Hays CISD Board members approved a third Academic Program Management audit conducted by Gibson Consulting Group.
According to documents, the audit would cost $21,500. The consulting group will visit six schools, as well as conduct two focus groups and interview up to eight Hays CISD central office staff.
Gibson Consulting Group conducted an audit in 2014-15 and a follow-up audit in 2015-16. Board members voted 7-0 to approve a third audit for the 2016-17 school year.
This audit will evaluate the implementations made after the initial audit’s recommendations.
Superintendent Michael McKie recommended the audit because 2016-2017 is the first year of full implementation of recommendations.
The audit will “take a quick snapshot of where we are at the end of this year,” McKie said.
After this audit report is finalized, it will be submitted to the Board Audit Committee and the consulting group will present its findings at a board meeting.
“We would have the results to make any adjustments needed moving forward into next year,” McKie said.
The audit is a good way to measure and see how the implementation is working, said Bert Bronaugh, district 3 trustee.
“The concern around the table and the discussion was that we needed this audit to make sure this idea was realized,” said Teresa Tobias, district 1 trustee. “I think it was valuable that the board would be able to see what came about from this process.”
According to documents, the audit will focus on how implementation is being managed and how resources are used to support instruction.
“We’re making a lot of strides and we’re moving in a direction we want to go but we really need to see how well we’re doing and look at ourselves critically,” said Willie Tenorio, district 2 trustee.
During last year’s follow-up audit, the consulting group noted significant progress in the development of materials, tools, and professional development.
Tenorio said the first audit was conducted because officials felt there was a need for improvements.
“We felt we had some improvement there that was needed and we wanted an independent observer to come and look at what we needed to do,” Tenorio said.
At the Feb. 27 meeting, HCISD Board members received a 53-page progress report from the audit and follow-up audit conducted by Gibson Consulting Group.
The report included comments on the district’s implementation of recommendations. Recommendations included enhancing curriculum training for teachers and developing a district-wide staffing strategy for instructional support.
