MARYSVILLE—The Marysville School District took another hit this week after the Washington State Auditor released its recent audit report, finding the district’s budget crisis to be “extremely urgent.”
“I must stress that it is a rare and alarming audit result,” wrote State Auditor Pat McCarthy.
The report, released August 5, found that the district “could sustain only 18.6 days of operating expenditures as of the end of the 2023 fiscal year.” It also determined that Marysville’s ability to keep operating is in question.
By June 2024, number of operating days dipped to negative 11.6 days, meaning the Marysville School District ran on a deficit, despite entering into historic binding conditions with OSPI at the beginning of the school year.
Last spring, the school district had not met benchmarks outlined by OSPI, and a financial oversight committee convened to review the district’s budget crisis again.
“This is the most alarming audit of a public school’s finances in 17 years,” McCarthy said. “Local leaders have a financial and a community responsibility to right their ship. The stakes are too high for Marysville and its children.”
The state auditors did not find any “deficiencies in the design or operation of internal control,” however.
The audit announced three causes of the budget crisis.
First, a double levy failure in 2022 which caused the loss of $25 million in funding. Second, decreasing enrollment over the past decade. Third, the report adds, “the District experienced staffing transitions in key decision-making roles, which amplified these challenges.”
Some new staff transitions include Superintendent Zac Robbins, who was appointed June 2022. Robbins’s contract was unanimously renewed in February by the school board amidst protests. His annual salary is $265,000.
Online petitions protesting his contract reached over a thousand signatures, as many hold Robbins responsible for the financial crisis.
“He’s the captain of the ship,” Marysville Community Coalition member Jalleh Hooman told the Lynnwood Times. “He is the one who has brought on all of the people who have brought on this situation.”
But the district claims otherwise.
“The financial state of the school district is not something that happened overnight,” said Director of Communications Jodi Runyon in a press release.
Superintendent Robbins responded similarly:
“It is far-fetched and disingenuous to say that current budget challenges are due to anything other than a volatile financial landscape impacting schools and school districts across the state and nation,” said Superintendent Robbins.
The school district also saw a change in staff after a whistle-blower reported “unethical behavior” in a letter to OSPI.
“I was hired to be a steward of taxpayer dollars and need to speak up on these matters of public concern,” wrote former Executive Director of Finance and Operations Dr. Lisa Gonzales in her May 2024 letter.
Gonzales reported a “toxic environment, intimidation, and misrepresentation of information in the Marysville School District.”
Days after submitting her letter to the Marysville School District, Gonzales was told her contract would not be renewed.
“I was informed by Superintendent Zac Robbins that he would not renew my contract, despite having a legally binding agreement that he had signed, wanting to get us all under contract before you all weighed in on the next steps in binding conditions.”
The district responded to Gonzales’s allegations: “The Board takes all allegations seriously and is fully committed to ensuring that the administration of the Marysville School District occurs with integrity and in accordance with the law. As such, we have requested a third-party investigation to ensure all of the facts come to light. The board will carefully consider the advice of outside counsel on this matter with respect to next steps. We won’t make any final decisions until all of the facts are known, and we are working to collect that information now.”
The district does not have an update on the investigation at this time, according to Communications Director Jodi Runyon as of August 8.
Gonzales also called out Human Resources Director Alan Cooper, claiming that the HR department is “not a place where any of my staff can go to report problem behavior.”
Days after the letter, the district announced Cooper’s departure to staff: “The Marysville School District is announcing the departure of Mr. Alvin Cooper, the Executive Director of Human Resources, effective immediately. We understand this news may come as a surprise, as there have been other recent changes within the district, and we appreciate your patience during this time.
“The superintendent and district leaders are committed to maintaining a smooth operation and are currently working on a transition plan for his responsibilities to ensure continued support for the human resources departmental functions and staff.
“Mr. Cooper has been a valuable team member, and we appreciate his contributions during his time here. The district respects his decision and wishes him well in his future endeavors.”
Weeks after Cooper’s resignation, Marysville School District Board of Director Wade Rinehardt suddenly resigned after a parent-led effort for his recall. Gonzales claimed she offered to send Rinehardt “about 100 pages of paperwork” with evidence of “illicit and immoral practices in the district.”
More recently, the district’s lawyer has gone on administrative leave for unknown reasons.
Claudette Rushing, who was hired as the district’s first in-house general counsel in September will be out for an “undetermined amount of time,” according to a memo sent to district staff on July 25.
Gonzales named Rushing in her letter, alleging that “my staff also does not feel it even possible to go to Internal Legal Counsel Claudette Rushing, as they also believe she is in fear of any continued speaking up this year that might risk her own employment.”
The Marysville School District serves roughly 9,700 students. In spring 2023, only 24.2% of students met math standards and only 36.3% met ELA standards.
Marysville School District Response to WA State Auditor’s Report
Below is the official response by the Marysville School District in its entirety on the 2022-23 School Year Audit Report by the Washington State Auditor’s Office:
“On August 5, 2024, during a work study session of the Board of Directors, representatives from the Washington State Auditor’s office held an exit conference with the Superintendent and the school board reporting on the 2022 -2023 school year audit.
“The audit consisted of a review of the district’s financial statements and federal awards for the audit period of September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023. The auditors noted that seven major federal programs were included in the audit, which they stated was an unusual number; however, given federal dollars that districts received through COVID and other funding sources during the audit period, it was a federal requirement to look at additional areas.
“The auditors shared, ‘The report describes the overall results and conclusion for the areas examined. In those selected areas, District operations complied, in all material respects, with applicable state laws, regulations, and its own policies, and provided adequate controls over the safeguarding of public resources.
“Overall, the district received a clean opinion on the district’s financial statements and federal awards.
“Although the audit was for the 2022 – 2023 school year, the Washington State Auditor shared a press release that included statements about the district’s current financial state. However, the release omitted critical information. Of note, although the audit period was for the 2022 – 2023 school year, a significant focus was placed on the district’s current financial state, which seems unusual.
“In the press release, there is no mention of the district’s double levy failure, which resulted in a loss of $25M in funding for schools and the district. There is also no mention of the nearly twenty school districts across the state that are close to entering into binding conditions. Other districts are experiencing financial difficulty with passed levies. The loss of $25M in funding is significant and cannot be understated when trying to achieve a balanced budget. It would be difficult for any district to overcome this type of loss. The omission of losing $25M in revenue is glaring and odd, particularly in a report about finances and in a discussion of a school district’s fund balance. For example, It seems obvious that the absence of $25M would affect a school district’s fund balance. Again, such glaring omissions seem odd given the district’s circumstances, and we struggle to understand why there would be such omissions.
“It is disappointing to read a press release and statements in the audit report that place the district in a position that leads the community to question its viability. The district has been working hard to address and correct past practices and solidify systems and structures to produce a balanced budget and eventually exit binding conditions. This type of negative public communication harms the district and undermines its ability to restore trust in the community, ultimately negatively impacting students, families, and staff.”
ARTICLE UPDATES:
- Article updated 1 p.m., August 9, 2024, with a statement from Marysville School District.
- Article updated 6:14 p.m., August 8, 2024, with a statement from Marysville Community Coalition member Jalleh Hooman.
