SAO is beginning a performance audit related to Special Education services. The Washington Legislature recently passed a bill that requires SAO to conduct an audit evaluating the prevalence of special education (SPED) related disabilities in public schools. The most recent of those bills (Substitute for House Bill 2180) was passed during the 2024 legislative session and requires the State Auditor to compare the prevalence of disabilities related to special education to the funding for evaluating students and providing them with services. This audit would help determine whether school districts are under-identifying students with certain types of SPED related disabilities and could identify recommendations to help reduce this from occurring. The contractor work for this audit is scheduled from October 2024 – November 2025. The audit objectives are: Are there any disabilities that appear to be under-evaluated or under-served by Washington school districts and if so, what are the reasons why? Does the provisions and funding districts receive for evaluating students and providing them with services reflect the need for those services based on the prevalence of disabilities in those districts? SAO is seeking a contractor to provide advisory services related to these audit objectives as we conduct our audit work, including planning, conducting and reporting on the audit work. For example, the successful bidder would review audit conclusions and related deliverables and provide advice on accuracy, completeness, and potential impact of the audit conclusion and/or deliverable based on their subject matter expertise. Depending on the final audit workplan, we may also request the contractor to provide limited bodies of work related to reviewing eligibility decisions for individual student services.
