The School District of Palm Beach County Packet Summary — 2026-08-21
Meeting: Audit Committee - Aug 21 2026
The packet focuses on the proposed Office of Inspector General work plan for fiscal year 2026–27, a draft report on unannounced cash counts at 20 schools, and minutes from the Audit Committee’s July 16 meeting. The work plan and cash-count report remain proposed or draft materials rather than completed actions by the committee.
Key Items on the Agenda
Proposed Inspector General Work Plan
The Office of Inspector General proposes a fiscal year 2026–27 work plan totaling 29,868 staff hours. The plan is based on 20 filled positions as of July 31, 2026, within an office authorized for 22 positions.
Proposed work includes:
- 6,452 hours for required internal-funds audits covering 178 schools.
- 6,462 hours for performance audits and management reviews.
- 1,450 hours for audit projects already underway as of June 30, 2026.
- 9,072 hours for investigations and inspections.
- 1,512 hours for compliance and contract oversight.
- 4,620 hours for administration and support.
- 300 hours for management advisories and website work.
The work plan is described as a guiding document that may change if unforeseen issues or new priorities arise. Proposed audit subjects include purchase contracts, construction change orders, athletics, food-service collections, sales-tax revenue and spending, unannounced cash counts, continuous data analysis, and special requests.
Required Audits of 178 Schools
The plan assigns 6,452 hours, or 22% of the total OIG budget, to annual audits of internal funds at 178 schools. These audits are required by Florida statutes and State Board of Education rules.
Schools with a change in principal or treasurer, or with material and repeated findings from prior years, would receive priority. The work would include testing internal controls and following up on earlier findings.
Draft Cash-Count Audit
The packet contains a preliminary and tentative draft report on unannounced cash counts conducted at 20 schools between March 30 and May 5, 2026. The draft is marked for discussion purposes only.
Funds Examined
Auditors examined $101,132.55 in cash, checks, and change funds held at the sampled schools. The draft reports that the collections were accounted for except for a $5 overage at New Horizons Elementary for which the return to the sponsor was not documented.
The draft recommends that discrepancies among collection records, accounting records, and bank deposits be reviewed and resolved, and that any funds returned to sponsors be documented and acknowledged.
Collection-Control Findings
The draft reports no significant noncompliance at six schools and instances of noncompliance with money-collection procedures at 14 schools. Reported issues include:
- Collections not submitted on the day received.
- Delayed preparation of deposits.
- Change-fund discrepancies.
- Unrestricted access to a drop safe.
- Incomplete drop-safe logs and collection reports.
- Missing documentation.
- Differences between collected amounts and supporting records.
Management’s response states that affected sponsors were automatically enrolled in fiscal year 2027 cash-receipts training. It also notes that District schools processed more than $56 million through internal accounts during fiscal year 2026.
Armored Courier Delays
The draft also reports delayed bank-deposit pickups at Carver Middle, Palm Beach Gardens High, and Hagen Road Elementary. The affected deposits identified in the report total $139,869.90, with reported delays ranging as high as 39 days.
Armored Car Service Contract #23C-10C calls for two pickups per week unless the District preapproves a revised schedule. The draft recommends closer monitoring of the courier’s performance. Management attributes the missed stops to temporary staffing shortages and says it communicates with affected schools and the vendor, prioritizes pickups during shortages, and reconciles missed stops against invoices.
Investigations and Oversight Priorities
The proposed work plan assigns 9,072 hours, or 30% of total OIG hours, to investigations and inspections initiated through complaints, referrals, audit results, and direct contacts. Planned work includes misconduct investigations, whistle-blower matters, safety and security compliance inspections, and administration of the District’s centralized complaint system.
An additional 1,512 hours is proposed for charter-school oversight, contract and procurement reviews, quality-management activities, follow-up on prior recommendations, outreach and training, and risk assessment.
Previously Documented Committee Actions
Minutes from July 16, 2026, record actions from the prior meeting rather than proposed outcomes for August 21:
- The committee unanimously approved the June 11 minutes by a 7–0 vote.
- The committee unanimously recommended extending Chair David Talley’s term for another year by a 7–0 vote. The packet states that School Board approval is also required under the applicable policies.
- The July minutes state that the election of the chair and vice chair would be held at the next Audit Committee meeting.
What to Watch at the Meeting
- Whether the committee recommends the proposed fiscal year 2026–27 OIG work plan as presented or requests changes to its priorities and staffing assumptions.
- How the committee responds to the draft finding that 14 of 20 sampled schools had collection-procedure issues.
- Whether management’s training and monitoring measures adequately address the cash-handling and documentation findings.
- How the District plans to enforce the armored courier contract and prevent delayed deposits.
- Any action concerning Audit Committee chair and vice-chair leadership following the prior meeting’s term-extension recommendation.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials from The School District of Palm Beach County.
