Audit praises school district, makes suggestions

Public meeting about audit is Wednesday

A performance audit of the 10 largest school districts in the state made four best-practice recommendations to the Kent School Disrict, but did not offer any cost savings to the district.

According to the audit, the district uses too many portable classrooms, should update and expand its strategic plan, should meet monthly with an internal auditor and consider implementing the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s statements for business practices (a recommendation made to all 10 districts).

The audit, however, also praised the district in three different areas, citing Kent as examples of best practices in its use of fund balance, use of purchasing cards at the school level and on effective and efficient bus routing.

Overall, district officials said the audit reflected well on the district and the administration.

“When they were done with the Kent School District, what they had to conclude was we were operating as efficiently as we could,” Superintendent Barbara Grohe said.

The performance audit was required by I-900, a Tim Eyman-sponsored initiative approved by voters in 2005. It was conducted by Cotton & Company, a Virginia-based firm.

Among the recommendations in the audit was to develop a formal, district-wide strategic plan and it cited the current, one-page plan available on the district Web site as inadequate.

According to Grohe, the one-page document is more like an executive summary, but she said the district made a decision to wait to update the plan until a new superintendent is hired to replace her. Grohe will be retiring at the end of the current school year.

“We could have updated our strategic plan … but when I announced to the board I was going to retire, it didn’t make any sense to have it as a project on the table,” she said. “It’s inappropriate for me to be putting that together.”

The audit also recommended the district reduce the number of portable classrooms in use to 10 percent or less of permanent classrooms.

Grohe said the district would love to reduce the number of portables, but there simply is not enough classroom space in the district and there is not money to build new schools.

“We’re building them as fast as we can get our community to approve them,” Grohe said.

Grohe also said moving a portable from one school to another costs approximately $100,000, nearly the cost of buying a new one.

Grohe and district Financial Director John Knutson also countered the recommendation that the district have its own internal auditing department by pointing to clean audit reports from the state and citing the cost involved in an internal auditing department.

“If price were no object, yes, it would be nice to have a full-time audit department,” Grohe said, adding, “The pie is only so big.”

According to Knutson, the district has auditors, just not a separate department. Knutson said the district’s use of risk analysis and internal audits “suits us better.”

“Any one of those things you choose, there is a cost to it,” he said of the recommendations.

The district also countered the recommendation about financial management and cost analysis by stating that it uses the “Accounting Manual for Public School Districts in the state of Washington,” published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

One of the recommendations dealt with food service and the costs involved, but Knutson said the district’s food service operation is a self-sufficient system, paying for itself.

Grohe also said the the district’s central administration runs very lean, with a conscious choice to put more administrators in the schools than at the central office.

“Our central office costs compared to the size of our district are some of the lowest in state,” she said.

Kent was also cited as an example of good use of a fund balance. By policy, the district keeps a 5 percent fund balance on hand in case of emergency. The money accounts for 10 days operating budget.

Knutson said the fund balance helps the district maintain a high bond rating as well as cover unexpected costs.

The district was also given high marks on its use of purchasing cards at each of the schools, which allows them to save money by eliminating an accounts payable position at the district office.

In all, Grohe and Knutson were pleased with the district’s performance in the audit.

“I think it reflects well on our district,” Knutson said. “It’s a well-managed district.”

Grohe said the audit should give the public “even greater confidence in the way this district is managed.”

“There;s a perception we’re not thoughtful in what we do,” she said. “But we’re thoughtful.”

Grohe added that the audit confrims that the financial issue facing the district in the next few years stem from state funding issues and that even well-managed districts have problems with the state structure.

“It confirms that issues on school district finance are not going to be resolved at the local level,” she said.

The Performance Audit Report findings for Kent School District will be summarized during Wednesday’s meeting of the Kent School Board. In accordance with Initiative 900, the district will is conducting a public hearing to consider the audit findings and to receive comments. The meeting begins 7 p.m. at the district offices, 12033 S.E. 256th St.

Learn more

www.sao.wa.gov/PerformanceAudit/audit_reports.htm