At the Sept. 18 Beaufort County Board of Education finance committee meeting, finance staff presented a six-page transparency analytics dashboard built in Smartsheet and described plans to use controlled AI tools to help board members and staff find major spending variances without publishing the full 114-page $100,000 detailed report.

The dashboard condenses July 2025 data alongside July 2024, highlights top spending categories and vendors, and includes a link to download the underlying 114-page spreadsheet. Finance staff said the tool meets board policy OE6's $100,000 reporting requirement while making it faster for trustees to spot variances and drill into vendor- or school-level detail.

The new dashboard is intended to replace the longer $100,000 document for committee review. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Crosby told the committee the Smartsheet product “meets the requirements of the board's policy to have a $100,000 report” and that the six-page version “provides some of the variances that you're looking for.” Finance staff uploaded the two years' reports into the Smartsheet database and built templates and graphics to visualize expenditures by fund, top categories and top programs.

Miss Yinger, who helped author the dashboard, said the system reduces manual errors when creating charts and summaries. “Everything that Miss Crosby has described to you ... is all wrapped up in this report itself,” Yinger said, describing the executive-summary layout and the automated summary of major variances.

Committee members and staff discussed Smartsheet's AI capabilities and limits. CFO Crosby cautioned that AI will not automatically know the “why” behind a variance (for example, whether a payment timing difference, an advanced premium payment or an emergency repair caused a spike) and that staff will still need to provide context for unusual items. Crosby also emphasized control of the district's data: loading the report into Smartsheet keeps the processing inside a managed system rather than pasting raw data into public generative AI sites.

Board members asked for and were offered training. Crosby and staff said they will coordinate with the district's instructional technology team to schedule training for trustees that begins with basics and moves to uploading and querying district files. Staff identified Nick Flowers and other internal directors as people who helped build the templates and noted that Smartsheet continues to add AI features.

Staff also demonstrated practical examples from the July reports: construction vendors and new custodial or HVAC contractors (such as Ajax Building Company, Interstate Premier Services and Lowcountry Air Solutions) appeared among the larger variances because of summer construction and service timing. The committee discussed how the dashboard surfaces those vendors and allows follow-up questions without reading the entire detailed report.

Board members generally praised the condensed view. Miss Hay said, “I love this report. I love everything about it. It's much simpler to look at,” and Colonel Guy said the report is “what we need” to manage a large district budget.

Staff will schedule the training session and circulate dates. The finance office said the six-page dashboard will remain linked to a downloadable copy of the full report on the district website so committee members can access supporting detail when needed.