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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Audit&Finance Committee Meeting Round-Up

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Audit&Finance Committee Meeting Round-Up:


Audit&Finance Committee Meeting Round-Up

As if to only reinforce the idea that the real action of the district is at committee meetings, there was the Audit&Finance committee meeting yesterday.

On the upside, I think this district has made tremendous strides in bringing in some bright and capable people as district staff.  Duggan Harmon, head of Finance, Richard Staudt, Risk Management, and Andrew Medina, Internal Auditor, and Ronic Lirio, also in Finance, all come across as quite knowledgeable about their area of expertise within the district.  I think they are all capable of laying out the facts clearly to the Board.  I do not hear the hedging that I used to with, say, Don Kennedy, the former COO/CFO.

There was an update of First AME and their compliance with the contract wording for the sale of MLK, Jr. building to them.  There were members of the First AME board on-hand to listen.  District staff went through

Ding-Dong

The charter schools bill is dead.  

At least for this session as lawmakers finally got a budget passed early this morning (like 5 am). From the AP:

Sen. Ed Murray, Senate Democrats' lead budget writer, lauded the fact that lawmakers didn't make cuts to K-12 or higher education, as they have in past budgets.

"That's key," he said following the vote.

Good news for all of us. 

Now do I think that's the end of charter legislation?  Of course not.  There is money to be made and chits to be