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For a while now, Philadelphians have been calling for an audit of the School District of Philadelphia. It looks like they’re about to get it.

By Denise Clay-Murray

From the moment that the School District of Philadelphia announced its facilities plan, a lot of folks, many of them parents of school aged children, have had one question.

“What’s going on?”

While the School District continues to say that Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s facilities plan has nothing to do with the district’s financial picture and the more than $300 million structural deficit contained within it, anything that involves the closing of 17 schools — including some of the district’s best — is going to include a demand to look at the books.

Well, it looks like folks are about to get that look.

The School District of Philadelphia is about to go under City Controller Christy Brady’s microscope for a comprehensive performance audit.

The audit, which was requested by City Council, will look at a pretty extensive list of things, most of which are connected to the district’s $4.6 billion budget, and includes the following:

• The structural deficit and the assumptions being made that impact it.
• All of the funding increases the district has gotten from Council over the past decade, including recurring and non-recurring revenue sources and the impact those increases have had on the financial condition of the District.
• The status of the payments the District is supposed to be getting from the Philadelphia Parking Authority. For those of you who may not know, the reason leaders in Harrisburg gave for taking over the Parking Authority back in 2001 was the additional funding it could provide for schools. Depending on who you ask, the district has gotten maybe $4 million over the last 25 years, or nothing at all.
• How the district’s reserves are being used, including such expenses as contracts, vacancies, administrative costs and consultants, and how those usages impact the district.
• How effective and efficient the district’s operations and administration is.
• Whether or not the district’s financial management practices, budgeting, and long-term financial planning stacks up with the best practices for school districts of similar size.
• A review of the district’s internal controls, procurement practices, contract management, and consultant utilization to look for ways to make the district more accountable and cost efficient.
• And, last but certainly not least, how the proposed school closures will impact the district in terms of savings, transition costs, impacts on transportation, facility maintenance and impact on the neighborhoods near the closed schools.

That’s a lot of stuff. But folks want to be thorough. Thanks to $1.7 billion in taxes, $332 million from the FY 27 operating budget — which includes the additional $48 million in additional funding the district said it needed to avoid laying people off — and new revenue from an increase in the Use and Occupancy tax, the district has $2 billion to work with.

All Council, and by extension the voters, want to know is what the district is doing with it.

“Given the SDP’s current budget challenges, requests for additional public revenue, and recent proposals involving school closures and operational reductions, City Council believes a comprehensive performance and management review is warranted to ensure transparency, accountability, and informed public decision-making,” Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement announcing the audit. “The City of Philadelphia has a responsibility to ensure that all available revenues, expenditures, obligations, and funding strategies have been thoroughly reviewed before significant decisions affecting students, families, educators, neighborhoods, and public assets are implemented.”

There’s been no date set for the audit to start, but the goal is to have it done by the time Mayor Cherelle Parker and Council start considering the FY28 budget.

My guess is that everyone will be on the lookout for it.

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