5/21/2026 Committee on Finance and Operations

Indexé : 2026-05-22

[00:07:43]The meeting on the committee of finance and operations of the board of school directors will please come to order.

[00:07:48]Will the secretary please call a role?

[00:07:51]>> Director FS >> present.

[00:07:53]>> Director Hearnden >> present.

[00:07:54]>> Director O'halerin has asked to be excused this evening. Director Zomber >> present >> and chair Jackson >> present.

[00:08:05]>> That's four present, one excused. We have a quorum.

[00:08:10]>> The chair will now ask the secretary to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. The chair invites any members of the audience who wishes to participate to do so and ask those who do not wish to participate please remain silent during the pledge.

[00:08:24]I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:08:38]>> Chair Jackson, I would also be remiss to not mention that Luna Moss has joined us this evening also.

[00:08:45]>> Absolutely. Thank you for that. Welcome, Luna.

[00:08:50]Uh this meeting is being conducted in person from the central service building. This meeting may also be accessed via NPS YouTube stream. The link to which may be found on NPS website on the upcoming meetings page.

[00:09:02]Before we begin tonight's meeting, we have a short announcement regarding interpretation services for the Spanish speaking members of our audience.

[00:09:14]Public.

[00:09:42]Gracias.

[00:09:44]For each of our items of business, we will hold a discussion and public hearing. If you wish to speak, please fill out a speaker slip and bring it to the secretary, Dr. Owen Moore. We have no virtual speakers registered for the sake of fairness tonight and to give everyone a chance to speak. The chair rever, excuse me, reserves the right to limit the length of time allowed to any one speaker. Disruptive or disrespectful behavior will not be permitted. If it occurs, the meeting may be paused and those involved may be asked to step out so we can continue in a safe and productive manner. Thank you for helping us ensure a positive experience for everyone. And now, given the focus of this year's literacy, we have someone here to help us with this message from one of our young readers, Elely, who is a seventh grader.

[00:10:34]Welcome to tonight's committee meeting.

[00:10:36]The committee will accept public comments on tonight's agenda items.

[00:10:39]Speakers may only address the item for which they have registered. Questions from the public may not be answered during the public comment period.

[00:10:47]Following public comment, the committee will begin this discussion and no additional comments will be accepted.

[00:10:52]When you are called upon to speak, please state your name and spell your last name for the record like this.

[00:10:58]Tanya Jacobs, J A C O B S. Written testimony will also be accepted for the transmitt to the board. Send this testimony to the Office of Board Governance, PO Box 2181, Milwaukee WI53201-2181, or email it to governance@ milwaukee.k12.wi.

[00:11:23]us. Just as a reminder, Robert's rules of orders dictates that all comments, questions, or requests should be directed to the chair who will determine the most efficient way to address them.

[00:11:35]Also, no one other than the members of the board, designated staff, and those who have been invited to present or participate in items of business will be allowed on stage before, during, or after meetings of the board and its committees.

[00:11:49]>> Thank you, Aly, for being tonight's reader. If you have a child that would like to read for the board meeting, send a message to governance@ milwaukee.k12.wwestcons.

[00:12:00]us.

[00:12:02]We will begin with our consent agenda items. There will be no formal presentations on these items. We will have one public comment period for items listed on the consent agenda. All consent agenda items are recommended for approval. Following public comment, committee members may ask for consent agenda items to be set aside for separate discussion action. Items on consent agendas that are not set aside will be handled with one motion. Madame Secretary, do any members of the public wish to speak on a consent agenda?

[00:12:34]>> We do not have any speaker slips on this item.

[00:12:37]>> Do any committee members wish to set aside any consent agenda items for separate consideration?

[00:12:46]Uh, director Zumbar.

[00:12:48]>> Um, I would like to set aside number three, um, the monthly finance matters and number five, professional services contracts.

[00:13:06]>> Any other?

[00:13:07]>> All right.

[00:13:08]>> Um, just information. Um, I think this is Director Fans's first meeting where we're doing the consent agenda and you might not have been prepared for that, but so if there's anything on the agenda that you want to make sure we're talking about, feel free to set it aside.

[00:13:29]Um, I don't know if you want a minute to No problem. Just giving director FS a minute to look through. This is his first meeting with to consider agenda items.

[00:13:46]Good. All right.

[00:13:50]Um if there's no further discussion, will the secretary Excuse me. No. Now, second, excuse me, Madam Secretary. What is the first item set aside? Um, >> first we'll have a a motion to approve the balance of the recommendations on the cons consent agenda.

[00:14:07]>> Yes, excuse me.

[00:14:09]>> If there's no further discussion, a secretary will please call the role.

[00:14:13]>> Do we have a motion?

[00:14:14]>> Oh, do Excuse me.

[00:14:16]>> Um, >> directors Dumbar.

[00:14:18]>> I move to approve um the balance of the consent agenda items.

[00:14:23]>> All right. And we only need one.

[00:14:26]>> No.

[00:14:28]And so I will call the role on Director Zomber's motion to approve the balance of the items on the consent agenda.

[00:14:34]Director FS >> I.

[00:14:36]>> Director H. Hearnden >> I.

[00:14:38]>> Director Zomber >> I.

[00:14:41]>> And Chair Jackson >> I.

[00:14:43]>> That's four eyes. The motion passes.

[00:14:45]>> All right.

[00:14:48]>> Now, Madam Secretary, what's the first item set aside?

[00:14:52]>> The first item set aside is item number three, the monthly finance matters.

[00:15:02]Uh, excuse me. Do any board members have any questions or comments? Directors on board.

[00:15:08]>> Thank you, Chair Jackson. Um, I was wondering if the administration could talk a little bit about the monthly report on revenues and expenditures. Um, it looks like there's a little bit of a different format this month. And then also, I know we're getting close to the fiscal year end. um wondering if the administration could also talk about where we expect um our ending position to be this year.

[00:15:34]>> Administration >> Chair Jackson, Director Zambore, uh I'm going to defer to Aicha Saba, chief financial officer to speak to that.

[00:15:46]>> Good evening, Chair Jackson, Director Zambbor, Aicha Sava, Chief Financial Officer. We are excited to bring forward this new monthly board report. This has been it's a lot of work in the making and this month's report is it is pretty thick. We included everything and we were able to discuss it a little bit with director Jackson and then also with Mr. Chason. I think that this is a work in progress but I will um be happy to walk you through it. So first um this new report is actually more in line with woofer terminology. So all of our requirements from DPI as well as our ACER our annual financial report. So the way that it is formulated with the revenues and expenditures and the categories and the line items are exactly what you would see um what you would see in our ACER. So it is designed to kind of give that a little bit more detail and it is right now the format that it is in the first couple pages and I'll walk through it are all of the funds together by budget and then actuals and then in the following subsequent pages there are all of the fund by fund revenues and expenditures budget to actual and then like we had been doing in our previous reports, we have funds 10 and 27, which is school operations and special ed broken out by board and grants. Um, as as we've been discussing with OA and Mr. Chason, we're kind of exploring what, you know, what the best presentation method for that would be going forward.

[00:17:37]But I will and then I will go into the detail a little bit. And one thing we did provide which is a little different and we do intend to provide this every month is our financial reporting team put together uh this nice narrative that follows along with the report and it actually explains the report as well as some observations.

[00:18:01]And uh the first you know the first page here we do have all of the woofer funds uh delineated on what they you know what each one of them are. So as I said uh this is this report is more in line with woofer and it also gives you um kind of our position of our revenues and expenditures.

[00:18:24]So, so this first page, um, page one is really it's it's all of our funds together and it's our FY26 final adopted budget and this report does, you know, full disclosure have the carry forwards and the adjustments on there. So, it does have um all those carry forwards that that practice that we had been doing in the past. So then that brings you to our total working budget and then it compares it to our prior year, our prior year final adopted and working budget and then the difference uh between the two.

[00:19:10]So then moving on to page two and I one thing to highlight I'm sorry is that this um this report is everything is generated directly out of business plus. So this is anyone should be able to reproduce this exact same report. So all the numbers come directly out and I will also say that this month is this report is April and we are in May. So we are trying to previously you know we had been reporting on the two year the two-month lag excuse me and we are trying to work with um all of you know we've we're trying to work with everybody and all parties within finance and other offices that have you know key parts to play with closing out month end to see if we can get that a little bit earlier so that we can give you more up-to-date reports because I know in the past we come forward and we're like two months behind and then we're like, "No, it's going to get better next month or you'll see this you'll see this uh reported in this next month." So, we're we're trying to, you know, get more up to date on that.

[00:20:27]So, moving on to page two.

[00:20:33]Oh, yes. And Dr. Dr. Casselius reminded me too that a a big part of this report is like I had mentioned before is that FY27 or for FY27 moving forward we will not be doing the carry forwards unless it unless it has a funding source attached to it. So that would most likely be like construction capital improvement fund you know under office of operations. So that column essentially will be reduced a lot more. So then our working budget would be a lot closer to the final adopted budget which will be final in October.

[00:21:20]So moving back to or going back to page two. So the way that the way that the block there the way that the report works is it's in three blocks. So the first block really focuses on the current year and the current year working budget and yearto date. So this includes everything up through April 30th. And then the second block takes you through prior year to date. So you can compare to where we were last year around the same time. Now there are some things that look a little bit you know our current our total received revenue for this year is around 70% but then if you look into the next block you'll see that um there's a you know there is a 12% increase in our revenue. So, our revenues were, you know, they were they were lagging a little bit last year around this time.

[00:22:18]And then you can see like with um I was looking at this earlier with grants like some of our um revenue is a lot lower in 25. But that is also due to this, you know, around this time last year, we were still catching up and you know, we were in the middle of the 2024 audit. So now that we're catching up, some of our revenues and stuff are more on pace uh on how they should be. And then the third block is our um prior year actual. So that takes us um all the way to the end of 2025.

[00:22:55]So you can see in so for our revenues and expenditures, we're actually at 70% um 70% received as of the end of April. and then 74% expended as of the end of April um on our all of our expenditures and that is that is kind of in line with u where we should be but we are um we have 6% less expended this year than we did last year around the same time.

[00:23:35]So then on the on page three, we actually go to by month. So you can see that it has for 2026, it has year-to- date actuals um of April and then you can see last year it goes to um yearto date for April or monthly to April, excuse me. So then you can kind of see the differences there with um with our revenues and expenditures.

[00:24:12]And I realized that again this and then so after page three going into the next months it goes to 10 fund 10 fund 27 and then a lot of some of the line items in the next reports they or in the next pages excuse me they look a little light but that's because some of those funds don't have you know they don't have certain charges for services or investment earnings. So that's kind of but we are trying to remain consistent in um in the revenue and expenditure categories. So it goes through fund 10 and 27 and then to fund 38 which is debt which should not have really any line items and then moving to fund 50 which is our nutrition fund. We are um catching up on the revenues there.

[00:25:16]I skipped fund 46. Excuse me. That's our um capital long-term capital improvement fund.

[00:25:26]There's a lot of funds in here. So, this um does does that help walk you through it? I I can answer any questions that you may have. Um, >> all right.

[00:25:38]>> Quick followup.

[00:25:41]>> Can I do a quick followup >> Yeah. Uh, follow up for director Zar.

[00:25:46]>> Um, okay. I appreciate I appreciate that. Um, you don't have to go through every >> every page, but I appreciate >> it's a lot and and I appreciate the um the footnotes just explaining the um the carryover. On page two, it does mention that the current revenue um current revenue trend suggests the total expenses must remain remain below 487 million for the remainder of FY26 in order to avoid ending the year with a deficit. I'm just wondering um I guess what are we expecting our end position to be?

[00:26:24]>> Administration We so we have been we have been monitoring and we oh sorry director Jackson and director Zomore uh we have been monitoring uh where we think we will be ending up for 2026 and I will say that there are certain you know we are monitoring like our salaries and we're trying to see you know exactly how we are going to end up. I think there are a lot of um there are a lot of line items, expenditure items where you know where we we do believe that we will be okay and that we will be you know spending within the budget. So I cannot tell you exactly where our ending position is and I don't I don't mean to evade the question by any means but we are kind of trending uh where we should be but we are you know still trying to monitor and you know part of our part of what we're trying to monitor and also communicate to departments and you know for the schools is to make sure that everybody is you know ordering what they need to order like in our MPS Express, you know, we put out like weekly communications to make sure that, you know, everything is entered in timely and ordered timely because some of the some of the challenges is that we sometimes we don't a lot of things can come in at the end of the fiscal year and then that's hard that can be difficult to predict if there are more coming in or invoices or large bills that haven't been paid. So that's where um the financial reporting team has really done a great job by trying to look to the past to see kind of where the trends are. Are there like in busing or whatever the case may be like are there certain places where maybe there's expenditures that are front-loaded or they kind of come in on the back end. So trying to predict that. So that's part of our I think work in process improvement that we'll be using going forward for forecasting to make sure that you know we can have those consistent um expenditures being recorded.

[00:28:47]>> Superintendent >> Chair Jackson, Director Zombore, members um in terms of our position coming at June 30th, you know, I'm still slightly worried about it. Um to just be fully transparent, we got the report back on Jan on January 13th that we had a deficit at that immediate moment. We looked at our finances. We immediately put in a soft hiring freeze. We started controlling for spending in our schools and in our departments, started to look at all of our budgets, and then we started our budgeting process. Our budget team has been tremendously um in the mix of cleanup um from our budgeting practices of the past and uh they have been really really busy. We have several new members in our uh budget team who are doing a tremendous job but uh you know getting these reports out is something that has been a challenge. So I just want to be transparent about that. Um, I also know that we have uh vulnerabilities and risk around our vacancy adjustment. Um, you know, and we won't know that until June 30th when we close our books and where we're at for that vacancy adjustment. We have been uh over uh adjusting in our vacancy adjustment for the past several years.

[00:30:04]Of course, we bought that down to 53 million this past year. That's still too big of a number. And I know Mr. Maniskel has been doing a furious job of hiring all year uh for our vacancies up until we started controlling for that and not not hiring into the vacancies midyear.

[00:30:23]So I am not sure from where we went from you know fall to to January uh in terms of our accounting but our practices changed after we got the word that we were uh overspending and so we've put those controls in place. I hope we've put in enough controls and it looks like because we're 74 spent and 70% coming in that we're looking like we're tracking pretty decently um toward the end of the year and that some of our uh control methods seem to be working. But I still feel a little nervous about our vulnerability on our vacancy adjustment because we've just recently been able to correct the vacancy adjustment um and and really get that directed toward positions. Uh so I just want to make sure that uh you know that we're looking at it, we're monitoring it. Uh but I don't believe that we can say definitively because of the vacancy adjustment where we will end up on on June 30th.

[00:31:26]>> Any followup? Director Zumbar. All right. Director Fans, you had a question or comment.

[00:31:32]>> Yeah. So, um tell me if I'm wrong here.

[00:31:35]I think this new way of presenting the information is is happening because many times the board in the past had not gotten decent information and this is an effort to try to put us in alignment with DPI with the public so that we can be completely open about and transparent about um where we're at in real time because um from my understanding looking into the history, um that wasn't the case that and and Milwaukee public schools kind of um worked in their own world from a um a budgeting uh perspective and we're trying to correct that shift if if if I'm understanding that. That's that's how I see it at this point.

[00:32:27]Chair Jackson, Director FS, um we did present the monthly to actuals, but it was not in this type of format to this level of detail and this level of transparency. And I think that's what the public has been asking for. And I think we're as we you as you and as the public gets more used to these documents and seeing it broken down in this way, uh it will become clearer and easier for the public to understand and to follow monthto monthth so that we can be alerted and know and then the administration will be able to come to the board and say we recognize that we are 60% only um receiving of revenues.

[00:33:02]We expect this grant to come next month or you know we are overexpending. So because we're overexpending, it's faster than what we had anticipated. We are going to start to cretail and take this action to cretail that overspending. So there's much greater um oversight now with that and much greater transparency with the board and and now with the public. Um also we're working more closely with the office of accountability and efficiency uh and looking at different types of reporting making sure that we're getting we're not only doing it but he is m Mr. Chason is also QCing our work which is nice. Um and he finds things and we are still all learning and I think that this is a really good partnership as we continue to work on our fiscal health continue to align to DPI. This is now in wolfer coding which we didn't have before either. So it's in full sight of DPI.

[00:33:53]We're still meeting with uh our department of public instruction I think still weekly um twice a week uh with our DPI partners just on this project. Um, and so, you know, a lot of really good work has gone in this past year in cleaning up our finances, getting more of our staff trained in how to do this reporting. Now, making sure that we're reporting to you and reporting to the public these documents. I don't think that this will be exactly perfect because there is a lot of information here. I love that uh, Miss Sava put together the narrative. Um, I do think that there's still more learning and narrative that needs to go with that's better plain language, you know, that our communications team can help us with on the website as well for people to understand it. Um, but it is absolutely director vans a step in the right direction. So, thank you for recognizing that.

[00:34:42]>> Any followup, Director V? All right. Uh, Director Zomber, any followup? Okay. Um, Madame Secretary, um, the next item, please, that was set aside >> needs a vote on this one. Absolutely.

[00:34:55]So, what's the pleasure of the committee with respects to this item?

[00:35:00]>> Director Stard, >> I move approval of the administration's recommendations on the monthly finance matters.

[00:35:11]>> All right. On Director Zomb's motion to approve the administration's recommendation on the monthly finance matters. Director FS >> I.

[00:35:19]>> Director Hearnen >> I. Director Zomber >> I.

[00:35:26]>> And Chair Jackson >> I.

[00:35:27]>> That's four eyes. The motion passes.

[00:35:32]>> And if we could just explain there's no seconds needed in these particular items.

[00:35:36]>> What's that?

[00:35:37]>> On this committee. There's no second needed when having a motion on the floor.

[00:35:41]>> Right. Yes. When we're at the committee.

[00:35:42]>> Just for Luna just so she can I know she's attended a full board meeting. So >> yes.

[00:35:47]>> Yeah. Yep.

[00:35:48]>> It is different. Um, and the other item that was set aside was item number five, the professional services contracts >> administration.

[00:36:03]Oh, excuse me, directors on board. My apologies.

[00:36:06]>> Thank you, Chair Jackson. Um, just a quick question on the Gartner, Inc.

[00:36:12]contract. I was just wondering if administration could talk a little bit about this contract and how um this particular vendor was selected for the service. It looks like it's for the ERP, enterprise resource planning assessment.

[00:36:27]Um I know that um and it looks like it's for the modernization assessment not actually the ERP but if you could just talk a little bit more about it so we can have understanding >> administration >> chair Jackson director Zomour um Gartner was uh a a company that we are going to with looking at the ERP as you recall the governor's audit brought forth some recommendations around ERP systems with our finance and our HR systems speaking to one another. Um some suggestions that we have one system in in the past uh that has been tried. It has been a challenge in implementing that system.

[00:37:09]Many larger bin districts have tried some go with one some have two. Uh we p we have peopleoft and we also have business plus powers school um working on our finance side. As you know, we just did a lot of work aligning our finances to DPI and HR has been working in the people south side. So, under Mr. Maniscalo's leadership and Msawa's leadership, we have been uh working to devise a plan, a strategic plan for moving forward with uh addressing the governor's audit around an ERP system and having the finance and the HR system work together so that we could have greater position control uh within the district. um which will then impact this overspending that we're uh seeing and make uh make better our uh accountability to the staffing and the budget side of the house. And so um Mr. Maniscalo has been leading this effort and went for I believe RFP to be or what was it? Uh what was it called? Janine >> request for information. request for information um process where they looked at some different vendors for bringing us through this process of better understanding uh some of the processes that we need to have um and look for you know and make recommendations for the process improvements uh and make recommendations to the team. So I'm going to let Mr. Manoscalo talk a little bit about the the technicalities of that process for choosing this particular vendor and what our outcomes and hopes are for uh the engagement with this vendor.

[00:38:51]>> Thank you Dr. Casselius uh director Jackson board Dominic Muscalco chief HR officer. So I want to start back in February because that's when we began this process. We initially began by just engaging with staff. We began with talking with folks on the finance team, human resource team, payroll team, wreck team, uh teams that work within our ERP system. As we speak, as Dr. Cassellia stated, we have two separate systems.

[00:39:19]We've identified uh many deficiencies in just the way we work and the systems don't talk to each other and reconciliations are manual and tricky and so uh there's a greater need to just assess the way we work and how to work smarter, better, faster, etc. Uh we also engaged in several what we called gumba walks in lean six sigma which is just um it is a process in which we tear up a process then put it back together based off of what an ideal state is. So we did a lot of those exercises and then uh came to the conclusion that if we had an ideal state what would work best several working sessions then we decided to put together a plan to solicit vendors to go through a request for information to help us conduct a needs assessment at Milwaukee public schools. What we wanted to do is we wanted an outside entity, an unbiased entity to come in that are subject matter experts to look at our peopleoft system, our business plus system and what our needs are as an organization to determine what does Milwaukee public schools need. Do we have the capacity to do it whatever the recommendation is and it's not a recommendation on an ERP solution. It's just a needs assessment.

[00:40:38]If we were going to go with two, one, keep what we have. what do we need to improve? And um a part of that comes with a whole people strategy piece. They will be meeting with folks, interviewing folks, determining whether we have the right people in the right seats to actually get this done in a successful manner because at the end of the day, that's the goal. We have to get it right and we need the people here to get it right. Um also from just a sustainability standpoint, this needs to work a year, two, five years down the road. So we just want to make sure we're mapping that out. That is exactly what the gardener group is going to do. They were one of three vendors that presented to us and they were selected unanimously by the evaluation team. So that is the recommendation before the board today just in a nutshell.

[00:41:23]>> And if you can ERP stands for >> enterprise resource planning.

[00:41:27]>> Gotcha.

[00:41:29]>> Chair Jackson.

[00:41:30]>> Dr. Sis.

[00:41:31]>> Chair Jackson. Director Zomber. I also wanted to just flag that this funding is coming out of the governor's funding for uh the governor's audit as well.

[00:41:42]>> Any follow up, director Zambbor? All right. Yes. Matt Matt Chason.

[00:41:47]>> Thank you, Chair Jackson. Matt Jason, I'm dating myself a little bit here. Um but um I' I've been around for the implementation of both of the systems that we have here. U both of them are 20 years old. um and to the degree that the systems um are capable of speaking to each other uh there's interfaces that have been in existence for a long time but um the the degree to which the controls that oversee them have degraded I think have lent themselves to some of the challenges we've seen today um and and both of the systems that we do have um the their their modern standalone systems on their own. Peopleoft is a global HR payroll system. Business Plus is a um a robust um accounting software system for for school districts. And to the degree that I appreciate that Gartner is coming in without a specific destination in mind, um I think is appropriate given the context of the investments we've made in the systems.

[00:42:46]And so I just wanted to provide that background um for the board's benefit.

[00:42:50]Thank you.

[00:42:51]>> Thank you for that.

[00:42:54]So, what's the committee's pleasure on this in respects to this item?

[00:42:59]Dr. Director Zumbar, excuse me. Um, >> I move approval of the administration's recommendation to authorize the professional services contract set forth in the attachments.

[00:43:10]>> Gotcha. If there's no further discussion, uh, Miss Secretary, can you please call the role >> on Director Zomb's motion to approve the administration's recommendations regarding the professional services contracts as set forth in the attachments to this item? Director FS >> I, >> Director Hearnden, >> I, >> Director Zomber, >> I.

[00:43:28]>> And Chair Jackson, >> I.

[00:43:30]>> That's four eyes. The motion passes.

[00:43:32]>> All right. Director Zomour, do you have another item?

[00:43:35]>> Just a two. Okay. All right.

[00:43:43]Okay. Yes. Oh, excuse me. There's a question, Luna. Say it again.

[00:43:54]>> Um, Chair Jackson and Director Zombore administration and members of the board, I have a question about the previous discussion more towards the budget. Um, how do you guys plan to create a backup fund for MPS to fall back on? And I understand there's a deficit. I do understand that. So, I don't mean like as of right now, but um eventually it will pass. And so, will there be like a specialized backup fund? So, like for um committees and then certain programs, there will be a backup fund to go back on in case something happens within that program or committee. Or will it be more of a general backup fund where you're not too sure yet? That's all.

[00:44:36]>> Thank you for the question.

[00:44:37]Administration, >> Chair Jackson, Miss Matas. Um, so the the district hasn't had what we call a backup fund, which would have been what we call a reserve operating fund um or a fund balance uh for quite some time. And so we are actually in the hole a little bit right now. and we have a a reserve fund that's about $500,000.

[00:45:03]That's really not enough to um for emergencies. We have to do a big job of replenishing that fund. Uh one of the things that I talked to President Zomore about um as really looking at our policy around our reserve fund. so that new monies coming into the district would have to be put toward that fund by some amount each year. Um so that we could buoy ourselves and have a an emergency fund um so that if emergencies do come up or other priorities come up of the board that we would be able to have funds available. We should be somewhere around Mr. Chason 5% you know to five or 7% of a of a fund balance. um in in our fund. Um I would like to see about 100 million in there just for emergencies that come up. Uh and we have 500,000. So we have significant makeup work to do there. Uh, and then just for to say it again, we also are low on our fund 46, which is our construction fund, which is where the emergencies would probably come from, which are our roof, you know, fixing roofs or um fixing boilers or HVAC systems and um floods that happen and other kinds of emergencies that happen. And that fund has been uh put uh spent down because of the lead uh emergency we had last year.

[00:46:34]And so we only have about 20 million in that fund. So we anticipate that that fund will run out sometime within three to five years. Um because we spend about5 to $6 million a year um fixing the the things that come up um just like in any house. And if once that fund gets to zero then we have to start taking money out of that operating fund. That's why it's so important, your question is so important that we have a reserve fund in case there are emergencies that come up uh within the district. So, thanks for that question.

[00:47:10]>> Yes, follow up. Please go ahead, Luna.

[00:47:13]Um, Chair Jackson and Miss Director Zomber and members of the board and administration, I have a follow-up question, which probably will just be the same thing that you have just told me, but if there were, which probably isn't the case here at all, but if there were excess money in certain departments, would that be able to go to the construct fund or would still specifically be for that committee where if there's excess, it would just be that excess money for that committee and can't be um switched over to any other um fund.

[00:47:43]administration.

[00:47:44]>> Well, uh, Chair Jackson, Miss Matas, um, we definitely could take money from other budgets, operating budgets. Um, if it wasn't a construction expense, we couldn't take it out of the construction fund and spend it on something else. Um, because we have some restricted budgets like for special ed, we can't take money out of special ed fund and fund other things. Um, we have to fund for special ed. We can't take money out of the arts referendum money and put it on something else because it's promised for the arts.

[00:48:12]So there are some different restricted funds that we have that we can't transfer and balance over, but we can move our uh operating budgets the way that um the way that we need to with board approval. Uh but we don't want to fall back on promises that we made or obligations or state state or federal obligations as well. Um one thing that I didn't mention I think is also true here in Milwaukee is that we're able to borrow from the city. Um, and so every year we come before the board and ask for authority to borrow in case there is an emergency. Um, but we also don't want to be put in that place. We want to be responsible fiscal stewards of the public's trust and uh, money. And so, uh, we need to just make sure that we're not overspending, that we budget well, and that we're staying within the the guidance of which the board has approved.

[00:49:06]>> Mr. Chason, do you have a comment prior to Chair Jackson, Mitch, and Oi. Um, just to expand on what the superintendent said, with respect to fund balance, the GFOA recommends about two months of operating expenses. Um, so that's it's a little bit higher than 5%, but the hundreds of millions of dollars is is the right ballpark for an institution.

[00:49:26]Um, that's a billion dollar budget.

[00:49:28]>> Gotcha. Now, with that question to you, with the borrowing from the uh state, I mean, city, would that be the revenue anticipated anticipated notes?

[00:49:35]>> That's what I believe. Uh, Chair Jackson, Matt, Jason, O. Yes, that's I believe the borrowing that was referenced. So, because we do not receive our revenue from the state on day one uh when we begin our fiscal year and we have to fund our operations uh if we don't have sufficient cash, the city can engage in the revenue anticipation notes. That's a very short-term borrowing instrument that provides cash to us so that when we do get the revenue from the state, we can then pay that uh borrowed um instrument down.

[00:50:02]>> Gotcha. And Chair Jackson, that borrowing file is actually coming forward next week at the full board meeting.

[00:50:09]>> All right, you spoke it up. Gotcha. Uh Luna, any questions? Any other comments?

[00:50:15]Thank you. Um Oh, here we good. Gotcha. All right. So, before we move on, the chair would like to congratulate all the candidates recommended for the appointments, promotions, and transfers. We celebrate this important step in every in your career's journey and appreciate your commitment to serving Milwaukee public schools. Uh I guess I would have to be the winner. Step four, howin?

[00:50:38]Absolutely.

[00:50:44]>> Do we have to do we have to vote on five?

[00:50:50]>> Oh, we did. Okay.

[00:50:52]>> Made me pause there, but we did.

[00:50:56]>> All right. Uh, Madam Secretary, next item, please.

[00:51:00]>> Mr. Chair, the remainder of the agenda items are for separate consideration.

[00:51:03]The first is item one, report with possible action on audit number 2026 020, Milwaukee Public Schools Fleet Services Review Audit. This is anformational item, although it has been noticed for possible action. No action is required.

[00:51:17]>> Action. Will the Office of Efficiency Accountability please present the item?

[00:51:26]Thank you, Chair Jackson. Uh Matt Hason, OA.

[00:51:29]>> Yeah, Mike.

[00:51:32]>> Um tonight we're presenting um the performance audit findings with respect to uh the fleet service review. I have our interim chief auditor, Mr. Matt Hart, here uh to present and uh at the end we'll be able to answer any questions you might have. Thank you.

[00:51:48]Yeah. All right.

[00:51:52]>> Chair Jackson, Matthew Hart, HRT, interim chief auditor, Office of Accountability and Efficiency Audit Services. I have the honor of appearing before you tonight to discuss a completed performance audit related to the Department of Facilities and Maintenance Services oversight of MPS's vehicle fleet. The fleet services audit was part of the board approved FY25 annual plan of audits. I want to highlight the contributions of retired chief auditor Paul Gbe and former performance auditor Mike Leyski now with office of finance procurement and risk management. On the administration side, I want to thank and acknowledge staff from DFMS, the office of finance, the office of human resources and school nutrition services. This audit occurred during a period of staff turnover from many of these departments and the assistance provided by staff thrust into the middle of this project is greatly appreciated.

[00:52:43]OE audit services conducts performance audits in accordance with the standards known as the yellow book published by the US government accountability office.

[00:52:51]In summary, performance audits are intended to provide objective analysis, findings, and conclusions to assist management with improving program performance and operations, reducing costs, resource stewardship, and public accountability.

[00:53:04]Performance audits are often designed around objectives, which can be presented as questions that should be answered by the end of the performance audit. Some of the audits objectives or questions were, "How many vehicles does MPS own? How is vehicle usage monitored?

[00:53:18]And what are the procedures to ensure MPS vehicles are operated safely and efficiently?"

[00:53:24]To answer these questions, audit staff conducted staff interviews, reviewed policies and procedures, observed vehicle users in the course of their work, and identified relevant best practices.

[00:53:34]At the time of the audit, MPS had 215 applicable vehicles with an average age of 10 years and an overall purchase price of $7.8 million. During the audit, DFMs was in the process of drafting a new fleet manual related to vehicle care and use.

[00:53:51]Performance audits often include findings or conclusions related to the audit's objectives. A finding should address the criteria, meaning how things are supposed to be based upon policy or procedure, for example, and the condition, meaning how things are in practice, based upon the work done during the audit. To close any gap between what should be and what is, each finding has one or more recommendations which are intended to assist management.

[00:54:16]Instead of just identifying the problem, we also help by suggesting a solution.

[00:54:23]In this audit, we identified 16 findings, many related to weak or inadequate internal controls with suggested recommendations.

[00:54:31]DFMs and the other offices I mentioned earlier reviewed the findings and the recommendations and provided responses, many of which included proposed corrective plans of action. In approximately 12 to 15 months, I expect audit services will conduct a follow-up audit which will review what actions administration took compared to the responses provided to the audit.

[00:54:52]So at this point we can jump to an example of a finding.

[00:54:56]So in this particular case um the audit team Mike Leyski went out and was informed that uh DFMS fleet services uses GPS units attached to uh vehicles uh for various um efficiency and usage um data collection points when they need maintenance, how long they're idling, the speed, things like that. During the course of testing, um, Mike identified that one vehicle did not have a GPS unit attached to it. Um, and two other vehicles tested. If I remember correctly, they had units, but for some reason were not providing data. So in that case the recommendation was to develop SOP standard operating procedures that included basic things like testing GPS functionality as well as expanding upon the data collected by the GPS units to aid in terms of when vehicles need preventative maintenance to avoid costly corrective maintenance which is oftentimes more expensive uh than prevention. And at that point, um, I believe DFMS offered that they had already started doing GPS testing on, I believe, a weekly basis, as well as they're going to draft a new standard operating procedure, which is supposed to be in effect by January 31st of this year. So, that's just an example of one of our findings.

[00:56:08]For greater detail, I ask that you please review the audit report and the summary presentation attached to this item, which includes the findings, recommendations, and the administration's responses. Thank you for your time this evening. At this time, I welcome your questions and comments.

[00:56:26]>> Ad administration have any comments or questions?

[00:56:30]>> Director, excuse me, director Jackson, members of the committee, uh, Mike Ta, interim chief operations officer. I want to first thank the audit department for the work they did on the fleet audit.

[00:56:41]Audits are invaluable tools to improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of departments. The fleet audit highlighted various shortcomings within facilities and maintenance. It is critical that standard operating procedures are established and followed consistently. The goal is to do the right thing the right way every day. The 16 findings provided facilities and maintenance with clear recommendations.

[00:57:05]Facilities and maintenance has established or updated standard operating procedures, improved documentation, and inservice staff.

[00:57:13]Facilities and maintenance has addressed each of the 16 recommendations and we look forward to submitting a report on each to OE and the board. If there are any questions, I'm available to answer.

[00:57:27]>> Any questions?

[00:57:29]All right. Any questions from public?

[00:57:32]Any public comments?

[00:57:33]>> We do not have any speaker slips on this item.

[00:57:35]>> Okay.

[00:57:40]U Madam Secretary, next item, please.

[00:57:45]Mr. Chair, that was the last item on this meeting's agenda.

[00:57:48]>> Let me Luna, did you have any questions?

[00:57:50]Excuse me. Did you have any questions?

[00:57:52]Yeah. No. All right. Uh, there being no further business before the committee, this meeting is adjourned.