essential to maintaining public trust and supporting the educational mission of Cincinnati public schools. We are committed to providing objective oversight that promotes sound financial management, strong internal controls, and compliance with laws and regulations through collaboration with district leadership, internal audit, and external auditors. We strive to strengthen governance, enhance operational effectiveness, and ensure the responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources for the benefit of CPS students and the community. Um, under that same vein with measuring value, we also talked about um supporting the internal audit KPI and ROI initiatives. And then the third goal was financial guidance. So, um talking more or uh assisting or advising with um levies, long-term planning, uh as it relates to financial initiatives, etc. Um I didn't I know we asked if any of the board members had any
003additional um goals or comments related to our discussions. I personally didn't hear anything back, but if you wanted to speak now or forever with your peace, you can do so. Um, I'm on my I'm on. Thank you for that list. It seems very comprehensive and uh detailed and thorough. So, thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> Sure. >> No. Okay. Um, are we okay with that? Are those goals? We do have to vote on them. So, I just want to make sure everybody is I got the thumbs up. All right. Well, um, that being said, I will take a motion to approve the, uh, fiscal year 2026 audit committee goals. >> A motion to approve. >> And second, >> second. >> And we got the second. Do you have to do a roll call
004up? Yep. We can do a roll call. Uh Clarice Warner, >> yes. >> Rick Janette Addie Carson, >> yes. >> Uh let's see here. >> Uh Liz Gutridge, >> yes. >> Kevin Hoff, sorry. Let's see. Uh Paul Kitsm Miller, >> yes. >> Um Jonathan Young, >> yes. >> Uh Mr. Craig, >> yes. >> Mr. Creset, >> yes. >> Thank you. That passes. >> All right. Well, thank you all. Thank you all. personal thing. All right. Next on our agenda is the audit committee and internal audit charters. Um no, no. Here we go. Okay. So this charter was revised um April 2025 [Music] and we are discussing these because >> yes as part of the charter we're required to annually review both the audit committee charter and internal audit charter. Okay. >> So um we would
005be open to any thoughts feedback suggestions for edits to either charter. I will draw attention that the internal audit charter is actually now out ofd as it refers to the institute of internal auditors prior guidance and standards. So they what they refer to as the red book they recently released this past year a new version. So all of these terms that you kind of see under the authority and professionalism areas are truly out ofd. However, since we're working this year on imple further implementing the audit standards and updating our manual, we thought it could be wise rather than just changing the language, make sure we do a really thorough review of all standards to see if there are other requirements or things we uh may need to truly include in the charter so we don't
006have to come back twice for edits. So if the committee is comfortable, we can do a really thorough review throughout our project this year and hopefully at the conclusion of the the audit year bring back comprehensive list of suggestions and if there are any that happen to impact the audit committee charter as well. >> I'm okay with that. Do we need to vote on that or >> we're okay. Thank you, ma'am. and membership updates. So, um I know we're losing one of our dear meers. So, Liz Kush has decided um who has served with us for several terms and um even in the vice chair role has decided that this will be her last uh commitment unless we can twist her arm and change her mind. Um um but Dan um also who is at
007his term as well for chair has decided or he plans to continue on um with the committee for another term um but not as as the in the chair role. So now is the time that I would like to ask you all to consider um both chair and or vice chair roles as well as think about and we talked about this last meeting as well if we need to open up um and solicit for additional members for the committee. Um I guess right now we're we're kind of fine but if something would happen that we may lose a member or um the like then we want to make sure that we are at close to our our compliment so that you know we have quorums when we come and meet um on our regularly scheduled
008meeting. So um do we need to vote on that part as well? I think an informal direction if if there's consensus among the group we can then initiate if we'd like to fill the role we can initiate the posting of the application. Um the piece that we would like action on beyond that then is if anyone would like to be a part of the committee to review those applications vet the applicants and then bring forth to the December 10th meeting uh candidates for consideration by the broader committee. So kind of a two-fold decision if we would like to initiate the process and if so who would like to participate. >> Okay. So we can have you think about that and then notify us if you're interested in any of those three areas either running for
009um a chair or vice chair position um considering additional folks so that we can prepare the documents and um begin the application process. um and or sitting on the committee to um vet the committee members and we all know how fun that is. So um you can reach out to Lauren, you can reach out to me or you can Dan's still here. You can reach out to Dan, but just think about what you would like to do. Yes. And if we could get a decision today whether uh we would like to open the application then we can um get the full group's direction so we can make that decision right now if possible. >> Okay. So like I said we talked about it last meeting um just to make sure that we had enough people
010um on the committee to satisfy quorums and such. Um what were your thoughts on opening up for additional members? I think we said two just one. I thought it was okay just one >> but if we had two equally great candidate I remember something about two but there we didn't want to turn anybody away so that was what the >> I think one of our considerations as you mentioned as well next year I think we have three or four members who are completing their current term we don't know what the intent of those members may be but I think uh Dan Holt House encouraged us to consider if one or two folks were not to return we could all of a sudden be down a good amount. So I think because I was saying, you
011know, it's a lot of a process to go through for filling one position and he said yes, however, think think to next year. So I think that was his thought there. >> Okay. So what do you guys think about that? >> Um I'm just trying to scan through the the updated charter. We removed the language about a specific number of members. So we don't have a we no longer have a minimum. >> Correct. no longer have a minimum but the maximum is 10 community members. Yeah. So with Liz uh this is being the concluding part of her term we would have one vacancy to be with in our maximum so to speak. >> Any other questions or thoughts? >> Oh I'm sorry. Yeah. >> So, I think so one question I did have was kind
012of like how many uh current members do we have and I think at least from what I'm hearing from Lauren that we would probably be at 10 or if not nineish currently. >> Currently we have 10 and then with this rolling off it would drop down to nine. >> Okay. And I, you know, I think one of the other things we clarified previously when we did the amendments to the charter was that it was the 10 in addition to the three uh board members that were a part of the audit committee. And so I think we're at nine if we're potentially trying to we may potentially have some folks who may step off next year. It is somewhat easier to do one process to gather all of those folks at one time, which is kind
013of what we just did and gathered a couple people at once, than it would be to necessarily have to turn someone away and then ask them to come back a year later. That being said, I think and I think we could also run for a year with nine as opposed to 10 because I don't know we've ever had a time where we've had all 10 be at every meeting. But um I just would maybe put out there the the maybe the question to the team with also the fact that we are also down a person in internal audit. The amount of effort and time it would take to gather somebody if we're and we if we had four or five people again that is a uh amount of labor on the internal audit folks as
014well to to kind of steer spearhead that while they're down in person. So >> yeah, I agree with Mr. Craig. I don't think we need to open it up right now and we'll just roll with the punches after we see what happens next year. >> I don't feel like I can express an opinion, but >> for what it's worth, I Yeah, I feel like um you know, we just added two new members and I feel like nine is or did we add three? Three. Okay. Um, and that feels nine feels like plenty. And especially if it might come up again next year, it seems to me like nine is fine. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Um, I just wanted to thank Liz for her service. She's been an excellent member. >> She's she I think
015you served >> I have one more meeting. >> You served as but I think you served as vice chair as part of your tenure here. So, thank you very much. You've been a very good member. Appreciate it. >> Okay. So, we're all in agreement that we can push this off until next year. All right. So, you can cross that one off. >> When will we revisit this? >> We'll revisit this again this time next year. Uh this essentially we just update the dates on this timeline every year and it's a rolling timeline. And then next year who uh the folks who have a term concluding December 31st of 26 are Kevin Hoffman, Seth Harmon, uh let's see here, we've got Carol Mitchell Lawrence, and Clarice Warner. Those are the terms concluding the end of calendar
016year 26. >> A lot. >> Okay. We will need it then. Okay. All right. Next on our agenda is the report card performance index by Amanda Vargo. >> All right. Good afternoon everybody. My name is uh Amanda Vargo. I'm one of the testing and assessment managers here with Cincinnati Public. Um so I was asked to come and talk to you a little bit about the performance index piece of the report card. Um so this is just a link to the public facing report card. If you haven't seen it, feel free to get in there. There you can see any district or school in the state of Ohio. Um just wanted to make sure you had the link for where it actually is to see all the data. So uh the performance index is part of
017the achievement piece of the report card. Um it is weighted the same as the progress piece and it's weighted those two pieces are weighted higher than the other pieces of the report card. Um the achievement component is based solely on what is called the performance index. And so what goes into the performance index is the percentage of Ohio State tests. So that's the um third grade, third through 8th grade um math, reading, and science tests as well as the six high school end of course exams. Um and it's the percentage of those tests that fall into one of six categories. So untested, they did not take the test and that counts for zero points. Um then there is limited which is the lowest performance level, basic, proficient, accomplished and advanced. And each of those levels
018has a waiting. So the percentage of tests that falls into limited is then multiplied by.3, basic is multiplied by6, proficient is 1, accomplished 1.1, and then advanced 1.2. Those are all multiplied together. Added up and you get a certain number of points. That is your numerator. Then the denominator is the average of the performance index of the top 2% of schools or districts in the state. So it's a moving target every year. Um it's gone up a little bit every year, but it's gone up by about a half a point every year. Um you take the numerator, divide by the denominator, and you get a percentage and that is what determines the rating on the achievement component of the report card. Um so this was CPS's rating. This year we were a 62.8% 8% which
019gave us a twostar rating in achievement. Uh the percentages for each of those categories are along the bottom. So a little under 3% of our students were untested. Uh 35.5% of our um tests were um limited, 18.3 were basic, 17.1 were proficient. Um 12.2 accomplished, 13 advanced, and then there is a category called advanced plus. That's when a student score is advanced but they're actually accelerated in a subject. You get like a little bump up for that. um you actually get a bump up for anything that's above proficient, you get bumped up to the next performance level. So this is a complex chart, but this is actually the numbers that feed those percentages. So if you're thinking like what do you mean like what does 35% actually mean for limited tests? Um so this is
020along the bottom you'll see those same percentages that fed the performance index. And so this is by grade level and subject area. Um how many students actually scored in each of these areas. Not every student is included in the calculation. They have to meet certain business rules to be included. Um such as being enrolled for what is considered a full academic year of time. Um they can't be a first or second year English language learner, first or second year in the um United States. Um and a couple of other more nuanced business rules to be included. So it's not every single kid that takes the test. So this is a comparison of our um 2324 performance index score as compared to our 2425. Um so we were two stars both years uh but went up
021a little bit in our performance index calculation. We reduced uh the number of kids in limited um increase the number of kids proficient or better and also um reduced the number of untested kids because that gives us zero points and that is a very high level quick overview of the performance index. I don't know if there's uh questions that I can answer for y'all. >> I have question you you mentioned we are two stars. What what's the maximum? So you can get up to five stars. All components of the report card can be um rated up to five stars. And then the next threshold, which would be three stars, is a 70% performance index. >> Okay. >> I'd love just your overall reflections on this and um thoughts for the future. What is reasonably attainable
022in a year, three years? >> Yeah, great question. So um the uh overall rating get takes points from each component of the report card and it's actually the percentage itself that contributes to the overall rating versus just like the the stars themselves. So the next threshold for points is actually 65%. And given that we went up almost 3 percentage points between 23 24, if we had that same jump in in increase, we could actually get above the next threshold to contribute more points to our overall rating, which would then increase our overall stars. So, it's a little hard to just make a reasonable prediction when you're not really looking at, you know, the kids who are in seats now and what their projections might be. You know, it's a little bit more nuanced than that.
023But if we continue on the increases we have seen in the past and get above that 65% threshold um I think we'll be in a good spot for contributing to our overall rating. Um the other piece of it I I think that is really important is the progress piece which looks at um how students are how their achievement is moving over time. Um, and I think if we are we are in a place where if we can get that from two stars to three stars, um, which I do think is very realistic for us as a district because progress will drive achievement. Growth is going to drive students moving up in performance levels because if a student is scoring really low on a test, they can make a ton of growth in one year and
024they can score limited in year one and still be limited in year two because just the way that the scale scores work on the test, it's a huge range of scores that that are limited. So a kid can start really low. They can make a lot of progress year-over-year, but it could take them a couple of years to get out of limited. Um so I prescribe to the um idea that progress drives achievement. And so I think if we can get progress up um which you know we're we're moving achievement, we will continue to move achievement in in the way that it needs to be to go. >> That's great to hear. Thank you. >> Yeah. What are we doing for the growth and development for our teachers to ensure the growth and development of
025our students? >> Okay. Hi everybody. Uh so I hope you can hear me. Is it okay? Nope. I need the microphone. Yes. >> So um in the spring the senior leadership team reviews the preliminary data that we get and then we begin to have conversations to address just your very question. And so it drives the professional development that we plan and sometimes offer in the summer and then in early August as teachers and principles begin to come back to school and then that professional development translates to the teachers uh and then they implement it in the classroom. But we don't just leave it at the professional development and for the teachers to implement. The followup is some supports that we have here centrally that are out in the schools to be able to answer any
026continuing questions. It's almost like, you know, when you're taking the class, you think you understand, but then actually putting into practice may be a different um challenge. And so we do have support here in CPS and at the district level to support teachers in the implementation. And so to keep a close eye on just what Miss Vargo was explaining, we do have benchmark testing throughout the school year to give us an idea of what progress the students are making. And so if they are making great progress, we continue that work. We provide them with enrichment opportunities. If we see that there are still some gaps, then there are pieces that we can put in place in order to close that gap and make sure that the kids are being successful for the upcoming uh fall
027for third grade reading and then in the spring again for all other testing. >> Any other questions, comments? >> Okay. I'm happy to make comment as well. Now, but um this is this district has some reservations about the state report card for any number of reasons, but we are glad that the administration and the board is is concentrating on on much of it. Uh especially as we know we're going to be before the public this November and in all likelihood next November as well. Um uh if you see the literature for the preschool promise uh levy uh you will see that we continue to say that of the urbans of Ohio we are highest achieving. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> And I I I'm not sure if it's on the literature. I
028think we asked it to be. Uh I believe two among the urbans uh in Ohio. Where are we on um early literacy? >> I believe we are number one, but I would have to double check. >> Okay. So, we're number one in achievement and we're number one in early literacy. And I do believe with the leadership of the superintendent and a whole bunch of folk um I think we have now met state standards uh for readiness in um college career and military. >> So those are big things. The achievement we've been doing that and we concentrate on that an awful lot for obvious reasons. uh the early literacy piece. Uh I'm I'm saying that's in part because of preschool promise for these 10 years or so that we've been at this. Uh and then of
029course the big push in the district has been career tech uh tremendous commitment to it. So those are moments that kind of nice sunshine uh to that report card. And um the irony is that we can make an excuse as to why this report card doesn't help us. it's made for the uh the hundreds of suburban districts is what it's made for uh of the 607 school districts. Uh and we also look at our who our cohorts are. We have the urbans as a cohort. Uh Mike just was telling me who our financial cohorts are. anybody that's over >> 10,000 which not only includes the urbans but then the big big suburban districts are our cohorts where we get measured against financially and then the other cohorts that we have to uh be looking at
030is our our market Hamilton County and part of uh Butler and part of Warren County that's who we're competing with for kids so it's a it's a it's an interesting effort uh that the administration's engaged in. And I I applaud what they've been able to do over time and recently >> and just to confirm, we were number one in early literacy. >> Good dog. I think um maybe the superintendent can probably elaborate a little bit more, but I think the leadership team has a meeting coming up October 24th to have a strategy planning regarding the report card for this uh current school year. Correct. >> Yes, that's correct, Mr. Cross. So, we have two meetings coming up. One is Friday and the purpose of Friday is to have members of the senior leadership team uh
031curriculum teams in particular and the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers talk about our plans. Monday night at the board meeting, we uh shared with our school board and the public what our instructional plans are for this school year, including some uh things we have been doing and we feel like we're doing well and a few new items that we think we need to put in place to get us to that 65 uh threshold and beyond. And then uh on the 24th of October, we're doing a very deep dive. And so anyone in our district who touches instructional practices, so whether it is our curriculum director, curriculum managers, reading and math specialists, uh our district-wide mentors, they are joining us offsite uh with Mrs. Vargo and other members of her team to do really deep dives into
032each of the components because we want to ensure that everyone understands how to define the component and how to make sure our kids are going to be successful in the components. So if there's any hesitation about what it means because it is a little complex and complicated um we want to make sure we have an understanding of what the expectation is and that's going to take us a bit of time to get on the same page. So we're headed in that direction comments. >> No. Okay. Well, thank you so much for providing the information. Great job. >> Okay, audit update. >> Thank you. So, we will switch over to our audit committee dashboard. And while we do so, we have a few uh brief updates. And again, as we typically um go through our audit
033committee dashboard at a rather high level, but if you have questions on anything in particular, more than happy to deep dive and provide additional context. So, starting at the top of our dashboard, I'll I think Rob's just about to hop on there for us. We have um the items for Oh, no. Thank you. We have the items for your all's review. We try our best to provide documents for you all that are just forformational purposes. A lot of those are our financial reports, of course. Uh but again, try to draw your attention to those. We really want you to review. Um so, we'll talk about those a bit today. We also made a few updates to our dashboard that we will cover with you as well and welcome any feedback or suggestions there. So you'll
034see at the top um under our past meetings there are a few presentations we'd like to draw your attention to. I think they provide great context, especially the finance committee meetings. And then most recently, uh, Treasure Wagner had her final board of education presentation, which I've linked up. It just click on that and it starts right as she presents. And I think it's a great summation of her tenure as our treasure. And then I had the pleasure of speaking to the board on September 8th and reviewed the full audit plan for the year. Um, and that was a great opportunity to share with the public as well the type of financial and oversight work we do. So moving on to our external audits, you can see those highlighted in green are those that have recently
035concluded concluded since we last met in July. All of those audits were marked as compliant. Um many of which are act all of which I should say are grants-based. So as we always uh highlight, we are heavily audited especially in the grants area and are very pleased that we continue to receive such stellar feedback. So kudos to the grants team and the treasures office for that work. Uh further we are currently in the midst of our financial audit led by the Ohio auditor of state for fiscal year 2025. So in your uh digital folders you will find the letter of arrangement with the Ohio auditor of state. And it's notable that this is the first time in about 10 years that we've had the auditor of state directly. Historically, it's been outsourced to a third-party
036Plattenburgg. So, we believe that their purview and the things they may focus on could differ slightly and that was why we included the project this year as an advisory work. Um, and have been working to support Kevin Ashley as he gathers all the information and we do some preliminary testing. Oh, Joseph is here with our superintendent's uh name tag. Come on in. Forgive me. No, no, no. Thank you, Joseph. I felt so rude. So, thank you. Thank you, Joseph. >> Gosh. >> Thank you. >> So, uh moving. Yeah. So, I don't I think uh you know, if we have any further questions about the external audit, uh Kevin is here and and I'm sure happy to answer questions as well. Uh just quickly, was that um unexpected or was that >> No, >> how did
037that Okay. And is that just something they sort of rotate through every so often where they do the audit directly or >> so when they when they decide the state kind of decides based on their staffing and workload. Uh so when they decide to bid it out I think it's usually for three to five years. Sometimes they'll do three years and then just extend it for two. So we've been through, you know, 10 years of the outsource. So their current policy really the last five years or more has been after 10 years they'll take it back for at least one year >> and then the team has actually told us that their intent is that we'll probably go back out next year. >> Oh, okay. >> So yeah, >> that's fun for you to >>
038Well, change it for one year and then have to >> and it's a lot of building narratives and >> learning our process and going through all that. So that's been a little bit more of a challenge this year. Uh if it happens to go back to Plattenburg next year, they'll already be ready to go. So >> Okay. >> But they will go through a bidding process and and they could decide to hold on to us at the state. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> Y >> great. So moving on. Um I think it's important to pause before we jump into our audit plan. You all received, I believe, the departure and goodbye email from Isaac K. So, uh, we'll take a moment to celebrate all of the wonderful work that he did. He joined the team
039as an intern, as a college student, and somehow I got him to stick around with me and build an internal audit department for six and a half years. So, we're incredibly grateful for the time he spent with our team. And to say um, his shoes are going to be big ones to fill is an understatement. Uh, so we shared with you all a memo summarizing our audit. uh staffing plans to fill his position. The short of it essentially is to take his role from a supervisor, which is the level that Emma is as well, and to shift it to a more entry-level position as a specialist auditor, looking for someone two to five years in experience, ideally who's audited before and can kind of hit the ground running in that regard. However, it allows a
040little bit more of a uh difference between transactional level work and slightly, you know, a more advanced work that Emma does, um, as a supervisor and kind of creates that opportunity to lead and coach a younger auditor, which she's more than ready to do to say the least. And so, um, I think that'll be a great growth opportunity for that employee as well, giving them an upward trajectory. Uh, and then taking the extra little bit of difference there in looking for an internal audit intern. Uh, we're going to do our best to find an audit intern who can help us this year. However, as you all know, staffing and internships typically take place um, and they're recruited about a year or more in advance. So, we'll do our best to find a student who perhaps
041could help us uh part-time while they're in school. So, those are our staffing changes um and for for the time being. There may be some impact to the audit plan. However, I think we'll get a better sense of that and can share more at the December audit committee meeting. Um our goal of course is to keep things running business as usual and fulfill the commitment for uh completing the audit plan and the charges from our audit committee and board for the year. So before I continue, any questions or or thoughts in that regard? >> Maybe one quick question. Could you remind us um the projects that were tagged to Isaac and maybe what the current status of those is like on ICE until there's a a replacement or you guys are going double duty? >>
042Yes. So a little both. So Emma's our new um uh expert in past recommendation tracking. So she'll be covering that right now. Um, the agile auditing was a big project Isaac was involved in. So, I've picked up all of that work where he left it. However, the portion that he completed with Justin, our intern, is really complete. It's just, do we want to expand that into other areas? I know when we put our plan together, agile auditing was intended to target those areas identified through our budget impacts work where we may want to do some testing. So, I'd say that would be highly contingent upon filling that role to get that testing back up and running in that regard. Um, the budget impacts work, that was another area that was assigned to Isaac. So, that
043is somewhat behind schedule. However, that is going to be my highest priority um after audit committee to get that rolling. So, I think it's really in my opinion right now it's the scope is not able to progress as quickly. However, the sooner we can staff we can hopefully get those back on target. Great question. Very good. So, uh to just summarize where we are with our projects, as I mentioned, agile auditing, I would say that the first set of of work is complete. Um but to where we have been spending more of our time, Emma is focused on the student data uh project now working with Jeremy and his team to uh reconcile the student information systems with what's reported to the state and the impact that that has on our potentially on our report
044card and funding and all of the other wonderful things our student data impacts. She's also focused on the HR advisory work. Um and that also kind of touches into the Ohio water state focus. So that's kind of a dual project that she's been focused on this uh past few months. >> And as I mentioned, I've been focusing on the Ohio of State work. We've been doing a lot of preliminary testing specifically around the transportation tea reports. And so for my initial review, things are looking good. And hopefully we've been able to turn over the workpapers that we put together for the external auditors to just use and reperform. So I'm hopeful that'll save a little bit of time in that regard. So, uh, any questions on the audit plan before I turn things over to
045Emma to talk through our past recommendation status? Okay, great. Well, Emma, floor is yours. Awesome. So, we can scroll down to the internal audit recommendations tracker section. Um, and you'll notice a lot of changes here. So if you scroll up a little bit, Rob, um we broke out the incomplete recommendations by fiscal year into then two new groups. So hopefully this gives a little more context. I know this is a big um area that the audit committee likes to focus on. Also just the big area in general. So um kudos to Isaac for keeping up with this cuz it is it's a lot. um you'll be able to see the open wrecks that not are not yet due and then the open wrecks that are past due. The goal is um for folks who have
046the dashboard link to be able to click into it and then you guys are able to review at your leisure. I know a Sunday night, nothing else to do. This is definitely what you're going to be looking at. Um so those are two that are broken out from the one that's above. Uh and everything reconciles. I checked 97,000 times at this point. So, um hopefully that gives a little more context. Like I know we've been talking about for a while the one that's been open in 2018. You're going to be able to see it on this um breakout. And when you scroll down, the days past due breakdown for escalation plan is something Isaac had been working on. Um so that's still there I believe. I'm not sure at right this second if you can
047click in and it'll bring you to the information, but that's the goal. Okay, so that does do that. Um here you're able to see exactly what is past due and how long it's been past due. And we also um added a column in for implementation priority. So if it was something that management deemed low, medium, or high, that's kind of where they were able to add in their say. Um it depends um how they read and took each one of our recommendations. Some that are on the lower side maybe that's the one that's open from 2018 and it just could be due to staffing. It could be due to system changes or it could just be um different priorities based on the higher um level implementation dates. Uh so if we go out of that
048section, the bigger section below, we broke out then all of the recommendations into their implementation ranking. So you're able to see if it's not due or overdue, what were high and medium or low. So hopefully this also gives a little more context to what um each area has within their purview. Um, and eventually if I can figure it out, once you click into it, you'll you'll be able to have all of that information as well. So, the last time in July, I believe there were nine that were marked complete and then one um item that went past due. And we've collected all of that information and we'll be following up with management on the past due items um that we see. And um yeah, it's I learned this in like 3 weeks. So um it's
049it's a lot, but I think going forward hopefully this just gives a little bit more context because I know we were always getting qu questions on these areas. Our hope is that once you're able to look at them, if you have a question, you can email us before audit committee or bring your question to audit committee and then we can go back to management and get more information on that specific area. But this gives you a little direct line to management rather than asking us the question. Um so I think that is everything with um status of past recommendations. Any questions? >> I have maybe one question on this. The dashboard's amazing and I I really like all the breakouts and how easy it is to see it by area and by aging, but I'm
050curious if you take a wider view um quarterly basis, half a year basis, something like that. What beyond updating the dashboard, how much of your headspace does this like does to your team um goes to past call findings, you know, remediation of past findings? Is this collecting data from bugging people with emails and then saying send it to me when it's done and I'm going to keep bothering you or are we actively working towards this um as a partner with management? What is the approach? >> So I think we're actively working toward this with management. It's hopefully closing that gap between what we can then audit later in the future. um what tends to happen is we have these recommendations that might not get complete or they're just not a priority for management and this
051way we're able to kind of close that gap with them and keep on them without bothering them too much. So everything in the dashboard is automated to send out emails and reminders for them to then go in and update their sections. Um, from there, once it's marked complete, it goes on our list of areas to potentially audit in the future. Once they're able to mark everything complete in that area, we can then recommend next year in planning. Okay, HR, you know, has marked everything within their benefits audit from 2023 complete. Let's go back and reudit and see what it's looking like now. Um, so that kind of helps us narrow down what there is to audit without um, you know, h we tend to have these conversations um, and things kind of get lost in
052translation. Here we have it each and every single time and we can close the gap at that point. >> And so maybe to drill down on that, if if I get these quarterly, however often the emails are, the automated emails by the system, I know that it's past due. I'm I'm aware that there was a finding. I have reached a roadblock. I'm not sure how to really implement this change. Am I then actively reaching out to to Emma to Lauren and saying, "I need help. Can you guys help me create be creative in how to solve this or is there not a lot of back and forth right now?" >> Um, so they had come up with an escalation schedule. Um, and that's where you're seeing the 0 to 60, I think 60 to 120,
053and then 120 and beyond. Um there are certain things that once it hits that point we will go and have discussions with management. I think the biggest um thing that we are working on too this year is is the recommendation still applicable or have you closed the recommendation or the risk have you close that gap in the risk with something else that you guys have done. So a lot of it is educating management and educating process owners on what is that risk and maybe we made a recommendation at the time that made sense but you guys have done something in the past year or 5 years that you've closed it so we can complete it and move forward and when we go back to audit it we're not going to audit it the same way
054because you've updated the process. So a lot of it I think is also education. >> That's really helpful. Thank you. >> You're welcome John. And I might add uh I think one of the topics that we've approached especially in light of budget constraints and resource constraints is I think we have a few I'm looking at our folks who fill fill these out regularly and we say quite frankly this is a lower priority area and we do not have a resource to do this. Therefore I'm going telling you now I'm going to continue to mark this as incomplete for the foreseeable future. So we've been trying to throw around uh some ideas of how do we flag that maybe put that in a different category. So it doesn't keep bouncing as past due, but maybe we
055all collectively say, "Okay, that makes sense. We're all on the same page." So, Treasure Gustin might have more to add there. >> If I may, I think I have the most things on this list, probably the most that are overdue. So, but we Yeah, we appreciate internal audit for sure. So, I I would say there's a couple of buckets. Um, some of the overdue things are just that we are poor estimators of when we can accomplish things and and so there are some projects that we thought would be much easier and just scope creep or whatnot has pushed that over that we're actively working on. We know what the solution is, we just don't have the resources at this time to really push through. There's another subset that I think we have struggled with. How
056do we know it's done? like like a couple of them for example are I or would say train everyone in this population on a new procedure process well that population changes you know our our staff is you know there's a fairly good staff turnover so so we had to have some discussions and you know I talked brought in audit and said okay you know you know at some point we have to close this like we have a plan in place we have a regular training scheduled we may will never hit 100% of people because you know a person hired yesterday and training is not tuned them off but we feel comfortable that our process catches everyone and so we decided to close those after a long time and there are some honestly like Lauren and
057I had a conversation this month about about there there was a recommendation that I thought was overly broad and and and I pushed back and said this is not implementable and she said let me give you some feedback because it was written kind of broad and I said okay based on your feedback now I think we can develop a plan plan that meets what you want But the wording of it was just too too big to get around. But I said, if you give me an area or give me a specific area we can focus on, I'm sure we can come to come to a a conclusion. >> And I think that's the perfect example because our recommendation was written somewhat literally, train everyone. But really the risk was that there wasn't a process and
058a plan for training. So really by the fact that they have implemented a plan, they have trainings, they have a regular schedule. Our concern is that on a certain day that is not that on a certain day someone isn't trained, but there is a mechanism and a process in place for training. So I think it's some of those nuances and we appreciate the the depth in the you know uh direct implementation that management tries to have but it goes to Emma's point. Sometimes we're more actually saying what was the risk that we're dealing with. So we're working through some of those nuances. Mhm. >> So in those instances where there is an overestimation of actually completing those tests, does the clock then change? I mean, do you go back and then decide, okay, well, we
059were a little ambitious, but this is the actual time frame that we think we can complete that. And that's the part I think we need to think through now that this process has run for about a year or so is what we started with this escalation plan I think rolling out in April and maybe that next level is let's earmark these bring them back to the audit committee and board and if we all management internal audit committee members feel comfortable maybe we either allow a new date to be set or we you know set those aside. I I think I just hesitate to say let's set a new date because that kind of undermines the accountability unless there is good reasoning and we all are in agreement. So I think maybe that's our next to-do
060and step for us to brainstorm on what that may look like. Um I think one of the things that to highlight or just to think about as well is that the where we started from with the number of long-term uh unfilled or uncompleted or incomplete um recommendations to where we are now is is a tremendous step. And I think that is part of that is in in part being able to digest and set tracks and set plans to get them but also being bringing them back to the attention. Um I think one of the things that I maybe wonder about or or inquire about is the idea that we have some things that part of the reason that they're not completed is because there is not the mechanism to complete those tasks right because we
061gave recommendations at a time when you know the recommendations all right we'll come up with this you know have this implemented and there's no system that can be there to implement the first step is to create the system and if that's still working through it's its processes is you know that goal will not be met for a substantial period of time and I think one of the things that may be helpful for us as a committee to sometimes review or think about or maybe put into a different box are those things from which they're making steps but there's a something underlying that require that is required first um to be completed because I think that's the one thing that I you know I've noticed some of the stuff we've had that we've had on the
062list for a long time and that we've seen progress, but maybe not to the level of which to say we're ready to mark it off or we're even really ready to have the conversation about when will we be able to mark it off. Um because we're still trying to figure out what will be the right system work or what's the right process or procedure to make it work. So I think that just maybe the next as you all are developing more information as you're gathering more information that we're able to cross more things off the list. It's like, what are those things that are still on there that'll be on there for a while so that we're not asking you in a year from now, why is this one still on there? Um, when the
063reality is that it's going to be on there for at least a year or two or year or three or four because of where they are in developing those systems and procedures. >> I think that's a good point. >> When you talk about these processes, I think a lot of times we want to just jump in and just, you know, get it done. We don't really the steps that it takes to to get there. And it sounds like to me, and I'm a new member, um, but it sounds like we need to have process maps to kind of map these things out. Um, before we just jump head first in and try to do these things. And I think he made a good Mike made a good point when he he talked about scope creep.
064A lot of times things come up and we want to, oh, we have to do this. Oh, we have to do this. And we don't realize that maybe we can do this, but I have to do phase two of a project or phase three of the project. So I think what we need to do is take a step back, you know, start setting some goal dates, you know, that we want to meet and then, you know, do some check-ins, have some efficacy checks. If you have a recommendation that's been made, have an efficacy check and and see if it's been done. And if they haven't been done the way that you think it should be done, then you go back and you address that. Um, but I think what it sounds like is just it's
065a whole we have this whole big bucket of things that we have to do, but we have to prioritize those and say, "Okay, we're going to get five done this year as opposed to trying to address all 500 at >> Yeah. I was just curious of the unc uncompleted uh recommendations uh which ones and this is really a question for the internal audit team. Which ones are like the highest risk that are keeping you up at night that haven't been completed? Are there any or are these things that are just can take their time to get resolved? So I think um if we go into that breakout um that one we can see in real time which ones we in management had ranked as higher priority. I believe most of them if my smart sheet
066will load um end up being with benefits which we've had many discussions about um at this point and then there were a few with pec card um and transportation. So those were the I would agree with management if they think those are the highest priority. Those are most likely the highest priority ones that we would want to see closed out eventually. Um, but you'll be able to see within this tracker their update and what they've kind of said toward that progress. Some of them is they've hired like transportation. I can see right now they've hired a new director. They're going through that new process with them and hopefully once she's in place and able to get a grip on the world of transportation that will then eventually close. I know I think for the past
067like year or two that kind of was a back and forth with that position. Um benefits we've had I've had many discussions with them the past two months that I've been back and they've gone through um in real detail and come up with a plan to close out the remaining um open items under their purview and then a timeline in which they'll go through and kind of audit themselves. we'll be able to have a discussion about them with that audit um and hopefully eventually down the line uh go back and audit that area as well. But um it gives us good context when they're able to go through and rank themselves because they know their areas the best what um which ones they should hopefully be looking to close out first rather than the lower
068priorities. Thank you ladies. Next we have the financial discussion and forecast by >> put the microphone between Kevin and I so we so we can tag team here. Um, on on Monday, we did present the budget and three-year forecast, what's formerly known as the 5-year forecast to the board. Uh, I'm not not sure how many folks watched the the riveting presentation that Kevin gave. Sure. I'm sure some I know Lauren always includes the links and always does a good job of adding calendar invites. So just to very quickly summarize uh looking at this year's this year's budget and forecast at this point we're we're trending about $5 million below where we projected for revenue. Couple of factors there. The biggest one um it's really the biggest hit is in um property taxes. So prop the
069delinquency rate went up. So that was that was unexpected. Um there's some big reappraisals. There's also some push on some utility properties are at a lower rate. They're appealing their their appraisal. So until the appeals settle, they get to pay the lower amount. So hopefully those things bounce back as we get into into next year's tax collections. So that would that would be good. Otherwise, um thing things are on track for the most part. Would you say, Kevin? Yeah. And then the second half of that is we shared a couple things we shared. We shared a an early early target for next year. So So we anticipate very flat very flat revenues. Anticipate next year's budget target will be 634.2 million. So that's about $500,000 less than this year, but but very flat overall, which
070I think is is a good thing. And we can talk if you want about about some threats to that, but but at that point, that's where we're looking. And then obviously we forecast out the the other outy years so that we can file for the state. I mean one of the nice things is that our board has committed to keeping expenditures in line with revenue and and so a lot of districts forecast if you look are are kind of this falling off a cliff where where their their cash balances fall off a cliff in in years going out as we go further out. We do not have that. I will say though that um when we did the forecast, one of the things that we were able to point out is because the levy on
071the ballot in November is renewal, you know, we have to show the forecast without that and it gets put into a column below and and you can really see the impact. You know, we go we go negative cash and 28 without the levy, right, Kevin? Yeah. In TW in as early as fiscal year 28, so two fiscal years now, we go we run out of cash without without that levy. So, so that's why it's so important, you know, that we keep that in the forefront um for this year, just even though it's a renewal, you know, we count on that funding to stay steady. >> Did you have anything you want to add? >> Yeah, the only thing, and I I know Mike has mentioned this before, um with the change in the law, we
072cannot go for a renewal after this November. So, it would have to be new money levy. If it were not to renew, it would lose the homestead and roll back. um contributions from the state as well. So, so it makes it even more imperative because typically we have about a year to get the renewal in place. So, normally in the in the past, you say, "Okay, well, if it doesn't pass the first time, we can just turn around and try again and hopefully the voters will change their mind." But in this case, this is kind of a oneshot deal with the renewal. And then um we would have to look at other options just to keep that same amount of revenue. >> Um probably a good spot to stop for questions on that part. And
073I do want to talk briefly about House Bill 186 as well. So are there any questions on the on the forecast itself? Okay. See, Kevin, you did such a good job. Such an excellent job. Um, one of the threats to to our funding that I want to make people very aware of, I talked about this Monday and I'll talk about it Saturday and we're going to keep talking about it until until it gets some traction. So, there are a series of bills pending in the Ohio legislature under what they call property tax reform and there and there are a bunch of them and some of some of them are more likely than others. This one seems pretty likely to get through in in some in some semblance. And what the House Bill 186 uh and
074the idea behind it is that it takes school districts are on the 20 mil floor and we're one of them. U and when there are property tax reappraisals, what it looks to do is reduce the amount of increase in in revenue a school district would get. You know, because we got a 20th floor, when there's a reappraisal, we do get some additional money because we hit that floor. So we so we get additional revenue and and it's somewhat based on the increase in property tax values. So what House Bill 186 looks to do is look at inflation over the same period. So So in Ohio, your property values are are reassessed every three years. There's a reappraisal every six and then there's what's called a triunal update that comes in between. But but in effect,
075you get a new value for your h for your house every every three years. House Bill 186 says, "Okay, let's look at inflation in that same three-year period and give the taxpayers a credit so that so the school district the rate of money the school district increases won't be more than inflation." So it ties property values to inflation, which we can talk about why that's a bad decision and different thing, but but we've always looked at that as a future issue, right? Standard house built 186 in was always a future thing. So, we knew when we went to do a reappraisal, we we would get less money than we could have gotten, you know, and may and maybe that was 5 million in one year, maybe 10 million another year, but you really didn't know
076because you don't know how much property values are going to increase into the future, and you don't know how much inflation's going to be over that same future period, you know, especially especially in the current times. You know, both of those things are are out of traditional norms. So, but we always said, "Okay, well, you know, it's a pro. It's a future problem we have to deal with. We'll get some additional money, just not as much as we should have." The new substitute House Bill 186 now takes that law and applies it retroactively. So, now it looks to go back two years, which would hit our last reappraisal. And I think our property values went up 30 some% last reappraisal. I mean, it was a big one. It was a big reappraisal. So, if this
077passes a as as written, the substitute bill as written right now, the current the current version, we would lose $14 million immediately. Immediately. And then we would lose 25 to $28 million over each year of the next two fiscal years. This would be an immediate huge impact on our revenue. And so this is why I'm telling everyone who will listen, you know, this is now's the time to reach out to your legislators. Now's the time to start start making contacts, you know, and if nothing else, please ask them to to take out this retroactive portion of the bill. There's some discussion that it's unconstitutional. I mean, I've heard that because because you're going looking backwards and a lot of times it's retroactive laws. There's lots of issues with those. But but I think anyone who
078who has an opportunity, ask them please to take out the retroactive portion even if they support the bill as a whole. Um I don't know what the difference in um options are or types of organizations, but I know this year the library has reached out to the public and provided a very uh like succinct easy form for people to contact their legislators when there were threats to library funding. Is is that an option for CPS that they can contact a large group of people and say press this button and and ask, you know, ask your legislators this because I it seems like it was successful for some of the library funding threats that they had. I I know in the budget process, we did do a letter campaign and and we pushed that out on
079the district's website and I think through some of the district's social media um channels and and made it and you know had some sample letters had here's here's all here's here's the legislators, here's here's our addresses, here's how to contact them. I know we've done that. I don't think we've done a push campaign like that. >> That's true. Wow. >> I mean, yeah. I The only reason I bring it up is because it was it was like well, however they structured it, it was very easy. It took like 30 seconds to do it. Um, and then, you know, we received feedback later that that it was successful. So, it felt like, oh, I, you know, I did a good thing. That was a good 30 seconds. Um, so that you know, >> and I will
080say like those letters matter. I mean, I've talked to >> several legisl sever several current legislators and in in my in my work here and all of them have said like like people don't understand letters, emails, they they make a difference. Those get read, those get there's a pulse, you know, they're looking for the pulse of the community and and so so reaching out really does matter. I was just going to share uh so last year, Treasurer Wagner and I both wrote letters uh to give to our constituents asking them to put their signature and uh forward it on. Uh I have had opportunities to meet with many community groups to ask them in person to do the same. I'm so sorry. And then finally, specifically, we had several um engagement sessions last year. one
081at different parts of the city, one at Pleasant Ridge Monastery. Representative Isaxson came down and helped us out um sharing his perspective and giving suggestions for what the public could do. We also had Cedric Densen at one and then um we also uh had Katherine Ingram at a third session. So, we do plan to continue to do that this year. I feel like we've been very supported by the legislators close to us and so I don't I don't think that's a difficult ask. So I appreciate you bringing that up. >> I just want to point out like I think Treasure Gustin brings up a great point with this one, but I think it's also just part of a concerted effort. And so what we have to recognize is this is not the only bill that's
082going through Congress right now to affect how schools are funded. And most of them, at least what we're seeing right now, are really focused around that idea of the 20 mil floor and ways to affect how schools are able to bring in resources and bring in levies. And you know, part of it, I think there is a measure of success that can come from kind of the letterw writing campaigns and the pressure mounting campaigns. I think we we may also want to start thinking about is our ways to collaborate with some of our areas like our rural communities and some of the other areas that would also be affected by some some of these changes that are not the there's have some of the unintended consequences right. So if we are really encouraging those folks
083who are in other areas that you know may not have historically thought they were going to be the target of some of this who then become subjected to it and I think that's where we did see a lot of effort with regard to especially libraries and communities that were where the library was like the only source of internet for a community or was the only source of uh space where students could could go and learn outside of school. it became like oh wait a minute they're going to close and we don't have that resource and that made a lot of uh state reps have to change their thought process around that. I think the other thing I would say is that we will have some things that we'll be some challenges we'll be facing especially
084with some of our other levies already that have questions of technically what does the bill that they pass for the budget actually say um and the uh overturn vetos actually mean when it comes to how some of our levies will work when they come back up again. Um, and I think there's some there were some recommendations made by the the property tax committee that probably were not in anywhere near in alignment to what would be helpful for schools. But what it will also mean is in future years there's going to be a need to have kind of a very strong presence about what CPS means and and why the community here may have to share some of that burden share more of that burden than they necessarily would would probably expect to and and that's
085in large part because the state's not providing. So I think that is there is both the effort the need to kind of communicate with the state legislature but it's also the need to talk with our local community and provi and provide them with a a viewpoint of the district in a way that encourages them to support and continue to be thinking about ways to uh support us. And then there are also the third thing I'll say to that is that there are going to be things that true to this committee that we've been focusing on about how does the audit committee and internal audit actually work to improve how the district operates in a way that would be the potential cost savings because I think this is even more critical to say what are the
086ways that we are trying to become more efficient and more effective and how does the audit committee help with that? How does the audit team work to improve that process to demonstrate the value? Because I think that's the other part is that we can go out and we can say we have clean audits, but what does a clean audit mean? >> And to a parent who is not paying attention to a committee meetings, we know we know that many do. We know that we have high viewership. Um but for those folks who are not, we have to be able to communicate why the work that is done here, why the work that's being done in the district, why that's be allow the district to operate in a more fiscally smart way, in a way that
087is more consistent with being effective and efficient with our dollars if we're going to make the ask of them in in future years for more. And I think that's the one struggle we are we're going to have is that we have to both do it on the academic side but then also do it on how do we operate as a as a district because the narrative that's being put out is that districts are just basically sitting around with all these extra dollars and that if they go by and take these the take these measures on levies that oh those extra dollars are just sitting on will come back to you as a as a homeowner. And the truth is that we have never operated on all these extra dollars that some other parts of the
088state where they're having these 60 and 70% carryovers, 100% carryovers. We don't operate in that fashion. And so it doesn't just hit those districts where it's large pools that they can pull from. >> Any other questions, comment? I I like the idea of the proactive nature of communicating to folks on this is where we are today, but and this is what we have in front of us. If we don't go in the right direction, this is the impact and what it could look like. Um, and I think again, I'm always an advocate for being proactive. So having the conversations early now um I think would would serve the district well. Oh, I thought it was question. All >> maybe just one more point on the uh operational efficiencies and kind of driving that value proposition.
089I I do think that not to put more pressure on this team, but that's that's where the internal audit team, you have such a unique perspective being able to take the long view of the organization that you know, I would really challenge you and use us as as a resource as well, but to continue to be creative and, you know, it's helpful to have somebody reviewing your process who's separate from it and can always suggest, you know, is that really the most efficient way delicately um to to do things And so continue to um flex that muscle because that's how we're going to be able to show that we can give back to the district. >> You set us up perfectly, John, because uh when we were talking through the audit committee goals and the
090value statement, Emma did a project last year focused on KPI and ROI of internal audit and what does that look like? So we were thinking for the December 10th meeting we could do a presentation taking that work and kind of updating a little bit based on our current conversations and uh brainstorming with you all as to how we want to measure and then therefore communicate the value of audit and I think that really all ties in with the audit committee as well as the greater goal. Um so if that's agreeable to the committee we can tentatively put that on the agenda for discussion in December. Okay. cuz he had not. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um so we're at any other business. Is there any other business that we needed to to
091discuss today? No. Okay. Hit our time. Okay. All righty. So, the next um meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 10th um here at 4:30 p.m. Do we have to do um a motion to adjourn? Yes. So, I would like entertain any motion to adjourn the meeting. >> I'll make a motion. >> All righty. >> Second. >> I'll be ready to go. >> No, not at all. Um, do we have to do a roll call? No. Okay.