RSM team outlines timelines for instructional-materials, procurement and cybersecurity audits

RSM consultants presented the district's monthly internal audit dashboard at the June 16 Lake County School Board workshop, detailing progress on three active engagements and a planned teacher survey.

The presentation, led by RSM and summarized to the board by Ava (RSM auditor), said on-site visits and detailed testing for the instructional-materials audit are complete and a survey of classroom teachers will be issued during teacher planning week beginning Aug. 4. "We'll be sending that out on the teacher planning week," Ava said, adding the team will exclude any internal test responses from final analysis. The survey is intended to supplement the auditors' fieldwork and be incorporated into a draft report for the board.

Why it matters: The instructional-materials audit will combine document testing, on-site walkthroughs and teacher responses; the district and auditors said timing is intended to capture representative teacher responses when staff return in August. Competitive-procurement testing is in its final document-review stage and is expected to be the first draft report delivered to the board in July. The cybersecurity maturity assessment is scheduled to begin the week of July 21, with RSM estimating a four- to six-week completion window after kickoff.

RSM described next steps and timelines. Ava said the audit team had finished on-site work for instructional materials, completed sample selection for procurement testing, and sent a follow-up request list to management. "We typically have a follow-up request list that's sent back to management with anything that, any follow-up questions," Ava said. For procurement, RSM said the draft report depends on management's responses to those follow-up questions; presenters told the board they were coordinating a workshop date to present the draft once vetting with management is complete.

Board members asked about survey content and coverage. A board member asked whether textbook managers (the district staff who handle textbook distribution and storage) would be covered by the audit and the survey; Ava said the audit team had already interviewed textbook managers during on-site visits and that some of those data points would appear in the survey's later pages. A board member also asked whether union representatives (LCEA) had been interviewed; RSM said not yet and that they would schedule meetings on request.

RSM and board members discussed practical constraints that affected timing. Auditors, district staff and board members noted summer schedules and leadership transitions as reasons the instructional-materials audit timeline pushed into late summer. Ava said the team would aim to complete fieldwork before sending the survey so that the teacher responses could be folded into a near-final draft. On cybersecurity, RSM said turnover in district leadership had delayed an earlier kickoff but the team would restart the week of July 21 and expected to complete the assessment within 4'to'6 weeks thereafter.

District staff and auditors emphasized quality control and vetting before public presentation. RSM asked for any feedback on the draft survey prior to deployment and reminded the board that the monthly dashboard will continue to be sent to members at the end of each month.

The auditors left the meeting after questions and said they would return to present draft reports when ready.