School Board Workshop

I. CALL TO ORDER II. PUBLIC COMMENTS Public comment is not an open forum to discuss matters unrelated to education, to support or oppose candidates for public office, or to engage in commercial speech attempting to sell a service or product to the School Board or public. Also, public comment is not a forum to attack individual school system employees or Board Members. Any such complaints should be submitted in writing to the Superintendent for appropriate handling. Finally, this is not a forum for addressing issues involving individual students. Because of privacy concerns, such issues should be submitted in writing to the Superintendent for appropriate handling. Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address the Board. Speakers must stand at the podium and not approach the dais. This is a business meeting of the School Board and the public expects that we conduct it in an orderly, efficient, effective and dignified manner. We request that speakers keep this in mind when making your comments. We also request that the audience keep that in mind and not demonstrate approval or disapproval of what a speaker has said by clapping or booing. The Board appreciates the public's input and will listen attentively, consider each comment, and usually will not respond, enter into debate, or answer questions during comments on agenda items or during the public comments section. PUBLIC INPUT INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Before you begin speaking, please provide any handouts to the Agency Clerk. 2. Please identify yourself only by your full name for the record. 3. You have no more than three minutes to speak. Please stop speaking when the bell rings. 4. Florida Law requires all citizens to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion at public meetings. 5 . WARNING: Any individual who interferes with the expeditious or orderly process of a School Board meeting, will be subject to removal from the meeting pursuant to Section 1001.372(3) Florida Statutes at the discretion of the Chair. Orderly fashion is deemed as, at a minimum (1) no profanity (2) no vulgar language (3) no discourteous, disrespectful, or disparaging conduct. III. WORKSHOP 1. Audit Committee Quarterly Report to the Board and CRI Payroll Audit Report 2. Board Discussion Regarding the Audit Committee and the Citizen Finance Oversight Committee Agenda July 25, 2024 School Board of Manatee County Workshop - 9:00 AM Walter Miller School Support Center Board Room Times Indicated are Approximate 1

IV. ADJOURNMENT 2

i guess it's a lot of excitement for one day. >> Hell's nobody can leave The tie still too far just need to get the children organized. How could you never mind? Now, >> Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the JULY 25th. 24 school Board of Manatee County Workshop. I'd like to officially call us into order on the agenda. We have public comment. We do not have any public comment. So will skip item number 2 public comments and move directly to item number 3, getting into the workshop. First order business is the audit Committee quarterly report to the board as well as I know you all have apparel audit update. Whoever wants to go first up to you So come on that. >> Thank you, MISTER CHAIRMAN members. You are receiving the payroll report. Presented to you this I'm bringing a recommendation of the audit committee that would be approved. We found one item of concern and it's a way it's handling exceptions. The timesheets and it wasn't that it was necessarily being done wrong. It wasn't being done consistently. We have a recommendation that the Markle expand on more. But the point I want to bring out is, you know, my wife is retired. I've been with the school board associated for many years and years ago. Parros mess. And that absolutely mess. And to get to this. Look, this review with one. Low risk exception is really a tribute to the staff and the leadership that has helped bring it back around. That's the last item on our. 24 on a plan. 23 24 finishing that up. The next thing we'll be doing seeing in our SEPTEMBER meeting is the reviews for the procurement contract. We did that come contract compliance and the mtc financial aid every time you do want to use the few open items, things to follow up. Are you going to do this? We're trying to put the clothes doing things and signed, sealed and delivered. You approved. Engagement letter was cri to last board meeting. Apologize. You guys went too fast. I at the end of the agenda and I says, well, if I stood up at 6, I'm >> o haha. >> it is the 5th year of their 5 year contract. They did bring a new master services agreement which carry over to any engagement with separate engagement letters. For this. 24 25 on a plan. We start off with a sale surtax which is required will be moving into that soon as the documentation is available. We're looking at facilities and maintenance. This has been put off so that we could finish the other planning on it from the other. Doing in the human resources and compliance and then the internal accounts internally counts hasn't been. Are looked at by the audit committee for 2 years last year. They were pretty intense with the. External auditor. What we're looking at for this year's going to be changes. New principals, new-look keepers, other items that have caused perhaps a disruption in the flow. He does 2 things. Number one lets them know we're looking at a number 2 because everybody involved a little bit of assurance that what somebody is receiving is is intact. But somebody signing out retirement or transfers is is appropriate. So that's what we're doing with those. The facility's educational planning construction. Not it is is is very close to completion. I understand they have a few items are closed, clearing up and hopefully we'll have it to you soon. Waiting for that. Before we go into facilities so that we can see what they did with their scope was with their findings, were and make sure we don't go back over the same thing. Again. There's other areas that we're looking at, we don't want to repeat anything. We don't need to go reinvent the wheel. Waiting on that. We've got the rfp for internal audit services for a 5 year period. Starting next year, starting for 25. 26 again. See our eyes in the last year. Their 5 year. The last time we went out to bid. They had a 5 year. Contract. This is the last year for them. Are doing that. Meeting with deputy superintendent sellers purchasing director myself to try and make sure. The language is appropriate. Language is clean. It doesn't have stuff from external and internal language mixed up. So that we take it to Committee on in SEPTEMBER. I hope. Otherwise would be NOVEMBER before we could see it again. So we're pushing to get the September meeting. Have that here it in your hands is to look at it in a timely fashion instead of having to push a rush. We do want to have. The request out in the late fall NOVEMBER DECEMBER at most, give them time to get back to us to give them time. The winner of the bid to organize, get back and get set up. So that's what we're hoping for. There. We've also been looking for additional on the committee members, this 4 men and one of the other members Metzner met with one there, apparently very pleased with. I had a chance to individually talk with them yet that the report I got is gay. So we should have 4 members for not too distant future and still looking for others. Stop for questions before bringing markup to present the payroll report. Any questions for me? >> I am on good >> one you said that. Time exception. Reports was the only real. Thing that on some and everything that you're looked at was through the 24 school year. 23, 24 So you've got all for 23. 24. School year. That's what I was saying. This is the last of the things we had on our list to do. >> For that school year. Other thing, the post on reviews to close out what we've had issued earlier in the year. >> So that was everything through 30th, 30030th. Okay. After the close of the box, I'm guessing you've got all of Union. >> We'd look at real-time data right now. The sales tax of tax we did last year was based on the 23 report. We can do the 24 important Bill. It's there that so some of that is there now. The pay wasn't real time. Contract compliance procurement. We looked at what was happening at the time. We came in and looked it was not stale, it's as fresh as it could be looking at The surtax report is a year you're behind. You're just the nature of it. Okay. But we have received. All the data and information. That's one of the advantages. We find is use the same from everybody knows each other. Everybody knows how they go. We do need to take an active look. You always take a look again. See what's out there. See what's competitive. That is made it a lot smoother I do real time and makes chance. Okay. For veteran with hearts. >> a quarterly basis or real-time. Like you're saying, ok? Thank you. >> In the other comment. I want to thank you just thanks for for what you all that and the committee do. I appreciate you said it with the facilities, the maintenance, you know that not to review anything they've already been doing. And and I appreciate that from from a staff standpoint, thank you for the recommendation for speed. And when you all would like to see that. And we'll make sure we get on the SEPTEMBER calendar to Work out with the board how you know, what we need to do for that rp. And so thank you very much. Hope I'm sorry. >> Have a question. Maybe was former legal counsel can. So what other legal requirements, the audit committee, my understanding is that we are required audit committee and their legal function is to recommend an auditor. Is what? What exactly is the? >> You know, the answer just that you have the annual audit and the verified by You >> But for water. So is there a legal requirement actually having an audit committee or citizens community as he was in the past there there is no legal recourse. Your best practice? It's best practice, ok? We've decided to do that on this board is. >> 10 years ago, 10 years ago when the we were things number by the state to figure to me. That idea. >> just so you know, they're the statute you might be referring to is the auditor selection committee, ok? That is by statute and has to have a board member. >> And we. >> The board decided to use the audit committee as members of auditor selection committee. And that is for the external auditor external. So I'm not which is our internal audit. >> Right. However, their charter. Calls >> The audit committee to be involved in the auditor selection committee and take on whatever other auditing. Engagements. So the plan is. To use that use Auditor Selection Thank I would add one more. >> they also were given the mission of the sales surtax review. As soon It was with the proviso that it be. Use. The funds you know, reviewed by an external. Ok? So that was tacked on as well committee So thanks. >> Thank you very This is coming up. Still your thunder little bit, but it's all Haha. But there's not a lot of thunder. Haha morning, everyone. >> 2 days so for get into, therefore that will reserve U.S. He talk about the report. So what we did is you'll see a little bit different format in this about 4 or 5 years ago. The current report you're you're used to seeing. >> We change based on feedback from the audit committee and some of the members at the time on how the structure And we're kind of moving a little bit more consistent and how we provide to the reports. Between there and now a lot of reports started to get information was requested by some audit committee. Members of executive summary that was already in the report. It didn't flow as good as you would have some of the background section. And then when you get the testing, you have more background and more detail. That was kind of more for the work papers. But that was kind of what was Rick Quest didn't have been done before, which added a lot more time in creating the reports reviewing reports on our and on the assigned audit. A committee liaison to the audit management. So we want to make our We'll more structured how traditionally have him at the firm. I worked with Ginger said she was the audit committee liaison to this audit. We took a example of previous audit that we did and compared it WeWork turn, I worked through a chance, some good recommendations and also talk with Jim about what we'd like to see the report so that the end user, which is the audit committee and the board has really what's the objective? What's the scope? What's the conclusion? What you know, what are highlighted? Exceptions are the findings. And then you know what? Details and the scope. So that's kind of why this report looks a little bit different and format you know, kind a walk through a little bit. But something that we work together on a committee of myself to make sure that we had a report that they felt was more user friendly and that could identify the items that they You know, within a report. As Jim mentioned, that we have one item that was a observation that had to do with time card timesheet exception reports. So we found that they were working throughout a cycle exceptions and you'll see that on Page 13 Matrix, which we added This matrix and there were before you have to kind of read through the report to kind of find where items were at or exceptions were. So now we're highlighting them in a matrix so that you can go right to with the exception was. But we found a man was working at they just were not keeping the last for Jen of it prior to time Carter approvals. So was it would be difficult to demonstrate our show that those were cleared before approving the time card. So we had to do additional testing where we selected a sample and all those were cleared. So we felt that the rating of Lowell was appropriate because they were being cleared. Now, if we went through and saw that they weren't cleared and there are issues than that rating probably would have been higher. But it was just more of a documentation of management keeping that final version of that exception report to demonstrate their been cleared. So they've army respondent that they would keep and their prior to it so that you can see that. Yes, they're cleared because when we went did this on it 5 years ago, this was a a item that came up where they weren't being cleared and then we did the post audit review. We found that versions were being kept throughout the last day of processing where it was easy to see as all of them were clear because there was nothing on the report or if it was on the report. It wasn't from that previous payroll period. This time it was little bit more difficult to tell. Those were cleared since that was not being kept but management was able to demonstrate that those were cleared. So that's why the rating was low. And then you could see on the last couple pages attachment a on 15. So we were I worked with Ginger. She really want to make sure that we have a scope and detail procedures since we're not having we changed the format. So within this, if it was an exception, you would see it in the observation Matrix. And if it was an exception that that item, there are no issues with it. So it's really report by exception with this observation Matrix instead of saying no, no exceptions are all cleared we want to provide this attachment at the end of kind of give you the detail what we tested throughout the audit and the steps we did and kind of make it a little bit. Easier to to read instead of burying burnt bearing items throughout the report. If you have questions on the report. Number. >> Gideon Meir, maybe doctor. Why some cancer talking there any time that you're looking at contract labor or is it just are? Because I know in a contracted laborer, we pay. I'm just curious. You know You don't look at that part right on us. Looking at employee gets in place. That sure because I know we have contracted laborer as well. So okay. >> I when you say the time sheets picture pay for taxis. We're people soft in in. The most recent one in people talk is not capped. >> The report for that. So produce the report throughout the pay each and payroll specialist clear those they work with the different schools or departments. They're assigned to clear these exceptions like maybe someone didn't punch out, you know, that punched in the next day. So it shows they work there's all sorts of exceptions. So they work those with them. And then the last day before processing payroll. They work the remaining ones. They just weren't keeping re running the report to show yes, they're all cleared. You we press the button and say everything's good and process payroll so that that kind demonstrate any remaining ones were corrected so that you feel comfortable that you process payroll with all the exceptions cleared. >> Was there a procedure? Last time payrolls on That is not in place now. And if so, you know how that happened, that it dropped. >> I just think it wasn't being kept I don't know if there is a formal procedure, but it just. Different payroll administrator so you have a recommendation to. Are procedures in place so that they don't get dropped. We've had big turnover in So. Yeah, I know they do have a payroll, I believe processing. >> This but I could go back and and talking to >> recommend that, you know, when you close a follow up on and I could that. Because this is this is one procedure, but it could have something. Thank you. And now I just thank you for him. Great record. And I like the the new format as well. Thank you. >> I was going to agree. I really like this apartment. That's Thank you so much for Even if. >> what song is that? I was reading in on Page 15 under the exception says. Most of the time exceptions or due to missed punches punches out of order and timesheets by hourly employees. These are spotted and corrected the following day. There are also instances in which an employee might take vacation but also working that day are we still doing like paper punch cards or something new is there not at all like an electronic automated way. Maybe that it well known it interesting. >> Of are submitted the coming of the k leave goes through the computer system that MISTER Rinaldi MAY be able to speak to anything that certainly teachers are punching in I don't there's anything that's key. Yeah, I mean. >> And researchers as >> yeah. There's no physical punching. It's it's all digital. And then I know transportation as IPads that they use that have to be back so some time. So sometimes that causes an issue with the backing of it. Okay. Show up on the exception report. Get get reviewed as well. No country. >> Digital. Is crime. >> visiting hanging chads. You know, cards to play. >> Like that because it says it's done out of order. Like we're still I can remember, you know, having and job and you would some days you you're going on a Wednesday and punched the car. But it was really Tuesday and that messed everything up and saying like, well, we're still doing that, but apparently are not Okay. Great. Let's go ahead. Thank you. >> 2 things I did not get to check. That came up in on a committee that I did not to correct. So as far as the testing results and observations executive summary Page 3, we have a rating in here satisfactory, but we also have won a strong and we don't use it as often, but we probably should. And we recognize that we probably should apply that. We talked about that on a committee that the rating on this should be strong based on what we saw in controls, what they put in place and what they're monitoring within the department. So we feel, you a lot of times audit reports get recognize when things don't go well with certain ratings. But that we probably should recognize them and use that rating. And that was talked about on a committee quite a bit that that would be appropriate. And then I needed to on the last page, people soft utilization. >> That we provided that questionnaire, the payroll department or the payroll administrator and department so I need to add those on the final version of the report. So I that that didn't get change in time. For this draft. >> did you not changed the last 7, 2, center include the put provided the payroll administrator in payroll department. Questionnaire. >> Because the whole department reviewed not just the administrator. So it involved a lot more people. >> process. So those 2 will get changed. >> was at it. I've got question for you, but it's off topic of this report. >> All >> So what do for us. So we talked about. The sales surtax and you off course audit that sales surtax. >> Can you explain? To the board to bike. What does that entail like when you all looking at the sale surtax obviously went to the voters. We said, hey, we want this extra have said it's going go to school. Property said drought we're going it to make sure we're doing that. What do you all look for? How do you do it to determine are we spending that money correctly. >> So aside from making sure the revenue coming in matches deposits and everything that we get into it. We have that there's different projects that are the fine is like a construction projects and then you have like your it type purchases and other things as well. So what does the charter schools? So we do is typically take like a sample based on dollar amount of the project and then select invoices and then verify that that makes sense that that invoices applied to that project. And then we look at the project and c does that make sense based on the resolution and what's the requirement it? So I think we look at your most construction at a school is pretty obvious. I think in the past we've seen construction on this building here, which we product to the audit committee and was determined that should not be sales surtax or at the transportation center. There was an item I think school bus are bus purchases in the past was also identified and discussed it on a committee determined that wasn't proper use. The funds. It items has been up for discussion many times, but it's always been a getting legal opinion that the it use was appropriate and then charter schools were doing the same. We're seeing that the charter schools now about 3 years ago, they moved to reimbursable that they're submitting receipts for their purchases and that those purchases were appropriate based on the resolution, but also state statute which allows some other within the guidance for that. So those are the things that we make sure that their line with. With resolutions said it was appropriate for those purchases. When you do when you. >> When you're pulled samples. You make her a It. You say like project threshold. The dollar amount. Is there a beating over x amount of dollars we pull that MAY be 50 projects that maybe only 10 ever getting on the mean at least pull one for every project or >> it item. And if it's a dollar threshold, I kind of do a thing where depend on the dollar threshold gets more pools. I like construction project that's usually pay application, which is a large dollar and it's pretty easy to tell. That's for that that building and we've done the construction on it before. When we look at pay applications so we feel comfortable with the way those are reviewed approved. You know, it items that might be, you know, one time purchase so some of those that might be a high dollar amount that the invoice might be only one for that purchase where if that dollar amount, sometimes we might select 2 or 3. You know, we don't select 2 or 3 cars. There's only one invoice for maybe computer purchases were I'm a software that's being used for students or other, you know, purposes or leases are things like that. So we make sure that we are we at least pick one invoice from everything. And then we evaluate every project. If fits resolution. >> CHAIRMAN Just a echo audit chairs. Thank you of the of the payroll team the complexity of our system is. Pretty enormous. I'm having now been here for the planning of a school year. We have 7 employees on the payroll department and we're the largest employer in the county. And then when you tack on that, we have 10 month employees and 10 and a half month employees, 11 month employees and 12 month employees. And that each of those employees has 2 or 3 different options for how many checks they get based on. Their situation and some are selling some or elderly that the complexity in that office is extraordinary. And but those folks work very hard having talk to to payroll administrator payroll administrator changed since I arrived both the people in that job take this. Responsibility to get repaid on time and accurately very, very seriously. And so I just to want it want to be sure our payroll folks know. We appreciate them. And certainly the audit validates their work. Correct. >> So I think we're good. Thank you very much. Appreciate appreciate you and everything you are doing Danielle. Thank you very much. You can hang out for the rest if you want >> also that moves us first item to our second item, which discussion regarding committee into this in Finance Oversight Committee. >> I know there's a couple things >> getting to the items. It was a couple things that all Citizens Financial Versailles, Comey, the sea fog did. The quest for muscle and make sure we that. I told him at the meeting that he would do that. This board meeting. So to make sure we cover that board members and then this is a time. I think we talked about this forever. Looking at that. Both audit committees and board members here had thought about the structure. Cassandra so I'm willing to to definitely this in we can do have some of that discussion potentially if we want to so it's going jump into first the recommendations from the see Which I believe. I don't know if that's on our agenda. >> We have a printed copy. Perfect. >> And I got on my screen here. So if you don't have it, I do have it >> so that the recommendations at the end of their their report to be obviously approved. >> First one for charter school to be able to the charter school enrollment. To to see They can look to see to make sure that that they did get the right amount that they were supposed to get based on enrollment and the dollars coming in. So we'll start. But that would anybody have any? >> Coming? So we're not talking about the charter were talking abo