Prince George’s County Board of Education Audit Committee members on May 5 reviewed a March 2025 financial management practices audit by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits and heard administration officials outline specific corrective actions, including new payroll checks, revised transportation payroll processes and a new bus routing system.

The audit, completed by the Office of Legislative Audits (OLA) for the Maryland General Assembly, examined 11 core operational areas and identified 16 findings. Committee chair Dr. Tiffany Anderful, chair of the audit committee and District 1 board member, opened the item and said the presentation would describe the report and the administration’s response.

The audit was conducted under State Government Article, section 2-1220(e) of the Annotated Code of Maryland and was released in March 2025. Dina Thorpes, the new director of internal audit for Prince George’s County Public Schools, summarized her background and role in follow-up work: "I bring a wealth of experience, close to almost 20 years of experience in the audit realm, working in federal, state, and local government sectors," she said. She told the committee internal audit will help identify control weaknesses and drive corrective work.

The administration described actions already taken and additional steps planned. On payroll, staff said they have implemented preventative measures and additional staff reviews, introduced new payroll reports and runs to detect discrepancies, and will conduct monthly overtime audits. On transportation, officials described a revised daily payroll process, vendor coordination to improve payroll tracking, and new routing software that agency staff say establishes capacity limits, ridership goals and ride-time limits.

Dr. Christy Murphy Baldwin, chief of human resources, said the district has used internal follow-up audits between OLA cycles in the past and intends to continue that practice to shorten the time between external audits and internal verification of corrective actions. "When I joined PGCPS in October... I was on the receiving end of where we are right now," Baldwin said, describing prior work to address payroll and transportation records.

Board chair Brandon Jackson and other members pressed for examples of “tangible mechanisms” to strengthen internal controls. Administration responses included the tracking of audit findings with timelines, enhanced oversight tied to annual audit planning, regular staff training on corrective actions and a commitment to quarterly progress reports to the Board of Education that will also be posted on the PGCPS website for transparency.

Committee members were told divisions with specific audit findings will develop detailed corrective-action plans with timelines; administration staff said those plans and future follow-up materials will be uploaded to BoardDocs and made available to the public. The presentation materials and the audit report (management letter and full report) were linked via QR code during the meeting and are on file with the district.

There was no formal vote or policy adoption tied to the audit presentation; the committee opened discussion and requested ongoing monitoring and public reporting. The committee meeting also included routine procedural approvals unrelated to the audit (agenda and prior minutes adopted without objection).

The Office of Legislative Audits conducts financial audits of Maryland school systems on a multi‑year cycle; the district’s administration said it will use both internal audit follow-ups and the OLA findings to inform annual audit planning and to monitor implementation of the corrective actions.

Committee members were advised to review the full OLA report and the administration’s written responses, which are included with the audit materials posted by PGCPS. The committee adjourned at 6:29 p.m.