APS cancels five audits amid coronavirus closures

Reviews designed to keep check on how schools handle cash.

A handful of internal audits that Atlanta Public Schools had planned for this year won’t be completed because of the coronavirus closures.

The district’s executive director of internal compliance, Connie Brown, said her office canceled five scheduled audits after school buildings closed in midMarch. The audit team couldn’t do the work because they had limited access to documents and couldn’t meet with key staffers, she said.

The audit cancellations mean there will be a bit less oversight of how schools handle cash.

Each year, auditors check to see if a select group of schools have proper procedures and training in place to deal with money that comes in to pay fees or for activities and clubs. The reviews can help prevent unauthorized collections and theft.

This year, the team expects to complete reviews at seven schools, but won’t be able to do five additional audits that had been scheduled at unidentified schools.

“Like many audit organizations, the COVID-19 crisis has impacted the completion of our plan. It has resulted in audit start delays and cancellations. We’ve had restricted access to physical site locations and access to key staff and personnel. We’ve also had restricted access to needed support documentation for field work completion,” Brown told board members at a recent meeting.

A sixth planned audit,

related to the transportation department, has been postponed to allow the district more time to implement a new parts inventory system.

The team expects to complete or make progress on nine other internal audits. Those range from a review of the district’s athletic program to information technology audits.

Board member Leslie Grant, who leads the audit committee, said they prioritized the most important work amid the coronavirus constraints. She said the school audits can identify problems that might hurt the district’s reputation, but generally the financial impact of any impropriety unearthed by those audits is not big.

Several years ago, when Brown took over internal audit responsibilities, the office began working on a more comprehensive audit program that examines many aspects of the district’s operations.

Brown told board members that the canceled school audits could be resumed in the upcoming year.