Every Washington school district is audited by the independent Office of the Washington State Auditor. In FY2017, CVSD was rated a “low-risk auditee” with no findings. In its FY2023 and FY2024 audits, the district received findings both years and lost low-risk status. Source: WA State Auditor Reports 1021103, 1035111 and 1037118.
Finding 2023-001: Financial statements misstated
“The District did not accurately report its financial activities in accordance with accounting standards.”
WA State Auditor, Finding 2023-001
- About $634,434 in General Fund expenditures and $120,879 in capital expenditures were recorded in the wrong fiscal year.
- Lease and subscription liabilities were not reported.
- Status: corrected.
Source: WA State Auditor Report 1035111 (FY2023), with status reported in Report 1037118
Findings 2023-002 and 2024-001: Federal wage-rate noncompliance, two years running
“The District did not have adequate internal controls and did not comply with federal wage rate requirements.”
WA State Auditor, Finding 2023-002 and repeat Finding 2024-001
- Classified as a material weakness in internal controls and material noncompliance with federal requirements.
- The issue involved a federally funded HVAC contract.
- The district did not collect certified payrolls from one contractor and five subcontractors.
- The same finding was issued again the following year.
Source: WA State Auditor Reports 1035111 (FY2023) & 1037118 (FY2024)
What these terms mean
A material weakness means the district’s internal checks weren’t strong enough to reliably catch a significant error or compliance problem in time. Low-risk auditee status is earned by a clean audit record; losing it means more federal-program testing in future audits.
The district’s response
Audit reports include the district’s own response and corrective action plan. [NEED SOURCE: quote or summarize the district’s response from Reports 1035111 and 1037118]
The office asking for $151.85 million drew state audit findings two years in a row. Voters are right to ask for accountability first.