Audit committee endorses recommending internal-performance audit budget to full board

The audit committee voted to recommend that the full Board of Education include the Office of Internal Performance Audit budget in the district's budget adoption process.

Janice Hanson presented benchmarking information from the Council of Great City Schools (data as of 01/28/2025) and explained her FY27 estimate was generated by summing current salary-related expenditures and applying a 1.06 factor to estimate next-year salary needs; she also requested funding for required professional development, noting auditors must complete 40 hours annually, of which 24 must be government-auditing-related.

Michelle Morrison, the district chief financial officer, said the committee's recommendation does not guarantee funding because of significant district budget challenges and that the formal board proposal will be presented on April 28. After discussion, Chair Sullivan asked for committee concurrence to recommend the budget to the full board for consideration; members verbally indicated assent. The transcript does not show a formal roll-call tally; the chair said she will present the recommendation in her report next week.

The committee also discussed training cost-management: membership fees for ALGA and IIA provide discounts but training is not generally free; the Council of Great City Schools conference was singled out as particularly relevant and the auditor asked to include attendance in the requested budget. Committee members asked staff to share the board-budget development process and to allow line-by-line review when possible.

Action taken: the audit committee will present the request and its recommendation to the full board; final funding depends on the board and district-wide budget decisions.