April 14, 2014

Chris J ackins
P.O. Box 8406
Seattle, WA 98124


Dear Mr.J ackins:


Thank you for contacting the State Auditors Office Citizen Hotline with your concerns
regarding Seattle Public Schools.


We recently examined your concerns as part of our audit of the Seattle Public Schools and would
like to share the results with you.


In the hotline report, you expressed concern about how expenditures for the Seattle Teacher
Residency (STR) program will be reported in the Districts budget and financial documents. In
examining this concern, we found that the Alliance of Education is the fiscal agent for the STR
program and therefore the District will only be required to report expenditures it contributes to
the program, not expenditures from the other partners involved in the STR program.


You expressed concern about whether the District was in compliance with Board Policy No.
6114 Gifts, Grants, Donations and Fundraising Proceeds. Specifically, you were concerned that
that the School Board did not approve the receipt of the Race to the Top award. We found the
amount of the grant award was $225,455. This is less than the amount requiring School Board
approval per policy No. 6114.


There was also concern about whether the District followed Board Policy No. 6220 Procurement.
Specifically you asked if the Board approved the Districts expenditures for the STR program.
Washington State Auditor
Troy Kelley

Insurance Building, P.O. Box 40021 Olympia, Washington 98504-0021 (360) 902-0370 TDD Relay (800) 833-6388



Board Policy No. 6220 requires all contracts over $250,000 to be approved by the School Board.
Our review indicated that the District did not have any individual contracts over $250,000 in the
2013-14 school year for the STR program.


You also expressed the concern that the District did not obtain approval from the School Board
before committing to future spending for the STR program over the next five years. Based on
our review of the Memorandum of Agreement, we found no language stating the Districts
commitment to contribute funds to the STR program beyond the school year 2013-2014. While
future contributions to the STR program are anticipated, they are not required or committed
District resources at this time.


Lastly, you expressed the concern about the Districts decision to seek pre-approval from the
School Board to issue contingent contracts to cohorts who complete the Seattle Teacher
Residency program and whether this action undermines the School Boards role and hiring
responsibilities as outlined in Board Policy No. 5000 Recruitment and Selection of Staff and
Board Policy No. 5005 Employment: Disclosures, Certification, Assurances and Approval. We
found that the District have not issued contingent contracts to the current cohorts of the Seattle
Teacher Residency program. However, the District sought and received pre-approval from the
School Board on September 4, 2013 to issue contingent contracts to future cohorts of the STR
program. Based on the results of our examination we determined that the School Board did not
concede its authority to approve future STR residents for employment when allowing the
Superintendent to issue contingent contracts to STR residents.


Thank you for taking the time to submit your concerns. If you have any questions, please
contact me at (206) 615-0557.


Sincerely,




J im Griggs, CPA
Audit Manager, Team Central King County


H-113-415