March 10, 2021 — Regular Meeting
Conroe ISD Board Meeting — 2021-03-10
Regular Meeting — Unofficial Notes
Based on auto-generated transcript. Not an official record.
Generated 2026-03-28 13:35 UTC
Unofficial Meeting Notes
Conroe Independent School District – Audit Committee Meeting
March 10, 2021 | Regular Meeting
These are unofficial notes based on an auto-generated transcript and may contain errors or omissions.
Attendance & Call to Order
Chairman Sanders called the meeting to order. A quorum of the board was confirmed present.
Public Comment: No public comments were made.
Item 1: Approval of Minutes – January 13, 2021 Audit Committee Meeting
- Minutes were distributed in the board book.
- No edits were requested.
- Vote: Motion to approve carried unanimously (voice vote).
Item 2: I.T. Vulnerability Assessment Report
Presented by: Mr. Hayden (Internal Audit)
An external firm, True North, conducted a vulnerability assessment in November/December 2020. Internal Audit participated for the first time in a review/independent oversight role. The assessment covered four areas:
1. External vulnerability testing
2. Firewall connected building
3. Internet of Things
4. Web application vulnerability
Key Findings:
- No high-risk findings
- No medium-risk findings
- Only low-risk items were identified, and those are being remediated by the IT department (led by Terry)
- Some vendor recommendations in the report were noted as impractical for CISD's environment; the district documented reasoning for disagreeing with those specific recommendations
- Internal Audit expressed strong satisfaction with the results
Discussion Highlights:
- Board member question about earlier-in-the-year denial-of-service (DoS) attacks when the district went remote: Terry confirmed countermeasures have been implemented. The assessment is an annual recurring audit, not a response to the attacks.
- Ms. Chase (audit committee member with IT audit experience) noted this is a major enterprise risk area and found the report reflected well on the district's systems and management.
- Board member comment on the timeliness of the report given a neighboring district dealing with cybersecurity issues that week; commended the IT department for proactive measures.
- Dr. Null noted that in the previous day's principals meeting, administrators discussed password security and user-level best practices — including not linking multiple accounts, not writing down passwords, and not using simple passwords.
Item 3: Internal Audit Work Plan and Schedule — FY 2020-2021 Update
Presented by: Mr. Hayden
Changes to Audit Plan:
- Child Nutrition Audit — Deferred to next year because the department just completed an audit from the Texas Department of Agriculture. Mr. Hayden has not yet received the TDA audit report. Committee members requested the report be funneled through Mr. Hayden for review, noting it could help identify risk areas for next year's audit.
- Flex 20 Construction Audit — Moved up in the schedule; approximately 75% complete. The district is now conducting this audit in-house (saving costs) using work programs developed from the previous outsourced construction audit.
- PEIMS (Attendance and Band Instrument) Follow-up — Will be conducted after the construction audit is complete. These will be detailed follow-ups due to prior issues identified.
- Activity Funds Audits — On schedule. Conroe High School completed; Grand Oaks High School currently in progress.
Transportation Audit — Completed
Conducted in partnership with Sam Davila and the transportation department. Key findings and recommendations:
1. Pro-Key fuel system: Mileage entries were being overridden without documentation. The vendor's system does not have a built-in logging feature, so a manual log process is being implemented.
2. Security at transportation centers needs review.
3. Driver credentials (CDL and physicals) were not being tracked and updated in a timely manner.
4. Obsolete inventory identified during physical inventory walkthroughs — items unused for 10+ years. Recommendation to identify obsolete items during annual inventory and work with the finance group on a disposal plan.
Notable statistics shared:
- CISD is #1 in service area among Texas districts at 348 square miles (nearest comparable: 189 sq. mi.)
- CISD has the second-lowest cost per mile
- Committee members commended Mr. Davila and the transportation team for operational efficiency
Flex 20 Construction Audit — In Progress
- Reviewing detailed cost reports from the contractor, verifying invoices and change orders
- Significant improvement over the prior construction audit: The district now uses ProjectMate, a shared database for contractors and the district to track invoices, change orders, approvals, dates, and responsible parties
- So far, every invoice and change order was approved before billing — a notable improvement from the prior audit
- Change order review is upcoming
- Site security discussion: Construction sites have video surveillance; contractors bear responsibility (as construction manager at risk) for securing delivered materials. Internal Audit will conduct walkthroughs to verify delivered items are present and ensure the district is not double-billed.
Next Meeting
Confirmed: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 7:30 a.m.
Adjournment
No additional business. Meeting adjourned.