February 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Mr. David Hall, Director of Environmental Safety and Regulatory Affairs, has a deep passion for career technical education. His journey began with EMT training, which laid the foundation for his future endeavors. Following in his grandfather's footsteps, he served in the military as an aviation maintenance chief for the B1 bomber. After retiring in 2021, Mr. Hall discovered a job opportunity at Metro Tech and felt compelled to apply. He believes that career tech has profoundly shaped his life, and he is now dedicated to helping others achieve successful employment by "preparing people for successful employment and life in a global society."

Presentation GH2 and DLR Group
Dr. Robyn Miller, Senior Director of Operations, introduced Mr. Woody Giles, AICP, DLR group then presented his team of experts from GH2 Architects and DLR Group. The team includes Ms. Chinowth, Mr. McMichael, and Ms. Andrews from GH2, as well as Mr. Michael Gan and Mr. Post from DLR Group. These professionals will be conducting campus visits to assess and plan improvements to our facilities as part of the District Master Plan.

The presentation to the board focused on the District Master Plan, which has been carefully designed to align with our strategic vision. This comprehensive plan will guide the enhancement of our campuses and facilities, ensuring that our physical infrastructure supports our educational goals and long-term objectives.

By integrating the expertise of GH2 and DLR Group, we are taking a proactive approach to campus development and facility upgrades. This collaboration aims to create an environment that fosters student success and aligns with our district's future aspirations.

2. Mr. Ronald Grant, Senior Director of Finance, introduced Vanessa Dutton, CPA, Audit Partner, Eide Bailly LLP, who presented a review of the Financial Audit for the year ended June 30, 2024. Copies of the Independent Auditors' Report and the Financial Statements were provided to the board in advance of the meeting.  The report is available in the Minutes Clerk's office.

Ms. Dutton reviewed a PowerPoint presentation titled "Financial Statement and Compliance Audit FY24." She said Metro Technology Centers (MTC) received an unmodified option for both financial statement audit and compliance audit under Uniform Guidance. Additionally, she announced there were no Audit Adjustments this year. 

Ms. Dutton reviewed a Passed Audit Adjustment related to pension accounts.  A Passed Audit Adjustment is an uncorrected misstatement that is not posted to the financial statements but is significant enough to be brought to the board's attention.  Estimates that we look at it management tax receivables and net pension liability and assets.

--Finding - Federal Expenditures: two adjustments of federal awards. The amounts were not significant and no change to the audit procedures resulted [Significant Deficiency] 

--Finding - Student Activity Fund: Approximately 22% of deposits tested (13 in our sample of 40) contained an exception.  Out of these, three were not deposited in accordance with the state statutes. 1 of the exceptions did not have the details to support the deposit being made. Then 9 of the exceptions did not have the required documentation in order to test but could be isolated to 2 people that are no longer with MTC. [Significant Deficiency/Compliance]

--Finding - Under the SLFRF program, the District is required to submit a quarterly project and expenditure report. Thus, the reporting process is required to have an effective internal control process by the District. Such reports were submitted but did not appear to have an internal review of such reports prior to sending them to the funding agency. There wer no errors detected in the reports. [Material Weakness]

--Finding - Financial Aid: Return of Funds As per the National Student Loan Data System, institutions are responsible for reporting enrollment data under the Pell Grant, and accurately reporting all Campus-Level and Program-Level record data. We identified one instance where the incorrect clock hour total was used to calculate the return of funds that resulted in an incorrect calculation of funds to be returned.[Significant/Deficiency]

--Finding - Financial Aid: Eligibility. The Federal Pell Grant program provides grants to students enrolled in eligible undergraduate programs and certain eligible post-baccalaureate teacher certificate programs and is intended to provide a foundation of financial aid.  In our student testing, we detected one instance where the student was not awarded the full amount that they were eligible for during the fiscal year.[Significant/Deficiency]. 

1. Dr. Michele Sanders, Dean of Instruction, District Center
Dr. Sanders introduced Mo Vasquez, an adult student currently enrolled in the HVAC program who shared his journey of becoming a student here. Already working in the field as a heating and air technician, he felt the need to gain more experience and enhance his skills. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn more, which he believes will help him better himself both personally and professionally. Everyone thanked him.  
  
2. Tessa Martin, Director, Conference Services
Mrs. Martin introduced Destiny Johnson, Administrative Specialist, Conference Services. "She possesses a reputation that you can rely on, consistently demonstrating innovative thinking by approaching challenges from unique angles. Her role is crucial to our team's success, and she exhibits great dedication and exceptional organizational skills. Her contributions are truly appreciated, and we extend our gratitude for everything she does to support the team."
Ms. Johnson expressed gratitude and pride for being a part of the Metro Tech family. She thanked the Board for allowing her to share her #MT4Life story.  Dr. Toure asked, "Do you have anyone here with you? Ms. Johnson introduced her son and her best friend."