Audit committee approves submission of OIPA budget request and sets follow-ups on work plan and audits

The audit committee reviewed the Office of Internal Performance Audit (OIPA) budget request for the 2025–26 school year and approved sending the request forward for inclusion in the district’s formal budget process.

Janice, director of the Office of Internal Performance Audit, said the request shows a modest increase compared with 2025, driven largely by salary and fringe benefit increases. Janice said roughly $20,000 of an estimated $32,000 increase is attributable to PERS employer cost changes and that most other line items were not significantly changed. "I got the budget numbers related to salary and fringe benefits directly from a budget analyst in our budget office," Janice said.

The committee reviewed benchmarking slides Janice prepared comparing Portland Public Schools with 31 other districts (mostly members of the Council of the Great City Schools). The slides showed PPS slightly below average on several audit‑resourcing metrics (general fund internal audit investment, auditors per $100,000,000 in general fund, auditors per 1,000 students) but noted that district size varies and is not an exact apples‑to‑apples comparison.

Janice also explained the district’s audit standards practice: the district follows the Yellow Book by policy but refers to the Red Book for management/operations matters where the Yellow Book is silent.

Committee action and next steps: The audit committee voted to approve Janice submitting the OIPA budget request for the district’s formal budget process; formal approval of the budget will be made by the full board.

The committee also discussed scheduling and follow-ups. Members asked Janice to add Oregon peer comparisons to the benchmarking materials, and they emphasized that the bond-audit presentation should return to the committee in June rather than slip later in the year. Patty Sullivan proposed June 17 as a tentative date; Janice said she will follow up and confirm availability and try to secure a bond-audit presentation at that meeting.

Committee Chair Patty Sullivan asked each committee member to provide input for the annual performance evaluation of the district’s internal auditor. Janice agreed to circulate a suggested evaluation framework and job-description materials to guide comments.

On future audit topics, Janice asked committee members to provide three risk items each using a template she will circulate; she said she will combine those inputs with an existing risk register (the last broad risk assessment was done in 2016) to prioritize audits and produce narrower scopes that the office can complete within its staffing capacity.

Ending: Janice will circulate the budget request materials, a risk-register list, the evaluation framework and a proposed June meeting date; the committee expects a bond-audit presentation and a return on the student body funds follow-up at the next meeting.