Prince George’s County Public Schools’ internal audit office plans to examine the rollout of its student transportation software, human resources hiring, substitute pay and school facility rentals this fiscal year, the office’s director told the Board of Education’s Audit Committee on Nov. 2.
Director of Internal Audit Dina Thorpes presented the fiscal 2027 audit plan to the committee, chaired by Dr. Tiffini Andorful and including Pamela Boozer-Strother, Branndon Jackson and Dr. Phelton Moss.
Priorities for the year
Thorpes said the office’s operational audits are listed in priority order. At the top is a post-implementation audit of the bus planner, the student transportation application. The board’s vice chair requested it at the Aug. 27 board meeting, she said, and the office has begun scheduling interviews. Auditors will assess whether management implemented the system in line with best practices and recommend fixes for any gaps.
Other planned operational audits cover human resources hiring and onboarding, to check whether candidates are properly vetted; a follow-up on recommendations from an earlier comprehensive transportation audit, to see whether management has carried out its corrective action plans; purchasing and procurement for contracts that were not piggybacked on another government’s contract; the process for contracting vendors in the school construction public-private partnership program, which staff under the chief operating officer requested; and special education identification and placement procedures.
Technology audits will look at access and security for the Synergy student information system and the Apex school-based budgeting tool, and at how employees request printing services, an issue that came up through the ethics hotline.
The office will also run data analytics on employee expense reimbursements, substitute teacher pay, the time it takes to resolve administrative leave cases, and how school facilities are rented out and whether fees are collected. Thorpes said the substitute pay and facilities topics were raised in the office’s district-wide risk assessment.
School activity fund audits will continue on a risk basis. Thorpes said the office does not set its school list in advance and looks at factors such as a new principal or bookkeeper and the date of a school’s last audit.
Last year’s results
The office issued 60 audit reports in fiscal 2026, including 22 school activity fund audits, 18 investigative reports and 18 operational reports, which include information technology audits. Auditors reviewed about $6.6 million in school activity fund assets. The reports for school activity funds are posted on the internal audit page of the district website.
The office completed the state-required grade change validity audit before its Oct. 1 deadline, she said, and a report on the human resources background check system was issued a couple of weeks before the meeting.
The office, which manages the district’s ethics hotline, received 349 complaints in fiscal 2026, down from the prior year. Thorpes said she expects this year’s number to be higher.
Why it matters
Under board policy 8373, the director reports to the Board of Education, and the office has access to district records and personnel. The policy requires an annual summary of findings and plan by Sept. 30, plus quarterly reports. Thorpes said the first-quarter report is due in the next few weeks.
