Evergreen CFO: clean audit but district faces $10 million shortfall this year; board warned to prepare $5.2M in reductions

At the Evergreen School District board meeting on March 25, Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Jacobson reported a clean state audit and warned the board the district expects to incur about a $10,000,000 deficit this fiscal year and will likely need a formal budget extension.

Jacobson said the State Auditor’s Office concluded an 8–10 week review with an exit conference in mid‑March and issued no findings or management letters for the district’s 2023–24 audit. “A little over a week ago, we had our exit, and we had a clean audit with no findings or management letters to report,” Jacobson said.

The audit news contrasts with the district’s operational projections. Jacobson said revenue is tracking slightly below the adopted budget—about $425 million in projected revenue against a $428 million budget—and expenditures are likely to exceed the board‑approved spending authority of $432.8 million. She told the board that, because of higher special education costs, the district now expects roughly a $10 million deficit rather than the $4 million shortfall projected earlier.

Jacobson said two main budget deviations are driving the pressure: higher-than-expected enrollment in certain programs and rising special education costs. She reported about 50 additional full‑time‑equivalent (FTE) students in the Running Start program and growth at…