School Finance - Final Reflection

      School finance was considered a weakness of mine from the beginning of the Superintendent certification program. Competency 8 now has more strengths and competent than before. I am competent in the budget development of the procedures and timelines that should be followed to accomplish this each year. The reason I think my greatest strength is in regards to personnel. I believe in looking for qualities a person has to benefit the organization and I do well with set policies.  The policies, laws, and procedures must be followed exactly each and every time – no exceptions with selecting, evaluating, disciplining, reassigning, and dismissal of personnel. I will continue to seek improvement in understanding more depth of school finance. I understand the expenditures and budget what funds you have, but I still having difficulty of where and how much all the funds are coming from. I am going to do additional research on state and federal funding, plus schedule another appointment with our business person at my district to clarify a few remaining questions I have.

     The lectures gave me a direction to accomplish the assignments and the main focus for that week. The TEA link for finance was extremely helpful resources and I utilized the TEA Budgeting Guidelines frequently. I found the Summary of School Finance for the districts to be quite interested and sparked my interest in analysis surrounding districts. The equity and adequacy can easily be seen in your own backyard.

     Each week brought something new to my attention regarding school finance. The words equality, equity and adequacy now carry the face of school children in my mind. The children in Texas are not receiving the same learning experiences and each district is unique with their own challenges. The calendar of events for developing a budget is something I will use in the future. The activities of comparing districts were beneficial for looking at WADA, revenues and expenditures of a district. Also, the introduction and discussion of the Financial Integrity Rating System was knowledgeable for me.  The group collaboration became a rewarding experience as we worked on each week’s assignment. The reassurance of having someone to communicate with on the assignments made this course manageable.

    This course will assist me in my current position with the understanding more of the district budget planning that I am part of. I will be able to follow and have a more meaningful understanding of the current issues with school funding. The course has already brought me having conversations within my district on funding and budgeting. The road to providing equity and adequacy education is going to continue to be a bumpy and difficult road with no end in sight.

Code of Ethics for School Leaders

Code of Ethics for School Leaders

The following are examples of ethics’ violations.

1. Standard 1.2 – The educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or equipment committed to his or her charges for personal gain or advantage.

Example:  Purchasing equipment for personal use but giving education related justifications. IPAD ‘s, laptops, and computers are examples of this misuse.

2. Standard 1.3 – The educator shall not submit fraudulent request for reimbursement, expenses, or pay.

Example: Request payments associated with an overnight stay for a conference. Then not attending the conference, but sight-seeing in the area.

3. Standard 1.5 – The educator shall neither accept nor offer gratuities, gifts, or favors that impair professional judgment or to obtain special advantage.

Example: Purchasing from a certain vendor or business to receive personal cash back from the vendor.

4. Standard 2.3 – The educator shall adhere to written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of personnel.

Example: Dismissal of an employee without following policies and laws. This could cost the district in legal and attorney fees.

5. Standard 2.4 – The educator shall not interfere with a colleague’s exercise of political, professional, or citizenship rights and responsibilities.

Example: Asking an employee to find a way not to serve on a jury. When an employee serves on a jury this is a district expense.

Short and long-range consequences with prevented actions:

Below are possible outcomes on three incidents from educators who violate the code of ethics.

1. Example: Purchasing from a certain vendor or business to receive personal cash back from the vendor.

An educator who takes this risk is deceiving the school district. Once this becomes known the employee should be placed on administrative leave and the proceedings of this case could find the employee with criminal charges. The outcome of this incident could be a criminal conviction.

The TAC 249.15 states the action of the State Board for Educator Certification has in regards to an educator’s certificate. This includes restrictions on a certificate, issues a reprimand, suspend a certificate, revoke or cancel a certificate.

The TAC 249.14 states the superintendent must report within seven days of any employee that illegally transferred, appropriated, or expend school property or funds.

The TAC 249.14(b) states that any complaints against an educator must be filed in writing.

The TAC 249.26(b) involves anyone who has a criminal conviction with crimes involving school property or funds.

Preventive Action:

A preventive action plan would be to have strong and consistent procedures when purchasing from vendors. This depends on the supply and type of expenditure. A large expenditure may require a bid and approval from the board process. District’s have procedures and level’s of approval before reaching the business office and usually the business offices give the final approval based on the approvals received. However, an additional procedure would be to have perimeters in the computer system to red-flag new vendors, expenses over a certain amount, and/or frequency of purchase from a certain vendor.

2.      Example: Request payments associated with an overnight stay for a conference. Then not attending the conference, but sight-seeing in the area.

A school employee who does not use the funds as intended is committing fraud. The short-term consequences could be as simple as a local reprimand to possible non-renewal of a contract with the district. The district could file a complaint with the SBEC which could result in a revolt of certificate.

Standard 1.3 – The educator shall not submit fraudulent request for reimbursement, expenses, or pay.

Preventive Action:

When an educator attends a conference a proof of attendance from the conference must be submitted upon arrival. Also, requesting an evaluation form the employee that includes supported evidence of attending. This must be signed by their supervisor and turned into central office.

3.      Example: Dismissal of an employee without following policies and laws.

Standard 2.3 – The educator shall adhere to written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of personnel.

An educator could be reprimanded or loss their certification by dismissing as employee without following policies. The effect on the district as a whole could result in costly legal expenses.

Preventive action:

The procedures of hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of an employee need to be in place. Every district should have a personal department to oversee those procedures and policies are in place. Training to principals, directors, or supervisors should be conducted at least twice in the school year for updates and reminders of the proper procedures and policies regarding the hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of employees.

TAC 247.1 “….in accepting a position of public trust…. “all educators must uphold to this statement in every action they take every moment, more so, as the Superintendent of a district. Parents, community, and stakeholders trust the funding is in the best interest of the students. The expectations that all school employees will make the right choices and keep the integrity of the district. The ratifications of misrepresentation of funds are and should be a stiff penalty for every educator who violates this ethic code of conduct

Financial Audits

The Superintendent explained the annual external financial audit is overseen by the Assistant Superintendent of Finance. WISD school policy allows the district to have the same auditor for three years. Then the process of bids is conducted for the next three years. WISD always changes auditors every three years.

The auditors conduct the annual pre-work for 2-3 days in late July or early August. The auditors return in October or the beginning of November for a week. The first year with new auditors takes the longest and by the third year the audit goes more quickly.

The auditors are looking for inconstancy in the financial records and will make recommendations if needed. WISD has never received a negative report or discrepancies.

The results are communicated to the board at the December board meeting. The board received bond copies and a letter. The board will vote, approve and sign the necessary reports. The auditors submit to Texas Education Agency on behalf of the school district.

Understand Personnel Salaries in District Budgets

WISD total personnel salaries are 82% of the total district budget. Personnel salaries is always going to be the largest expenditure and requires evaluating the positions held within the district to assure efficiency. Last spring our district offered incentives for employees who choose to leave the district. During this process the district did not have to let anyone go and moved existing employees as needed. WISD did a reconstructing of the master schedule all campuses to fulfill the needs of the students with the employees we have. WISD did not hire anyone and is still on a hiring freeze.

The positive impact of a five percent salary increase would be a motivator that the district works a team and saved in other areas to be able to offer the raise. In reality, this would not be possible and would be havoc on the budget. The raises could give the public the wrong message and the district could be perceived the local/state budget is not a reality. Several years ago our board approved a set amount for all teachers and a set amount for administrators. This caused some thinking this was unfair because this allowed some employees to receive a higher percentage of raise that others. The main point was the board and the budget was in the position to award all employees.  

District's M&O Fund

Woodville I.S.D. is a 2A school district, but we are the largest of the five school districts in Tyler County and are considered a property wealthy district by the state. This results in WISD having to send local revenue to the state while WISD is experiencing serious budget cuts. The total revenue is $14,372,001, where 68% is from local and 32% is from the state.  The I&S tax collection for the district is 524,849.  The WADA is only $1,879 with a population of 1,400 students. Economically disadvantage is 64.2%, Special Education is 16% (WISD is the county co-op for the county), Career & Technical education is 20%.  The largest allotments are from Special Education and Compensatory Education making up 20% of the revenues. WISD also receives the small district allotment.

The expenditures for instructional is 54% and the second highest is plant operations of 14%. The instructional expenditure is $8,275,320 were 50% is for regular education, 26% for special education, and 14% for accelerated education.

WISD provides special education services to the other districts in the county. WISD has a beautiful auditorium that is shared with the county districts and local community where WISD receives funds. This is similar to Dr. Hicks excerpts from Learning from the Best (Harris) of the win-win situation of using a facilities to benefit many. WISD facilities are well aged, but the renovations and well maintained buildings are some of the best I have seen. The best of technology available is used by our students and the career & technical programs is impressive and you would not expect to find in such a rural area. WISD plan the budget well and obtains a healthy fund balance. WISD will be able to weather the storm during these difficult times. However, there is great concern with several of the 1A schools in the county being able to survive.