Where Do the Audits Go?
The following are excerpts from a Recommended Practice report prepared by the Government Finance Officers Association ( found on the web at www.gfoa.org).
"The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) makes the following recommendations regarding the establishment of audit committees by state and local governments:
• The governing body of every state and local government should establish an audit committee or its equivalent;
• All members of the audit committee should be members of the governing body.
• It is the responsibility of the audit committee to provide independent review and oversight of a government’s financial reporting processes, internal controls and independent auditors;
• The audit committee should have access to the reports of internal auditors, as well as access to annual internal audit work plans;
• The audit committee should establish procedures for the receipt, retention, and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters. Such procedures should specifically provide for the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the government of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters"
Do you think this is in place at GCPS? Does the internal audit department present all of their reports to the Board's Audit Committee or the entire Board? How does GCPS handle the "treatment of complaints?"
These are all good questions to ask. Why? Because a good and truly independent audit function can uncover and report significant issues like those raised in this blog. No one likes being audited, it's tough to have a fault or defficiency pointed out. However, it is much better for auditors to be ALLOWED to do their job than to have issues go unnoticed and uncorrected.
Maybe we could ask GCPS' Internal Audit Director, except he was recently forced to resign. Why could that have happened?
posted by The Truth Will Set You Free @ 11/18/2006 01:26:00 AM
25 comments
25 Comments:
Shouldn't the Board and Wilbanks be presented with these questions at the next "Board Meeting"? Let's make sure that we are all there in force with the media present? If the Board and Wilbanks refuse to publicly respond, then their refusal is reflected in front of the media and the interested public? It is our right after all....public disclosure, correct?
I agree the questions concerning
Internal Audits and what has happened in the department and GCPS in general, needs to be addressed at the next Board Meeting with the News Media and the general public present in mass!
They are replacing the Director of Internal Audit who was forced out for questionable reasons? His
replacement should be someone of unquestionable ethics in light of things discussed on this blog. A capable professional who has had alot of Supervisory experience in the Internal Audit or Public Accounting Sector. A person who has a CPA or CIA certification at a minimum. Someone who has not been involved with this ongoing mess! A person who is independent ethical and not part of the old boy network that currently exists at GCPS.
Hopefully it is not too late to see this independent type of strong professional hired by GCPS !
Hiring of a replacement is in process currently. The hiring process needs to be evaluated in the open. Outside Public Accountants should be part of the search and hiring process. An outside consultant should probably look at the role of the Internal Audit Department and function at GCPS.
The general public should demand it and watch who eventually does get this very important job closely. This person should report directly to our local school board! Please call and or write your School Board representative and demand that this is done now... Hopefully it is not too late. The School Board will respond to public pressure or the next election is not that far away. Let's clean up this mess and demand excellence and the best schools in the state....
Thank you,
Concerned Parent
The School Board should hold Mr. Wilbanks responsible for all of this now that it has captured the attention of The Gwinnett Daily Post. The buck stops with him, he should step down... Has any of this information been turned over to The Gwinnett County District Attorney or Georgia's Attorney General for there investigation? If not WHY NOT ? We need to pass on the link to this site to everyone we know !
Concerned Gwinnett Taxpayer...
Where did the new GCPS CFO come from is he qualified for this position?
Why have the Positions for the new CFO and Audit Director not been advertised in the local classifieds. Giving more qualified folks the ability to apply? Is this to allow Wilbanks to fill these positions with his cronies???
Concerned Potential Employee
You would not believe how many positions are filled without ever being advertised. I worked in HR for years, and the people who were wanted for specific jobs were hired no matter what. Some extremely qualified people were never considered when Ms. Davis had someone hand-picked for a position. There were phony job applicant searches going on constantly.
What does it matter if the position were posted or not. In the transportation department, jobs are posted in the paper and no one other than people who work under Grant Reppert, will be interviewed.
Why waste the money to put an ad in the paper if you are not even going to consider an outside person. Even worse whay even interview any of us when you have already made up your mind who you are going to put in that place.
In transportation we can just make up a position and give it to a friend of Grant. If Grant whats it, he just puts a person there and then later goes to HR, like now trying to get more than 40 positions approved that he has been using for more than two years.
OH...................I understand. Francis Davis did it so she won't say anything.
The new cfo is not a cpa, in the private sector he could not be a cfo in a operation a quarter as big. Gpcs accounting is a joke under jaws!
The new cfo is not a cpa, in the private sector he could not be a cfo in a operation a quarter as big. Gcps accounting is a joke under jaws!
Who is directing the work now with no director? Is anthing being done now? How many candidates are there for this high paying and responsible position? There should be at least two dozen, if things were done properly? Do you think there are with davis and the shop teacher wilbanks calling the shots! I heard one of the candidates is a former student of wilbanks, imagine the odds of that happening!
As a gcps internal auditor some of my colleages do not put in a full days work. The department is in a shambles, with morale being very low!
Please! Director of IA forced out for questionable reasons? No one on earth deserved to be fired more than Keith Knight. For years, Jeff Weiler sat by and watched him abuse and falsify his leave, do hatchet jobs on principals and spend system money on things he didn't need. Of course we all know now that Jeff and Keith were cut from the same cloth and spent their time making copies to use on this blog. The last thing anyone should do is spend time complaining about Keith getting the shaft. That lie will certainly come back to bite Jeff and Keith in the butt.
Where was Wilbanks oversight over
Weiler and Knight, et al??? Falsifying Paroll records is fraud is anyone looking into this, is this going to be prosecuted? Was Wilbanks asleep when this was going on. CEO's should know what their CFO is doing would you not agree? Is this another example of mismanagement at GCPS? What steps have been taken to prevent this from happening now and in the future.
Thank you,
Concerned Taxpayer....
The new CFO just happens to be the former CFO that preceeded Jeff. And guess what folks.....HE'S BACK!!!!Why do you think that Wilbanks continues to recycle former employees of his administration? Are we to believe that these same individuals were oblivious to the questionable practices of this administration. I think NOT!
Typically, in the public sector but more specifically in the education system, a Master's degree is required for an individual to hold the post of CFO. It is also true that in the private sector a CPA is required in order to qualify for ANY management position.
Since we are playing WHO'S WHO, who is the new Budget Director that replaced Dan Smith (who just happened to have resigned this summer)? Where did he come from and what are his qualifications?
are you talking about budget director joe heffron? he's out of cobb county schools, isn't he? what exactly are his qualifications?
I believe Dan Smith left GCPS to become Chief Financial Officer at another school system in the metro area. This would appear to be career advancement, clear and simple, and not a bad reflection on the current GCPS administration. I think to say he "just happened to resign" is being a bit dramatic.
It would be interesting to ask Mr Smith and others who left why they chose to leave the largest school system in Ga for a smaller system and commute a long way. I understand he is not the only person to leave Finance for another smaller system and long commute.
GCPS Internal Auditors should fill out weekly Detailed Time Reports detailing time spent and schools audited and audit tests performed, to turn into The Director of Internal Audit or The CFO whomever is managing the department. This manager should randomly verify these Time Reports. Writing up employees who falsify these reports ! Productivity in this department needs to be managed more closely...
Thursday 12/14 is the day to present the Board with these questions as previously posted here...
Will you do so ?
Mr. Ken Keown's wife is employed by GCPS? He is in the sensitive position of GCPS Internal Auditor. The department should be monitoring and in some respect enforcing school system policies and rules...
Another former Internal Auditor's mother is employed as a School Bookkeeper?
The former Director of Internal Audit had falsifyed his time off requests?
Who was watching this shop ?
Do these facts affect an Auditors independence when Auditing a particular department or school, you be the judge of that?
This could be why the department is not all that effective...
Gwinnett County Government has eliminated its Internal Audit Department believing it was not cost effective...
Perhaps GCPS should eliminate their Internal Audit Department as well. Saving the Taxpayers money???
Why were the former CFO Jeff Weiler and The Former Director of Internal Audit Mr. Keith Knight escorted out of the Central Offices on the same day a couple of months ago by School Police Officers (SRO) at the same time ? This always seemed strange to me and others. This was also
never explained by Mr. Wilbanks? The whole building saw what happened !
PS: Why did they break into Keith's, The Audit Director's locked desk what were management looking for?
Who is running The Internal Audit Department now that The Director Keith Knight was Fired?
With all these unethical deals, mismanagement and spending disclosed on the blog why aren't GCPS Internal Auditors reviewing and finding these things and reporting on them. Maybe they are not real Internal Auditors?
Maybe their hands are being tied purposefully by Mr. Wilbanks thru and by The Director of Internal Audit and CFO ?
Have the new Director of Internal Audit be Independent and report only to The School Board or it's audit committee.
Or just do away with this department!
Auditors need to work 8 or more hours per day, based on their great benefits and rate of pay....
Please attend the School Board Meeting this coming Thursday 12/14 at GCPS Headquarters in Suwanee at 6:30. It is crucial that we have a good size crowd at the Meeting!!!
Ask Questions of the Board during the public comment portion of the meeting on Thursday 12/14...
Make signs to display to the TV cameras filming the meeting !
It is also the last meeting of 2006...
The Media will be covering this Meeting !!!!
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