Agenda Item
1. Forensic Audit Explanation ~ Firm, Scope, Methods & Timeline
Summary: Presented by: Mr. Joel B. Thibodeaux, Executive Director of Internal Audits & Compliance, Chief of Staff Division
DeKalb County Board of Education
Audit Committee Meeting
May 28, 2026
Internal Audits & Compliance
Chief of Staff Division
Joel B Thibodeaux, Executive Director
PRESENTATION AGENDA
1. Forensic Audit Briefing
Firm, Scope, Methods, & Timeline
2. ESPLOST Corrective Actions Implementation Update
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DeKalb County Board of Education
Audit Committee Meeting
May 28, 2026
Forensic Audit Briefing
Presented by: Joel Thibodeaux – Director of Audits & Compliance
Audit Purpose & Vendor Selection
Following the Federal indictment of former Superintendent Dr. Devon
Q Horton, the DeKalb County Board of Education authorized an
Independent forensic audit to investigate all purchase card and
vendor contracting activity conducted during Dr. Horton’s tenure as
Superintendent.
The Scope of the audit includes all purchase card transactions
conducted by the Superintendent, the Superintendent’s Office, and
senior staff who joined DCSD as part of Dr. Horton’s leadership team.
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Audit Scope
Details of the Initial Audit Scope:
• The audit’s Scope Period is July 1, 2023 through October 10, 2025. The scope period applies to
the time frame when purchases, agreements, and contracts were initiated. Business activity
related to those transactions is being examined through to final activity.
• Full forensic examination of All DeKalb County School District purchasing card accounts for the purpose of
detecting and identifying any non-compliant or fraudulent use for personal gain or provision.
• Full forensic examination of executed Independent Contractor Agreements (ICAs) for professional services and
executed Contracts for change orders to capital, construction, and non-capital procurement in order to identify
and investigate patterns of procurement and pricing non-compliance, and/or avoidance of preventive controls –
flagging those contracts that fit within any such pattern.
• Emails sent from and received at DCSD email addresses related to certain vendors, individuals, and other key
topics mentioned in the indictment or related to activities similar to those outlined in the indictment, in addition
to any communications related to possibly fraudulent or inappropriate Purchasing Card transactions.
• Additional investigative actions to confirm or refute the existence of familial, social, or prior/existing professional
relationship between the vendor and internal requestors, approvers, or key staff.
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Directive Regarding Methods
• Internal Audits & Compliance directed Plante Moran to examine the
federal indictment (Case No. 1:25-cr-00654) to identify and
investigate similar patterns of procurement and pricing non-
compliance, and/or avoidance of preventive controls – flagging
those contracts that fit within any such pattern.
• The engagement is managed by the Office of Legal Services and
supported by Internal Audits & Compliance.
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Audit Deliverables
• Comprehensive Final Report that includes all findings and
observations.
• The Plante Moran engagement also includes Expert Testimony, if
necessary, to the list of deliverables.
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Initial Audit Timeline
• Phase I – II (November 2025 – January 2026)
• Management/Planning
• Data & Evidence Collection
• Phase III (February – April 2026)
• Part 1 – Analysis of Credit Card Activity
• Part 2 – Analysis of Contract Activity
• Part 3 – Email Analysis
• Phase IV: Reporting (May 2026, now adjusted)
• Approved for Not to Exceed $125,000
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Added Scope
• Expand email Review – 3 weeks for download, analysis, and update
• Interviews – up to 3 weeks, depending on scheduling
• Updated completion for Phase IV: Reporting is early July 2026.
• BoE approved $200,000 Not to Exceed Amount for Added Scope
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DeKalb County Board of Education
Audit Committee Meeting
May 28, 2026
ESPLOST Corrective Actions Assessment Report
Presented by: Joel Thibodeaux – Director of Audits & Compliance
Contracted Auditors: CLA – CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP
Introduction & Background
In 2024, consultants from Plante & Moran performed a comprehensive audit of
DeKalb County School District’s E-SPLOST program. A formal report was provided to
the District which included a summary of findings, along with recommendations for
the District to improve its controls, policies, procedures, and oversight in an effort
to enhance governance of future E-SPLOST programs.
The DeKalb Board of Education requested a 3rd Party assessment of corrective
action development and deployment. CLA was engaged to assist the District with
their organization, documentation, and remediation action plans in response to the
Plante & Moran report.
Last reported on September 4, 2025, this update is “as of” May 1, 2026.
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Summary of ESPLOST Findings and Status of Corrective Actions
As of May 1, 2026
Finding Finding Category Activity Goal Assessment or Solution Updated Status
Verification / Evidence
Owner as of May 1, 2026
1 Policies Assess current status of Program Erick Hofstetter COMPLETED
Procedures Manual (PPM) Provided to District stakeholder via ORR on April 28.
development
2 Project Spend Tracking Assess current status of Project Lance McConkey COMPLETED
Spend Tracking and Reporting
Monthly reconciled SPLOST project reports.
CLA Verified - obtained a copy of the Q3 2025 E-SPOLST VI monthly
reconciliations to observe the new process taking place.
CLA Verified - received a copy of the Financial Month End- FY25 Period 10
monthly checksheet to observe the new process taking place.
3 Contract Procurement, Assess proposed improvements to H. Eric Hilton COMPLETED
execution, and monitoring Capital Contract structure and
management
The District has an operations steering committee (which includes the
Legal department) that reviews
and discusses project change orders, rationale, cost implications, project
impact, and other relevant
project factors. These meetings are recorded.
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Summary of ESPLOST Findings and Status of Corrective Actions
As of May 1, 2026
Finding Finding Category Activity Goal Assessment or Solution Updated Status
Verification / Evidence
Owner as of May 1, 2026
4 Records Retention Assess status of the Digitization Kermit Belcher / IN PROCESS (Q4 2027) Weekly progress meetings with digitization vendor, Docufree. Project
Project and Records Retention Glenn Melendez progression documentation.
Policy Updated Retention Policy (CN:
5 Vendor Selection Assess current Capital Vendor Yolonda Love COMPLETED
Stand alone document submitted. Chiefs considering having it added to
selection process; Advise ongoing
the PPM for ESPLOST project management.
monitoring
6 Purchase Approval Assess current Purchase Order Carla Smith COMPLETED
CLA verified:
management process; Advise If a project has been approved by the Board, and a vendor has been
ongoing monitoring & internal awarded, a blanket purchase order
auditing process is created now, prior to any purchases. As expenses are entered, they are
reviewed against the blanket purchase order to confirm they are applied
appropriately and the relevant documentation has been uploaded and
attached in Munis. Invoices are then applied to the blanket and the
blanket balance is reduced. The Munis three-way-match capability
(matching purchase order, invoice, and packing slip) is enabled.
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Summary of ESPLOST Findings and Status of Corrective Actions
As of May 1, 2026
Finding Finding Category Activity Goal Assessment or Solution Updated Status
Verification / Evidence
Owner as of May 1, 2026
7 Expense Review Assess current Purchase Order Carla Smith COMPLETED CLA verified:
management process; Advise The process for “after-the-fact” purchases was changed; an “after-the-
ongoing monitoring & internal fact” document must be completed with an explanation as to why the
auditing process purchasing process was not followed and appropriate supervisor
signature is required. Training has been held for employees on blanket
purchase orders and “after-the-fact” purchases.
The Munis accounts payable (AP) workflow is established and in use.
The Munis three-way-match capability (matching purchase order, invoice,
and packing slip) is enabled.
8 Internal Control Implement a suite of preventative Joel Thibodeaux IN PROCESS (Q1 FY 2027) Could not be completed until new PPM was produced. It sets the
and detective controls to monitor standards to be assessed for control risks and subsequently monitored
the governance of SPLOST funds and audited. The framework was a CLA deliverable, but the PO was closed
at the end of FY2025 and not encumbered. Will request that the remaining
amount unspent be applied to the FY2027 budget for completion. In-
house resources will be committed to the project if funding is not
available.
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Summary of ESPLOST Findings and Status of Corrective Actions
As of May 1, 2026
Finding Finding Category Activity Goal Assessment or Solution Updated Status
Verification / Evidence
Owner as of May 1, 2026
9 Change Orders Assess proposed improvements to Hans Williams COMPLETED
Capital Contract structure and CLA Verified - obtained a copy of the Amendment to Contract for
management, focusing on Architectural Services form to observe the new amendment
mitigating District risks and costs documentation/process taking place.
10 Project Spending Establish reconcilable “budget to Lance McConkey COMPLETED
actual” analysis and reporting by Monthly reconciled SPLOST project reports.
leveraging Munis capabilities
CLA Verified - obtained a copy of the internal flowchart for approvals of
amendments.
CLA Verified - observed a contract within the Munis Contract Central
module to confirm storage of contracts within the system.
11 Final Inspection Implement formal closeout Hans Williams IN PROCESS (Q4 FY 2026) The components of the Closeout process, including Final Inspection
Documentation process and documentation Documentation have been developed. Final Checklist and District signoff
retention capabilities which meet documents are expected to be finalized and authorized by May 31, 2026.
requirements of the PPM.
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Follow-Up Questions or Concerns?
Audit Committee Requests for Additional Information
Office of Internal Audits & Compliance
Joel B Thibodeaux – Executive Director
joel_b_thibodeaux@dekalbschoolsga.org
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