Pub. 9 2019-2020 Issue 1

8 I hate administrivia. Paperwork is the bane of my existence. I’ve met a few people who revel in making sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. I am not one of those people, but I am very grateful to have those people around me. In far too many cases, when those jots and tittles fail, the financial repercussions can ruin an organization. That’s true even for a charter school. A few years ago, the State Board of Education relied on spreadsheets to administer billions of dollars statewide. Because those spreadsheets didn’t automatically talk to each other, they couldn’t protect against errors. The result was a $25 million error. To prevent that problem, the State Board has re-created their accounting and grants management systems, which allows them to systematically reconcile their distributions and LEA reimbursement requests. As they have implemented these structures, the State Board has discovered that LEAs throughout public education – charter and district alike – have not always appropriately implemented the program accounting rules required by state and federal regulations. Unfortunately, there are a few LEAs who need to repay thousands of dollars because they did not appropriately account for and document their revenue flows and expenses. In particular, R277-113 requires LEAs to “record transac- tions when they occur in the proper program” using the “Board- approved chart of accounts.” This requirement means every LEA needs to be able to show which program in the Minimum School Program the money they receive comes from, and then document that it uses that money for approved purposes. If the money is unrestricted, such as the flexible allocation, the LEA can spend it on any public education purpose. For restricted funds, such as special education or the Teacher and Student Success Act revenues, each LEA must document Program Accounting Requirements