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Committee hears corrective action and audit updates; administration promises surge plan
Summary
Officials described progress on CAP 2, ongoing FY24 audit work, plans to add outside contractors and a timeline for WUFAR/WIFAR integration; the committee approved the FY26 audit plan.
Milwaukee Public Schools officials told the Committee on Accountability, Finance and Personnel that they are working to complete outstanding corrective action plan requirements and to resolve financial‑reporting findings from recent audits, while adding outside contractors for surge capacity and project management.
Aicha Saba, chief financial officer, said the district is focusing CAP 2 work on three lanes: finishing fiscal 2024 close and aid calculations, completing the FY24 audit with external auditors Baker Tilly, and redesigning fiscal‑year 2025 reporting and internal controls. Saba said the district is contracting outside help to add surge capacity and rewrite standard operating procedures and aims to reach compliance with the state chart-of-accounts framework (WUFAR) and Ed-Fi integration earlier than previously planned.
Matt Chasen, Office of Accountability and Efficiency, and other staff described a three‑stream approach: finish FY24 audit work; meet FY25 reporting and audit deadlines (including an August 29 and September reporting schedule referenced for FY25 audit work); and build an improved control environment and centralized budgeting approach with assistance from the Council of the Great City Schools and a project management vendor. Chasen said the approach includes an equity review and principal input on how much budget authority to centralize.
Public commenters pressed for specific dates and more transparency. Quintin Clabon criticized multi‑million dollar renewals for virtual‑instruction vendors and urged the district to pursue teacher apprenticeships and local teacher pipelines instead. Clabon asked for more precise deadlines for CAP deliverables and suggested the district seek legislative support for apprenticeship funding.
Committee members pressed for clarity about technical terms and acronyms. Administration clarified that WUFAR (Wisconsin Uniform Financial Accounting Reporting) is the state chart of accounts and said the district is working to "get the systems speaking to one another" so report transmissions to DPI are cleaner and produce fewer errors.
The committee also received an update on findings from the 2023 financial statement audit. Saba said many 2023 audit findings overlap with CAP process issues. The district is targeting process improvements, aiming to reduce or eliminate findings in the FY25 audit cycle and to provide quarterly status updates to the board. Paul Gideb, chief auditor, briefed the committee on the FY26 plan of audits, summarizing a risk assessment that highlighted staff turnover, incomplete standard operating procedures and isolated reports of fraud, waste or abuse. Gideb said audit services will pursue operational reviews, school‑level audits, fleet and work‑order controls, and public records‑request procedures.
The committee approved the Office of Accountability and Efficiency’s FY26 annual plan of audits on a 5‑0 vote. Administration said a draft of the surge/project‑management plan will be finalized with DPI review and could be ready to present to the committee within a few weeks; the superintendent suggested scheduling an August update.
