Seattle Schools Community Forum

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...

It's a rather light agenda for this week's School Board meeting and, in fact, I'd bet this one gets done in under two hours. It's mostly pro forma work. they will be approving a " Capital Asset Preservation Program " as required by OSPI. This will create a plan for each school built after 1996 to protect it. The district must do this to continue to receive state funding for capital projects. There are also a couple of "placeholder" items for district construction at Ingraham and for school construction bonds. The most interesting item are the new Board policies on " Fees for Damage " and " Restitution ". The Board is going from a one-line policy (based on requirements from an RCW about fees for damage to school property) to two full policies on this issue. The district will require a deposit on some items and anything lost, stolen or unreturned will be charged at full cost to the student/parent or guardian. Basically, ...