Audit finds gaps in Knox County Schools fleet management; KCS agrees to fixes

Zach Fullerton, director of internal audit for Knox County, presented the Knox County Schools fleet management audit on Sept. 19, 2024, saying auditors found five issues — one meeting the auditteams definition of "significant." The report covered vehicles and program participants from May 1, 2023, to May 1, 2024, and included recommendations KCS accepted.

The most serious finding, Fullerton said, was that administrative procedures to implement Board of Education policy E-124 (prevention and safety education program) were insufficient: "We consider this to be a significant issue," he told the committee. The audit team found the schoolsFleet Management Vehicle Operations guidelines offered some best practices but lacked concrete accident-prevention procedures, initial safe-driving training, consistent motor-vehicle-record checks and a risk-based point system like the county uses.

KCS Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Himelgarn told the committee the district had reported a related investigation to the state comptroller and had already addressed some items: "We received a copy too, and the investigation was actually initiated as a result of the district reporting these concerns to the comptroller's office," she said. Fullerton said KCS agreed to either implement a comprehensive driver and vehicle safety program or allow county risk management to take responsibility; KCS has selected training and is working on implementation.

Other findings included: (1) failure, prior to 2024, to apply a taxable benefit for some drive-home vehicles (auditors identified 36 drive-home drivers and noted that 31 qualified for an IRS qualified nonpersonal use exemption, leaving five to be evaluated); (2) inconsistent odometer-tracking practice that does not match policy but may be supplanted by GPS monitoring; (3) incomplete reporting and documentation for six of 16 accidents in the audit scope, where minor incidents were sometimes not forwarded to county risk management; and (4) limited documentary evidence of standardized preventative maintenance (oil-change intervals existed but long-interval inspections were not consistently recorded in the SkoolDude work-order system).

Fullerton said auditors recommended developing documented procedures, payroll-notification steps when drive-home drivers are added, revised odometer/mileage procedures to reflect GPS capability, and a standardized preventative-maintenance policy. Garfield Adams, assistant superintendent of operations, said the district is adding KCS vehicles to AssetPanda to create maintenance notifications and is correcting tracking-device inventory issues. "We do track the individuals who drive vehicles. If we see a pattern we certainly investigate that as well," Adams said.

Auditors said follow-up is standard at 12 months: they give management time to implement corrective actions, then review evidence and administratively close items that are resolved. The audit team noted one item for further review in a future payroll engagement (verifying exemptions for nonpersonal use), and KCS agreed to the recommended changes and to provide the committee copies of state reports and follow-up evidence when available.

The committee requested periodic updates; internal audit said it will track management responses and return with a follow-up within a year.