NEISD audit office reports 8 audits, 62 unannounced campus visits; flags P‑card growth and documentation gaps
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Summary
Audit director Lisa Shoesmith told trustees the department completed eight audits and 62 unannounced campus visits (Sept–Feb), highlighted a rise in purchasing‑card use from $6M to $9M over five years, and noted common findings including untimely DocuWare storage and late deposits at multiple campuses.
Lisa Shoesmith, director of NEISD’s audit department, presented a quarterly update to the board covering eight audit projects and 62 unannounced campus visits conducted from September through February.
Shoesmith said campus audits of Jackson Middle, Reagan High and Tahitah Middle were triggered by key‑personnel changes, and follow‑up work at Jackson showed improvements in approvals and deposits. She said one finding at Jackson involved a sponsor listed under a different last name (a change after marriage) and that the department worked with HR and campus bookkeepers to resolve the discrepancy.
On the districtwide purchasing‑card (P‑card) program, Shoesmith reported growth from about $6,000,000 five years ago to roughly $9,000,000 today and an increase of about 13,000 transactions (now close to 40,000). She described P‑cards as an efficient procurement method that transfers some purchases from purchase orders to cards and said controls vary by department; monthly vendor reporting and additional documentation are part of the audit checks.
Trustees pressed staff about single‑purchase limits, whether P‑card growth represented new spending or simply a shift in payment method, and what triggers additional audit depth. Shoesmith and staff said limits vary by campus/department (frequently seen around $1,500 for many users), that the board will receive vendor totals in monthly reports, and that higher dollar transactions require additional forms and approvals and are subject to deeper audit tests.
Shoesmith said the two most common findings across campuses were untimely storage of financial documents in DocuWare and untimely deposits; she noted 35% of visited campuses had bookkeepers with one year or less tenure and described the audit team’s emphasis on training and follow‑up. Several campus findings were flagged for executive‑session discussion because they involved personnel details.
