2004 was a bad year. So was 2003 and most years before that. You should be looking at 2005 and 2006 audits by the State Controller’s Office and the FCMAT audits as well. A lot has happened since 2004. The processes that they had in place back then have been replaced or streamlined.

At any time, Oakland Unified has a thorough audit taking place.

We all know that 2004 was a bad year. The audit confirms it. You should not base your opinion on 2004. There has been great improvement since then.

I heard that people were warning the district about the consequences of irresponisbilty as
early as 1985. The bankruptcy happened in 2003. It will take a while to dig out of that hole.

Anyway, let’s hope that they select someone as good as Ms. Robinson. The district deserves at least that.

Has there been improvement under Ms. Robinson? Yes. But she was not done putting the correct structure in place. That is why I am very concerned about her firing. The keys I believe are position control and the internal audit function. If both are fuctioning and not circumvented the district has the systems in place to return to financial stability and pass an audit.

Last year the district outsourced for putting in place position control and this year it was supposed to put in place the internal audit function that included a role for a citizens committee. I don’t know the status of the internal audit function. But, its critical function is is to stop overspending before it gets out of control.

On last thing on the leaving of Ms. Robinson is that she reported at a previous board meeting that the money the district saves by refinancing bonds at a lower interest rate will be returned to the property owners of Oakland. I wonder if the leaving of Ms. Robinson will also mean that the property owners paying taxes to float these bonds will not receive the rebate?

I will respond to Nun’s questioning of the OUSD audit process.

Since the State Administrator took over the operations, Oakland Unified is audited every year by the State Controller’s office. This audit is an independent audit supervised by licensed Certified Public Accountants, the same that you would find at a private firm. There is no conflict of interest. I have worked with the accountants at the State Controller’s Office and have found them to be professional, efficient and thorough.

The audit is also a very intensive exercise. It has been taking more than 4 months to audit every single facet of operation at the district. A normal independent audit would take no more than two weeks.

The findings written by the State Controller’s Office are available publicly for all to view on the OUSD website in the Legislative files.

You asked “how do we know if they have cleaned up anything?” Read the annual audit reports in detail. They are the best source of information for you. And, I am sure they will show that OUSD has greatly improved and streamlined its financial operations. Ask any auditor. They will tell you so.

I welcome any questions and comments to my blog.

Kind regards.

The bottom line, as I understand it: As of June 30, the district owed about $86 million to the state, and it could write a check for about $30 million of that today, if the state would allow it.

The other $22 million the district owes — the grand total was about $108 million last month — is from old debt taken out before 2002.