Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Tuesday, Sept. 6th West Seattle Elementary starts school Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Denny Int'l Middle School from 1- 2 p.m. Audit & Finance Committee Mtg. (Audit) f rom 4-6 p.m.  This meeting's agenda reflects topics on the audit response to both the performance audit of capital and the RSBDP (better known as Pottergate).  Perhaps this means the King County Prosecutor has something to report from their investigation.  There's a report from the new Internal Auditor, Anthony Medina.  Not wasting any time, there will be discussion of the Series 5000 policies of the Board policies which look like they cover HR.  Also, a discussion of audits other than those done by the SAO or Internal Auditor - interesting. Wednesday, Sept. 7th First Day of school for SPS  (fyi, the Superintendent will be visiting the new Lowell at Lincoln school from about 9-10 am .  She will also be having lunch at RBHS at noon.) School Board meeting from 6-9 p.m. ...

The Audit Response Log has been expanded to include a number of audits and financial reviews - including the Moss Adams review and recommendations .

Okay, husband on a plane, college-age son off in his room, decorating done, so let's humor Charlie and finish the Audit and Finance summary. (This also means for my effort I get to eat some of the Theo's Fig, Fennel and Almond dark chocolate bar.) So I left off with the pending or impending) capital program management audit. Sorry, Charlie but Sherry misunderstood Michael and let Noel Treat leave. No Ethics program review. (Yes, a shame but it was an honest misunderstanding. I realize now that I also misread my notes and this occurred BEFORE the audit review information. I include this so that you know that Sherry Carr DID hear the audit review information.) They were then talking about the i ntegrated planning for the 2011-2012 budget . I didn't get the handouts so this was very hard to follow. The one data point I got was that we are losing $66M from grants not included in the previous budget update. (I do not see this info online; I will try to find it Monday...

Finding number five from the State Accountability Audit was: The School Board and District management have not implemented sufficient policies and controls to ensure the District complies with state laws, its own policies, or addresses concerns identified in prior audits. So what have they done to address this finding? According to the "High Level" summary , the response has been: ACTIONS TAKEN: • The Audit & Finance Committee is meeting one additional time each month to focus on the Audit response; and 3 to 4 oversight work sessions of the whole board will be added • An Ethics Officer was appointed and an Ethics Program is being developed • Board Policies and Superintendent procedures are being assessed • Organization and reporting changes were made in summer 2009 to improve controls and accountability. There is more detailed information in the Audit Response Log , but nothing that specifically addresses the finding that the District lacks controls to ensure compl...

The District's Audit Response web page has been uploaded. It stinks. On the good side, it has links to the relevent documents, starting with the audits. It also has links to a Board presentation on the audit response, the Board resolution regarding the audit response, a link to the minutes of the Board Audit and Finance Committee and... [drum roll]... The District's Audit Response Log , which will, purportedly, be updated regularly as it documents the District's progress in resolving each issue. This is the real meat of the deal. This one, on page 6, is my favorite: Condition: AE3.1 Superintendent did not disclose financial relationship with vendor Response: The Superintendent has publicly disclosed all applicable relationships. (October 2009) Status: Completed It is my favorite because it is WRONG. The disclosure document that the superintendent provided to the Board was not complete. It did not disclose all of her positions on boards of non-profits as she a...