Seattle Schools Week of May 18-23, 2026
Upcoming posts
- What did the Superintendent say to the local NPR station?
- What happened at the Board meeting last Wednesday?
- Another lawsuit coming to SPS
Monday, May 18, 2026
Finance and Audit Committee meeting from 10 am to noon at the JSCEE Board office conference room. Agenda.
Oddly, they need to pass the minutes from meetings in June of 2025, September 2025, and December 2025. Whoops.
There will be a presentation by the State Auditor's Office that includes "financial condition - reviewing for indications of financial distress." I think distress is a great word for the current situation.
There was also this from the actual report (not the presentation):
Additionally, during the audit certain matters came to our attention that are currently under investigation. The results of that investigation will determine whether or not we issue a separate report on the matter.
Hmmm
Page 13
- On School Bus Expenditures
The District did not have monitoring controls over school bus fuel-related expenditures with this vendor. Specifically, the District did not have:
• Controls in place to ensure staff knowledgeable of fuel transactions reviewed school bus
invoices to ensure the invoice was allowable and reasonable
• A formal monitoring plan to ensure fuel purchases were only for District purposes
We examined 289 transactions, or $21,328 in school bus fuel expenditures, and found District staff did not review itemized fuel transactions before payment. Without this review, District staff could not ensure all transactions were valid, reasonable, and allowable. Out of the 289 transactions we tested, we noted 287 transactions totaling $20,832 were not for District purposes.
In 2024, the vendor transferred four buses to another district, and the District requested cancellation of the associated fuel cards. Due to the lack of effective monitoring of fuel usage, District staff did not realize the fuel cards were still assigned to Seattle School District until February 2025. It was not until our audit that the District realized they were charged and paid for the fuel usage of the four buses.
Paid for fuel for buses in another district?
- On Federal Funding Awards for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects
Our audit found the District did not have adequate controls to ensure it complied
with procurement requirements. Specifically, the District did not follow its policy
when procuring curriculum software. It did not obtain price or rate quotations for one purchase and determined two other purchases to be sole source but did not have documentation showing its rationale and justification for the noncompetitive procurement. The District paid the vendors a total of $244,425 in federal program funds.
We consider this deficiency in internal controls to be a significant deficiency.
District staff responsible for procuring curriculum software did not fully understand
federal procurement requirements and the District’s procurement policy. District
staff did not know they were required to research and document how they
determined a vendor to be sole source at the time of procurement. District staff said
they received previous guidance that documentation identifying a vendor as sole
source could be used for up to five years but did not have written documentation of
this guidance. Lastly, District staff also said for one of the three purchases, they
were unaware that the purchase was made with federal funds.
Sounds like areas in some departments that the Superintendent might want to give special notice to. To hear that district policies are not being followed for procurement and spending is very bad. District staff need to be better trained AND there should be more spot checks on contracts and spending.
- ASB fundraising at Garfield HS and Ballard HS showed a woeful lack of documentation.
Franklin High School
State Auditor's Office did a check of various types of spending at Franklin HS. They say:
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, Franklin High School generated the highest amount of substitute reimbursements in the District by a significant margin.
You look at the chart and it is quite apparent. What's up with that?
As well, a school staffer allowed several outside groups to use the gym for free and without proof of liability insurance. Not good. The district needs every bit of revenue they can get. It appears the Franklin staffer "incorrectly categorized these events as "internal events, open gyms, sports practice of ASB fundraising tournaments on the District's official facility usage calendar."
"Incorrectly?" I think that's the wrong word here.
Apparently the agreement with these outside groups was a donation would be made to Franklin's ASB for each event. "While donations were made to a Franklin ASB account with no evidence of misappropriation of funds, the lack of documentation and controls prevent Internal Audit from providing any assurance that the amounts received by Franklin were complete and accurate."
Among the recommendations:
Notify. all school staff they do not have the authority to enter into any contracts on behalf of the school or district.
No kidding.
I'd be willing to bet if you audited ALL the high schools and their gyms, you'd find even more. This comes up time and time again.
There are two quite lengthy audits of the Montlake Elementary School modernization. It's very detailed but from my reading, it appears that a couple of the construction vendors are trying to extract as much money as possible from their contracts with SPS.
Also, the Committee is looking for Finance and Audit Committee Public Advisors, a volunteer position.
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
The last of the Superintendent's stops on his community engagement tour. He will be at Mercer Middle School, 1600 S. Columbian Way from 6:30-8pm. (Doors open at 6 pm with light refreshments.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Policy Committee meeting at 4 pm at the JSCEE Board conference room. Agenda
The agenda is quite sparse so I don't know what the discussion will be except it's about the policies around financial planning and budgeting as well as about gifts, grants, donations and fundraising proceeds.
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Operations Committee meeting at JSCEE in the Board conference room from 9:30 am-11:30 am. Agenda
To note on these committee meetings, only the Finance and Audit Committee ever seems to supply documentation so you actually know what the meeting is about. I find that sad.
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