Message from the Superintendent: Financial procedures to promote transparency and accountability

Dear MVWSD Families and Staff,

These are uncertain times. Over the past few months, you’ve heard us talk about the unknown status of Shoreline funding, the parcel tax on the November 5th ballot, and potential leases for vacant school properties, all of which have a significant impact on MVWSD’s 2024-25 budget.

I have had the opportunity to hear directly from many of you—parents, staff, and community members—regarding concerns, confusion and even misinformation about our district’s financial practices. I hear the request that it's crucial that we are particularly mindful of our spending now, especially for expenses outside the classroom.

We’ve listened carefully and are taking steps to enact new financial processes to ensure greater transparency, inclusive financial decision-making, and even more efficient use of our resources. As we tell our students, we can always be better, and we continue to strive to improve our practices.

With that said, our practices are sound. Each year, an outside independent auditor studies the district's financial controls and provides a report to the Board of Trustees. For the past 10 years, MVWSD has received clean audits due to exemplary performance and transparency.  

I am confident that the way we use our resources directly contributes to the health of our district, supports children and families and ensures our staff members can show up at their best every day for students. And it’s very important to me that this is clear to everyone in our community - especially those who continue to disseminate misinformation online. 

I contacted the Santa Clara County Office of Education and spoke with Superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Dewan. She and I both agreed that the best course of action is an audit of MVWSD by the state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). This audit should put to rest the distracting and destructive allegations that we use our district resources inappropriately.

In addition to the audit request, you’ll hear at the Board of Trustees meeting tomorrow night that we are actively in the process of instituting changes that will make our processes even better. 

We are forming a new Budget Advisory Committee, which will include representatives from both parents and staff. This committee will meet quarterly to ensure financial transparency, foster understanding among all stakeholders, and promote public participation in our financial decision-making process. They will have access to MVWSD financials in order to study, provide input and keep our community informed.

To further strengthen our financial practices, we are developing a structured contract and vendor approval process for vetting the companies and organizations we work with. This process will help us ensure that we are getting the best value for our money, reduce the risk of favoritism or overpricing, and maintain accountability in how we choose our partners.

We have paused current contracts, and in some cases, chosen not to enter into new agreements with vendors, especially those providing specialized services such as wellness programs and coaching. While these services are clearly important, we want to take the time to enact our new processes in order to ensure that every dollar spent is used in the best interest of our students, staff, and community. 

We are committed to making these changes with the input and collaboration of our community. We believe these new processes will build a stronger, more transparent financial foundation for our district, allowing us to return our focus to academics and supporting our students. 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Respectfully,
Dr. Ayindé Rudolph
Superintendent