Audit finds inventory gaps in Caddo Parish schools; board asks staff for 3-month progress report

A Caddo Parish School Board internal audit presented Oct. 25 found widespread gaps in the district’s fixed-asset and technology inventories — even as the district holds roughly 4,000 capitalized assets valued at about $238,000,000 — and the Audit Committee voted for staff to report back within three months on implementation of the auditors’ recommendations.

Kelly Oswald, the district’s chief internal auditor, told the committee the audit covered 15 school-site audits this school year (three high schools, four middle schools and eight elementary schools) and departmental audits across the district. Oswald said the audit team examined capitalized assets (those with a threshold of more than $5,000) in the BusinessPlus asset module and lower-cost technology tracked in Incident IQ, the district’s technology asset system.

The audit found no annual inventory for many capitalized assets, incomplete or inconsistent tagging, missing or duplicated technology records, and segregation-of-duty weaknesses for purchases funded by Title I. “In the course of the test work…we found missing assets, incomplete records, inconsistent tagging, assets left at closed schools,” Oswald said. She said those exceptions point to process gaps and recommended tightening procedures, automating transfers and salvages, and consolidating inventory systems.

Don Little, a committee member, criticized the findings as “unacceptable.” “These are not our assets. These are assets that the public owns in trust by the school board,” Little said, urging stronger accountability and pointing to available tracking technologies such as barcode or GPS tagging. Oswald and other staff said the district recently centralized some functions and moved toward Incident IQ, which has automated workflows for salvage and tagging, and that recent purchases were more consistently coded.

Superintendent Burton acknowledged the urgency and described steps already underway to consolidate systems and reset expectations around securing and accounting for assets. “This is, first of all, a systems problem. And we are aware of that, and we are addressing that,” the superintendent said, adding administration will bring policy changes and implementation plans back to the board.

Audit details presented to the committee included: - Capitalized assets: about 4,000 items in BusinessPlus with a reported value near $238 million, including land, buildings, property improvements and equipment. - School audit sample: 15 site audits selected from a broader pool of about 30 schools after a summer risk analysis. - Technology assets: many Chromebooks and other devices were duplicated in records, assets undercounted in Incident IQ, and some special-education (SPED) asset tags were not scannable. - Processes: the report recommended a single district-approved system (Incident IQ) for all funding sources, scannable tags for SPED, written procedures for tagging and transfers, yearly physical inventories at the building level, and clearer stipend and role definitions for school fixed-asset coordinators.

Oswald said the district paused some asset testing during a multi-year technology migration (from a prior system sometimes referred to as Asset Tech into Incident IQ) but that recent onboarding work improved traceability for newly purchased items. She credited district accountants and inventory specialists for cleanup work and said some exceptions found in older records were easier to fix for more recent purchases.

John Glover, a member of the public, told the committee he was concerned about public access to the materials presented and asked that future presentations be more readily shared with constituents. “When you bring forth information that may impact me as a taxpayer… I should have access to that information,” Glover said.

The committee approved a motion directing staff to report back to the full board within three months on the status of implementing the auditor’s recommendations, including a “detailed summary of which recommendations have been adopted and implemented as well as any reasons for recommendations not yet acted upon.” The motion was moved by Miss Little and seconded by Dr. Dozart; the committee announced the motion passed and scheduled the report-back.

The audit also notes specific follow-up tasks for administration and technology staff: fully reconcile duplicated inventory records between BusinessPlus and Incident IQ; ensure SPED and Title I assets use scannable tags; standardize salvage and transfer workflows so assets at closed or nonoperational campuses are properly recorded; and simplify the stipend matrix for school fixed-asset coordinators so payment is tied directly to completed inventories.

What happens next: the audit committee will receive a staff report within three months describing which audit recommendations have been implemented and which remain outstanding. The district also said it plans to propose policy amendments — including updates to textbook policy DRC and inventory policy DIC referenced in the audit — to align practice with current purchasing and technology operations.

The committee meeting concluded after the motion passed and a brief recess.