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Internal audit reports 84% of plan completed; activity funds identified as ongoing risk
Summary
Interim internal audit leadership reported on fiscal 2024-25 work, including 29 audit engagements, professional development gains and a focus on activity-fund controls; trustees praised the team and requested expanded campus training.
Interim Internal Auditor Alexis Palacios presented the Internal Audit annual report to the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees on Aug. 21, summarizing fiscal year 2024-25 work and control priorities.
The audit team completed 84 percent of its audit plan for the year, Palacios told trustees. The office conducted 29 assurance engagements, five consulting engagements, managed a fraud/waste/abuse hotline and carried out joint and collaborative investigations with senior leadership. Palacios said the internal audit team averaged faster turnaround on hotline investigations this year: about 21 days for internally managed cases and roughly 38.5 days for collaboratively handled matters.
Budget and professional development: Palacios said the department's approved budget was $166,000 and was later amended to $108,000; the office expensed about $102,000. She said staff completed substantially more professional development hours than the target of 40 per person; the department logged roughly 87 average hours per employee during the year and several staff obtained TASBO certifications.
Findings and focus areas: Palacios and trustees discussed activity funds as an area requiring additional attention, including sales-tax and fundraising procedures at campuses. Palacios said the audit team has implemented a scorecard-style report for campuses and that several campuses have asked for joint training with accounting staff; trustees said they welcome audit staff to provide hands-on campus training.
Trustee Wilbanks asked whether the audits identified themes where controls were strong or needed tightening; Palacios said the district is "doing a great job of managing risk" overall but identified activity funds and fundraising controls as persistent concerns. Trustee Richardson praised the audit office for its training approach and noted the team's local roots: Palacios said three of five audit staff are Arlington ISD graduates.
Next steps: Palacios said the office will continue to emphasize training, joint campus-accounting sessions and targeted follow-up on activity funds. Trustees thanked the audit committee and staff for their work and encouraged continued emphasis on professionalization and outreach to campuses.
Ending: The report concluded with trustees expressing support for continued staffing and professional development for the audit office to reduce risk and strengthen campus controls.
