CRANSTON — The draft copy is about 100 pages and it looks at everything from course offerings to special education to building conditions.

It also attempts to answer a really important question: How much money is needed to run Cranston’s public schools?

Billed as a school performance audit, the report — long overdue — might be released next month, said Stephen L. Woerner, leader of the team that is putting it together.

“It’s virtually ready,” said Woerner, the City Council’s internal auditor. “It’s been drafted. It’s all been done.”

More than a year in the making, the audit was ordered by Superior Court Judge Judith C. Savage as she reviewed a School Department claim that the city’s $125.3-million school allocation for 2007-2008 was not adequate. Savage ultimately rejected the School Department request for an additional $4.5 million, but the School Department appealed to the state Supreme Court.

School and city officials say the court case could affect Cranston’s education spending in the future, because a decision that raises spending for 2007-2008 would raise the city’s minimum allocation for future years. And they also say the audit could affect future school budgets, because it will shed light on the department’s needs — in particular, how much the city must spend to provide a basic education program that meets federal, state and local requirements.

The audit was expected to take just a few months when Savage ordered it in July 2008, but Woerner said the complexity of the task and other projects that occupied the time of the audit team members — two educators and two accountants, in addition to Woerner — led to delays.

The draft report is being reviewed by the School Department and will also be reviewed by the city, Woerner said.

While Woerner was optimistic that the report will soon be released, School Supt. Peter L. Nero said there has been talk for several months that the report “is coming out in one month.” He also said he would like to see a full report, not just a draft, before signing off.

Over on the municipal side of city government, City Council President John E. Lanni Jr. said the dollar figure for the basic education program will probably “be a compromise,” in which case it won’t “make anybody happy.”

Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said coming up with such a number is no simple task, in part because there are different ways of calculating the numbers that go into it. For instance, one team might look at similar districts to see what programs cost, another might come up with its own number, he said.

Krieger did not know of any other attempts in Rhode Island to come up with such a number.

Woerner, when asked if he believes the audit will lead to a more-informed discussion of the School Department’s fiscal needs, replied: “That’s what I hope.”

redgar@projo.com