SEATTLE - It was a Seattle school parent who discovered that 43 people in Seattle's central office make more than $100,000 a year.
That same parent has managed to put Seattle administration spending under a microscope, and in this time of budget cuts, she's gotten people's attention.
Ask Meg Diaz how much Seattle schools spend on central administration and the former business analyst and mom says the numbers just don't add up.
"I looked at it and I thought it's just not possible that central administration is running at $15 million. It seems mathematically unlikely," said Diaz.
Diaz noticed the budget approved by the school board wasn't the same as the one the school system gave the state. The central administration costs were different.
"I found that it's actually $45 million. There's about a $30 million difference between what's been presented to the public and what appears to be the case," said Diaz
And, according to Diaz, school district administration appears to be a growth industry unique to Seattle.
"Tacoma has managed to lower its central administrative costs so it's in line with lowering enrollment. While we've had dropping enrollment, fewer teachers and skyrocketing growth in central administration," said Diaz.
In fact, central administration has actually grown by 72 percent over the last five years in the face of millions of dollars in school-related cuts and teacher layoffs.
The school board is taking notice. Steve Sunquist chairs the board's audit and finance committee.
"This is clearly a thoughtful analysis and it's worthy of our delving into this and taking the questions she's raising and get answers to them," said Sunquist.
The school board promises an explanation at the committee's next meeting on November 5.
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