Marysville School District works to address 'alarming audit'

Marysville School District works to address budget after 'alarming audit'

With just about two weeks to go before the start of the school year, the Marysville School District talked about more budget cuts on Monday night, following a very worrying state audit.

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - With just about two weeks to go before the start of the school year, the Marysville School District talked about more budget cuts on Monday night, following a very worrying state audit.

The state auditor called it the "most alarming audit" involving public schools finances in over a decade.

On August 5th, the Office of the Washington State Auditor announced that the Marysville School District's ability to keep operating was in doubt, based on its declining financial condition.

Some members of the community, like Dorothy Moran, blame the superintendent for the district's financial troubles.

She announced during the board meeting Monday they would be filing a complaint against him with NW ESD.

"It’s really concerning when they send a few auditors from the state to attend your school board meeting," said Dorothy Moran, a concerned parent who is helping to spearhead the complaint.

At the meeting Monday, she said they would also be collecting signatures for a petition to bolster the complaint when they submit it in the next few weeks.

Moran said the complaint would be filed with the Office of Professional Practices, an arm of the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, which can investigate for allegations of unprofessional conduct.

The complaint Moran is presenting includes around 16 points of contention with the superintendent, including:

Hiring individuals based on personal relationships rather than merit
Failure to act to reverse a property exchange with the City of Marysville after the announcement of 3 school closures
Failure to respond to targeted members of the community and requests for meetings from various groups, including School Board Student Representatives.
Failure to comply with mandatory risk management standards
Failure to communicate to parents/guardians of Special Education students regarding Extended School Year services and compensatory services
No response to MEA requests over the course of 2022/2023 and 2023/24 school years.

The cover letter for the complaint is pictured below:

Moran tells FOX 13 that the parents that are spearheading the petition will be collecting signatures online through change.org to bolster the complaint against the superintendent. She says the petition drive will be ongoing through late September.

"As a community, we have attempted to get the school board to listen and given reasons why his contract shouldn’t have been renewed, and reasons why we are concerned, and they haven’t been heard," said Moran.

She notes that the complaint comes on the heels of the state auditor's announcement that the district's current financial position raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue.

"I just hope that someone listens and that we can do something to keep more things from happening to our district when we are already in a really bad situation," said Moran.

The Office of the Washington State Auditor released a statement on August 5th.

"This is the most alarming audit of a public school’s finances in 17 years," said State Auditor Pat McCarthy.

"At least we know now, and they can start making some changes to come back from that," said Becky Roberts, President of the Marysville Education Association.

Brandon Bowman, Executive Director of Finance and Operations, told board members on Monday the district was working on a budget that will get it closer to OSPI's guidelines.

Also on Monday, the announcement of the reorganization of the school board was made after the former president, Wade Rinehardt, resigned several weeks ago.

Vice President Connor Krebbs will now step into the role as president of the Marysville School Board, while Kristen Michal will take on the role of vice president.

In another board shakeup, Krebbs said Director Beth Hoiby is now out after resigning on Friday. Hoiby is pictured below:

In the meantime, the newest member of the board, Craig Hereth, was sworn in on Monday night. He says he's ready to tackle some of the ongoing issues in the district.

"I’m here because I got tired of reading in the paper and hearing on the news how horrible things are in Marysville," said Craig Hereth, Marysville School Board Director. "Things aren’t great, but things can change. Things can improve."

As for the budget, the district is expected to get into more specifics about what positions might be cut in order to get the district's finances in order early next week.