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Operational audit flags six findings including public‑records and emergency‑drill gaps, district says fixes are underway
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Summary
The State Auditor General's operational audit identified six findings for Miami‑Dade County Public Schools — including public‑records response gaps during a system transition, missed mandated weather drills and background‑rescreening issues — and district officials described corrective steps already in place.
Committee members reviewed the State Auditor General's operational audit of Miami‑Dade County Public Schools (report 2026070). Chief Auditor John Goodman said the triennial audit contains six findings and recommendations, down from nine in the 2023 audit.
Board member Steve Gallon opened questions on Finding 1 about public‑records requests, noting long‑running public concerns about transparency. Auditors and district staff said the issue was linked in part to a transition to a new public‑records request (PRR) system that left some requests unacknowledged or incompletely tracked. District representatives described a new practice of acknowledging receipt and communicating with requestors at 30 days if documents could not be produced right away, offering revised search terms when voluminous email searches would create costs.
On emergency‑drill compliance, committee members pushed for specifics after auditors flagged missed weather‑related drills. District officials said they have an annual drill calendar and monitoring forms, have conducted required drills for the current year, and use the FASI system to log fire‑drill times and evacuation data. They said follow‑up monitoring is now required at the regional level to ensure consistency.
Members also questioned Finding 4 on background rescreenings. District staff explained that Florida’s transition to the central fingerprint clearinghouse in 2025 has automated reminder notifications for re‑fingerprinting on five‑year anniversaries and that the district is ahead of the state timeline for rescreening phases, with projected completion dates in line with state requirements.
The chair treated the audit as an action item and the committee voted to accept the report and to place corrective‑action items on the board agenda for further review. Committee members praised the auditors for identifying progress since the prior audit while noting remaining work to fully comply with statutory timelines and to shore up controls.
