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Cincinnati Public Schools internal audit chief reports progress, 143 of 186 recommendations implemented
Summary
Chief Audit Executive Lauren Roberts briefed the board on the internal audit cycle, introduced a public-facing dashboard, and said internal audit has issued 186 recommendations since her tenure began; 143 recommendations are marked completed (about 77 percent).
Lauren Roberts, Cincinnati Public Schools’ Chief Audit Executive, briefed the full board March 17 on the internal audit department’s work, including a public Audit Committee dashboard, progress against this year’s audit plan and a summary of recommendations issued and implemented.
Roberts told trustees the audit cycle begins with a May–June risk assessment, is approved by the audit committee in July, and drives projects for the fiscal year. She described a new Audit Committee Dashboard the department uses to track external audits, internal audit projects and a history of recommendations.
"Since I began with the district...we have issued 186 recommendations," Roberts said, adding that 143 recommendations have been completed — a completion rate the department described as approximately 77 percent. Roberts also described a recent focus on "auditability" — asking whether a review would be expected to produce a meaningful return before committing audit resources. The department has moved to a mix of advisory, design-review and assurance work to provide timely feedback when processes are not yet auditable.
Roberts said the department has reported two audits recently (BusinessPlus IT and records retention) and invited board members to use the dashboard and participate in risk assessment for fiscal year 2026. Trustees complimented the audit staff and discussed aligning future audit priorities to district strategic goals and the district's restructuring, and asked for continued transparency on outstanding recommendations.
No board action was requested; trustees asked staff to return with a proposed engagement process for FY 2026 audit planning and additional benchmarking against peer districts.
