Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia School District is about to face significant new scrutiny, with City Council President Kenyatta Johnson<\/a> ordering a sweeping performance audit of the school system\u2019s management and operations.<\/p>\n City Controller Christy Brady has agreed to the request, which came via a letter in recent weeks signed by all 17 Council members, Johnson\u2019s office told The Inquirer. The comprehensive review will go beyond the audit Brady\u2019s office performs annually, delving into areas such as staffing and outside contractors.<\/p>\n Council laid out no deadline for the audit, but made clear it\u2019s expecting the results in time for next budget season, which will begin in the new year and ramp up in the spring.<\/p>\n The district, one of the largest in the U.S., has a $4.6 billion budget, which funds education for 113,000 students in 213 district schools and 65,000 in 81 charters. About $2 billion of that money comes directly from the city.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the SDP is subject to regular financial statement audits that examine the accuracy of financial reporting and compliance with applicable accounting standards, this request seeks a performance audit focused on evaluating the efficiency, effectiveness, and management of financial and operational practices, including budgeting decisions, resource allocation, internal controls, and long-term fiscal planning,\u201d Johnson said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n The news comes during a period of heightened tensions between Council and the district, spurred by members\u2019 frustration over the school board\u2019s move to close 17 schools<\/a> and a separate $300 million structural deficit that took Council by surprise.<\/p>\n Last week, at a news conference where several members \u201cbegged\u201d the district to come to the table<\/a> to negotiate over school closings, Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. said Council has \u201ctools in our tool belt that we will use\u201d if the board does not change its mind about some building closures.<\/p>\n Jones has sponsored legislation to hold hearings on creating an independent financial authority, like the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, to oversee the district\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n Council sources told The Inquirer that there\u2019s no indication that the district has conducted malfeasance, but given the billions that flow to the district from city coffers, city officials want a closer accounting of how the money is being spent. <\/p>\n After the board voted to begin the closure process in April, multiple members of the public also called for increased financial scrutiny of the district.<\/p>\n Frustration over a budget deficit and school closings<\/p>\n Johnson in his statement said the audit will reassure Council that \u201cresources are being managed effectively and operations are functioning efficiently by the SDP,\u201d and said he believes its findings will help inform priorities for next fiscal year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s budget season was chaotic.<\/p>\n After Mayor Cherelle L. Parker<\/a> introduced her initial budget, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. ordered $225 million in cuts<\/a>, including some school cuts, with 300-plus teachers, counselors, and climate staff slated to lose their positions.<\/p>\n The problem, Watlington underscored in remarks in March, is \u201cnot because we\u2019re not good stewards of the dollars, but because of historic underfunding.\u201d (The district achieved its highest credit rating ever<\/a> under Watlington, who has said he wants to be the superintendent to retire the system\u2019s structural financial issues permanently.)<\/p>\n Philadelphia\u2019s school system cannot raise its own revenue but instead depends on the city and state to bankroll it, unlike every other district in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n City Hall seemed shocked at the news of the deficit and job cuts, despite the fact that Watlington had warned officials in 2025 that a budget gap was coming. The school district spent $300 million in reserves that year to avoid layoffs and program cuts<\/a> as federal COVID funds dried up.<\/p>\n After Watlington said he would be forced to make the school cuts, Parker then upped her proposed 20-cent-per-trip rideshare proposal to a $1-per-trip tax<\/a>. That frustrated a Council already catching heat from city residents anguished over plans to close schools.<\/p>\n In April, several Council members took the dramatic step of repeatedly disrupting the school board\u2019s vote<\/a> in an attempt to get it to reconsider the closures of a handful of schools, including Lankenau and Robeson High Schools and Overbrook<\/a> Elementary. <\/p>\n The school board proceeded anyway \u2014 Council approves both school board members appointed by the mayor and the city\u2019s budget, but had no formal authority over the closures.<\/p>\n The rideshare tax ultimately died. <\/p>\n Eventually, Parker, Watlington, Council and the school board hammered out a deal<\/a> to save the 300 jobs, with the city promising $216 million over five years from yet-unspecified sources. <\/p>\n But it quickly became clear that some Council members remained frustrated with the school system, and were looking for a way forward. <\/p>\n