Seattle Public Schools — Emergency Connectivity Fund $4.9M questioned costs, multi-year 'Not Corrected'

The federal auditor has flagged nearly $5 million in questionable spending by Seattle Public Schools (SPS) on a pandemic-era internet program — and the finding has carried over as “Not Corrected” through multiple audit cycles with no resolution.

What happened

The Washington State Auditor’s Office (SAO) reported in its 2023-24 audit (SAO Report #1037358, published May 22, 2025) that $4,912,945 in questioned costs related to Seattle Public Schools’ use of federal Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) money remains “Not Corrected.”

The Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) was a federal pandemic-era program that helped schools pay for internet connections and devices to support remote learning. Auditors questioned whether specific expenditures were properly eligible or documented. What is notable here is not the underlying dispute itself — ECF compliance questions are not unusual — but that this finding has persisted through multiple audit cycles without being resolved.

What the primary source says

The SAO report documents the questioned-cost figure and the “Not Corrected” status. The full details of the underlying dispute — what specifically was questioned and why it remains unresolved — would require reviewing prior audit reports and SPS’s correspondence with the FCC, the program administrator.

Status

“Not Corrected” in the most recent audit cycle. Final disposition depends on FCC review. Whether the $4.9 million will need to be repaid, written off, or resolved through additional documentation remains open as of this record’s last update.

Why it’s in the registry

A finding that carries over as “Not Corrected” through multiple consecutive audits means there is no mechanism to force resolution. That structural gap — not the underlying program dispute — is the reason this case is tracked. This finding sits alongside the Paid Lunch Equity finding (SPS-2025-001) in the same SAO report, and both exist in the context of the district’s $104 million structural deficit (SPS-2025-003).

Reform implication

Two reforms: (1) board-level audit-finding resolution tracking with defined deadlines so no finding can sit as “Not Corrected” indefinitely; (2) escalation protocols that trigger an automatic review or referral when a finding remains unresolved beyond a defined number of audit cycles. See [reform: audit_finding_resolution_tracking].

Relationship to other cases

• SPS-2025-001 (Paid Lunch Equity $3.1M finding) is in the same SAO report and the same audit cycle.
• SPS-2025-003 (structural deficit) covers board-level financial governance.