EPISD internal audit outlines risk‑based plan, expands campus truancy reviews after Coronado findings

Myra Martinez, chief internal auditor for the El Paso Independent School District, told the district audit committee that internal audit will use a risk‑based methodology required by the Institute of Internal Auditors and board policy CFC Local to develop next year’s audit plan.

The annual process, Martinez said, ranks the district’s auditable units by likelihood and impact using eight risk factors and a defined scoring scale so auditors can prioritize limited resources. "We are required to develop a risk based plan to determine the priorities of the Internal Audit Department," Martinez said.

The risk assessment, Martinez explained, begins with identifying the district’s strategic priorities, builds an “audit universe” of auditable units, and applies a three‑point scale for each risk factor. For financial impact, Martinez said, low risk is defined as under 1% of the district’s annual budget, medium 1–5%, and high more than 5%. Aggregated risk scores classify units as low, medium or high (Martinez gave thresholds of roughly 4–6.9 for low, 7–9.9 medium and 10+ high).

Why it matters: the audit plan determines where internal audit will allocate staff time and training, what advisory versus formal audit work will be done, and which corrective action plans will be monitored. Martinez said the draft audit plan will be reviewed with the audit committee in April and submitted to the board for approval in August for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025.

Changes proposed to the current plan: Martinez told trustees the department began this fiscal year with 18 planned projects and is proposing several adjustments. She said attendance and truancy work will be combined into campus‑based audits and expanded: instead of two separate engagements, auditors will visit five campuses (two completed so far, three planned for the year), which would add three engagements to this year’s plan. She also proposed converting a planned activity‑funds advisory engagement into four campus‑based audits to give new principals direct, audit‑level feedback on fundraising and campus accounting practices.

Martinez recommended postponing two planned engagements — the district’s one‑to‑one device audit and an IT change‑management audit — so those resources can be reallocated to achievable projects this year. She said the one‑to‑one device audit will be delayed until the district has completed one full year of implementing recent changes; the IT audit is deferred because the IT office is addressing state data‑reporting (Ed-Fi) work and staffing priorities.

Attendance and Coronado audit results: Martinez summarized results from a completed attendance and truancy audit at Coronado High School. The audit found about 11,500 unexcused absences at that campus as of December. Test work identified missing or incorrect absence reason codes for four tested student records, a missing supporting document for one student’s average daily attendance (ADA) coding tied to residency paperwork, and occasional failures in mailing or following up on notice‑of‑absence letters (one of 10 sampled instances where a notice was not mailed).

The audit also found inconsistent operation of six‑week self‑audits and teacher attendance taking and noted that many campuses had not developed required 45‑day attendance improvement plans for selected students. Martinez said campuses still have an opportunity to correct records before summer PEIMS submissions and that auditors provide principals with a dashboard showing cumulative attendance rates, days with highest absences, grade levels with most absences and lists of students with three or more and 10 or more absences.

Corrective action plans: Martinez reported progress on corrective action plan (CAP) follow‑ups. She said internal audit closed four CAPs this quarter, including the Power Up audit CAP (17 of 18 activities implemented; one activity related to inventory reconciliation not yet fully effective), a transcript audit CAP (all activities implemented and closed), and a wage‑and‑hour CAP (six activities implemented and closed). For three larger open CAPs — ESSER, PEIMS and student discipline — Martinez provided completion percentages in the activity report and said auditors expect to close the outstanding items this year if evidence continues to be provided.

ESSER monitoring and grant oversight: Daniel Vasquez, Fund Development Education Foundation Officer, told the committee that the district has been reviewed repeatedly by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on ESSER spending and had no findings of inappropriate use. He said TEA conducted site visits and that the district responded to two minor tracking items; overall, district staff were not flagged by TEA or the U.S. Department of Education for improper use of funds.

Board discussion and next steps: Trustees asked how audit findings translate into district action. Martinez and Superintendent Saavedra said audit work and CAP follow ups inform administrative priorities and can prompt shifts in staffing or targeted interventions. Saavedra emphasized that attendance issues are concentrated at the high‑school level — especially freshman year and Fridays — and said the district is considering targeted staffing and transition work (for students entering 9th grade) to address patterns revealed by the audits.

Trustees and the superintendent discussed possible communication strategies to share audit results and corrective actions with the public and suggested highlighting audit outcomes and implementation progress in the board’s August reporting. Martinez said she will meet individually with board members to discuss proposed projects and will solicit feedback before finalizing the plan.

What was not decided: the committee did not take a formal vote during the meeting on the proposed plan changes; Martinez described proposed reallocations (add three campus attendance audits, convert the activity‑funds engagement to audits, and postpone two IT projects) and said she plans to present the finalized plan through the audit committee and then to the full board.

Taper: Martinez closed by asking for questions and noting the department’s focus on timely reviews and data analysis; the meeting adjourned shortly after the audit report and discussion.