Transcript Welcome to School Finance!

Skills Refresher for
ASBO International’s
SFO® Certification Exam
Copyright 2012 ASBO
International
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Copyright 2012 ASBO
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Disclaimer
ASBO International’s certification program is governed by
the Certification Commission, a semi-independent certifying
body of the Association of School Business Officials
International. In adherence to best practices for certifying
bodies, Certification Commission volunteers and certification
staff are not involved in the development of any preparatory
program, and no preparatory program is endorsed by the
Certification Commission nor is a prerequisite to earn the
certification. The Certification Commission and its staff are
solely responsible for the policies and administration of the
certification program, including application procedures and
qualification requirements.
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SFO® Exam Content
Copyright 2012 ASBO
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Part 1
• Manage Accounting Systems (28%-33%)
• Manage Accounting Functions (67%-72%)
Part 2
• Conduct Financial Planning and Analysis (27%-32%)
• Conduct Budget and Reporting Activities (15%-20%)
• Conduct Risk Management Activities (10%-15%)
• Manage School Facilities (7%-12%)
• Manage Information Systems (4%-6%)
• Manage Human Resource Functions (15%-20%)
• Manage Ancillary Services (7%-12%)
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Manage Accounting Systems
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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What is an Accounting System?
• A series of steps, either manual or automated,
that records the transactions of a business, and
provides the information for financial reports
Assets
Liabilities
Expense
Revenue
Debit
Credit
Debit
Credit
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Typical Accounting Flow
• Journalize the business event (accounting
transaction) in a book of original entry (a special
or general journal)
• Post the business event from the journal to a
subsidiary ledger, if appropriate
• Post the total from the journal to the General
Ledger
• Summarize the business events by preparing a
trial balance
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Automated Systems
• 3 steps:
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Record Transaction
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Post to books of record
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Generate reports (and support queries)
• Password control is essential
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Online Communications Technology
• Communication networks range from those
designed to link a few computers, to the internet
which links most of the world’s computers
together
• Client/server: the physical and logical division
between user-oriented allocation programs that
are run at the client (user) level and the shared
data that must be available through the server (the
central server that handles centrally shared
activities)
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Online Communications Technology
• LAN (Local-area network): links several different
local user machines with printers, databases, and
shared devices
• WAN (Wide-area network): links distributed
users and local networks into an integrated
communications network
• Web browsers: software designed to allow users
to easily view various documents and data sources
available on the Internet
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Online Communications Technology
• Intranet: mini internal equivalent to the
Internet, links an organization’s internal
documents and databases that are accessible via
Web browsers or internally developed software
• Extranet: expanding access to a company’s
intranet to external, trusted partners
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Internet-based Systems
(Cloud Computing)
• Cloud computing is a paradigm shift following
the move from mainframe to client–server in the
early 1980s.
• Technical expertise in server management is no
longer required of the users. Instead, the
technology infrastructure is managed and
supported “in the cloud”.
Continued…
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Internet-based Systems
(Cloud Computing)
• Cloud computing describes a new delivery model for
IT services based on the Internet, and it typically
involves over-the-Internet provision of dynamically
scalable and often virtualized resources.
• Cloud services provide access to remote computing
sites provided by the Internet, web-based tools or
applications that users can access and use through a
web browser, as if it were a program installed locally
on their own computer.
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Important Things to Remember
• Security: are your records housed either manually or
on-line in a location that is protected from intrusion?
In fire-proof cabinets, if hard to replace
• Back-up: are your electronic records backed-up at
least each night?
• If there were an emergency, have you assigned records
responsibility to anyone?
• Do you have Business Interruption Insurance?
• Is your data encrypted when attached to an email?
• Do you have “secure” thumb drives?
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Documentation
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404 requires
that organizations document internal controls
over their financial reporting processes
• This documentation helps the organization know
the flow of transactions through the accounting
system, helps identify which areas have
implemented internal controls, and can identify
areas of control gaps that need to be addressed
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Documentation
• Written procedures:
▫ Do you have them in writing?
• Flowcharts:
▫ Data flow diagrams, which portray business
process activities , storage of data, and flows of
data
▫ Systems flowcharts present a comprehensive
picture of the management operations, information
systems, and process controls present in the
business processes
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Fraud Prevention
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• Especially in periods of tight money, it is
important to maintain absolute integrity
• Ethical culture
• Dual control
• Sign offs and cross checks
• Audit trails
• Secure passwords, encrypted mailings
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Fraud Prevention
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External audit not designed to disclose
Internal audit function
Metrics to indicate anomalies
Exception reports
Override authority/ sharing passwords
Multiple employees with same deposit
account
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Fraud
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Three factors are generally necessary for fraud
to occur:
Motivation (i.e. external pressures)
Opportunity
Rationalization
(often referred to as the fraud triangle)
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Fraud
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• Develop and promote a district-wide culture of
honesty (tone at the top)
• Separation of duties and responsibilities among
employees
• Dual controls-minimum of two people involved in all
aspects of monetary responsibilities
• Monitoring controls review- spot check staff and
management override controls on a periodic basis to
ensure controls are working and effective
• Fraud reporting process in place-internal employee,
external customer tips, fraud hot line, etc.
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Fraud
• Understand what can happen –common
fraud schemes
• Identify red flags to look for
• Test for the red-flag type activities
Fraud Resources
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (AFCE): www.acfe.com
• Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA): www.theiia.org
• Information Systems and Control Association (ISACA):
www.isaca.org
• American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA):
www.aicpa.org
• Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP):
www.owasp.org
• Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standards(PCI DSS):
www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards
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Internal Service Funds
• Used when providing goods or services to
other funds, departments, or agencies of the
primary government on a costreimbursement basis.
• An internal service fund should be used only
when the reporting government is the
predominant participant in the activity.
Otherwise, the activity should be reported as
an enterprise fund.
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Due to/Due from
• Balance monthly
• Examples:
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Internal services funds
Field trip costs
Other interfund transfers
State aid “settle up”
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Surprise Quiz!
• If a district purchases inventory in Year 1 but
charges it to expense, which of the following is
the result?
• -The first year shows less fund balance than it
should
• -Both the first and second year are misstated
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Manage Accounting Functions
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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Manage Payroll Functions
• The greatest portion of the cost of education is
concentrated in the form of personnel
• Education is labor intensive
• Personnel costs make up 80-90% of most school
budgets
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Personnel Costs
• Personnel costs are the single most expensive (and
most important) item in school budgets
• After estimating enrollment and envisioning
programs, costing out salaries is the next most
important task in successfully balancing revenues
and expenditures
• A demographer may be needed to assist with
studying the population and student growth of your
district
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Determining Staffing Needs
• Enrollment drives staffing
• Ability to properly determine staffing needs
is a function of organizing and using
information about the district and its current
and prospective staff
• Projections indicating a need for new staff
require budget input
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Determining Staffing Needs
• Hiring decisions must be coordinated with the
budget office
• Will budget constraints allow for additional staff
to be hired
• If so, consider what recruiting strategy is
appropriate
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Data Input
• As the hiring decisions are made, and the
staff member’s payroll information is
processed, it is critical that data be correctly
entered into the payroll system
• There are many items pertaining to
compensation that must be accurately keyed
into the system, for a person’s pay and
benefits to be correct
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Compensation
• Employee compensation includes negotiated
benefits such as teacher’s retirement, defined
contribution plans and various kinds of
insurance
• Compensation also includes employer costs
for workers’ compensation coverage,
unemployment insurance, and social security
(PERA)
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Pay Tables And Deduction Codes
• One of the most critical functions of the
payroll office is to ensure that pay tables and
deduction codes are set up and entered
correctly into the software
• It doesn’t matter if you’ve entered the staff
person’s correct pay step into the computer.
If the pay step amount is not correct in the
computer, underpays or overpays will occur.
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Pay Tables And Deduction Codes
• Deduction codes and the correct percentages
should be entered and double checked for
accuracy
• Retirement payments made to the Employee
Retirement System, and taxes paid to the IRS,
are dependent on accurate percentages being set
up in the payroll software
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Benefits/Other Compensation
• Leave Benefits: There is often time away
from the job not deducted from pay,
including sick leave, bereavement leave, and
personal leave
• Other Comp: Direct and indirect
compensation such as overtime pay,
supplemental salaries, and performance pay
may also occur
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Benefits/Other Compensation
• Leave balances available to employees are
handled either by regular accruals, or by days
given on an annual basis or some other
benchmark in the employment process
• A system must be in place for all leave requests
so proper reduction of leave balances occurs, or
pay docks are processed, if no leave is available
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Checks and Balances
• Payroll oversight entails making sure that the
amounts paid are correct, and that the benefit
calculations are accurately figured
• Deduction registers should be scrutinized for
reasonableness
• Random sampling should be performed to check
% calculations
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Salary Payment Options
• There are many different categories of
employees that work in a school system, and
often their start dates and contract days vary
• Many districts require 10 month employees
receive their annualized pay over 12 months,
to handle monthly insurance premiums or
annuity deductions that continue on a yearround basis
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Salary Payment Options
• Summer checks run in June (July and August
checks that are for salaries to be charged in
current fiscal year) will have taxes,
retirement payments and other deductions
withheld
• Payment of these deductions require close
supervision to ensure paid in the right month
and paid by certain deadlines
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Manage Accounts Receivable
• The purpose of Accounts Receivable is to track
revenues that are not yet received by the District
• Procedures should be set in place to accumulate,
categorize, report and control revenues due the
district
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Manage Accounts Receivable
• Procedures and practices should remain the
same across time and reports. If differences
occur, they should be due to substantive
differences in the events and conditions reported
rather than because of arbitrary accruals
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Manage Accounts Receivable
• The Accounts Receivable function can provide a
method for accruing revenues earned for a
certain period, for consistency and comparative
analysis to that same period the year before.
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Revenue Applications
• Revenue and Accounts Receivable applications
should be designed with superior and flexible
functionality to generate, maintain, inquire,
collect and report on revenues earned
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Manage Purchasing Process
• Accountability for public money is backbone of
purchasing
• Procedures must be in place that focus on
getting the best bang for the buck with taxpayer
funds
• As long as procedures are outlined and followed,
then substantiation for purchasing decisions will
be in place
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How Districts Procure Goods and
Services
• The District obtains quotes, at the appropriate dollar
threshold, on items to be purchased and then creates
purchase orders to award the contracts based on
Board of Education approval
• Requisition system-used to acquire
goods/services by purchase order and verify budget
authority
• Purchase order – legal authority to spend
• Contracts - to delineate specific terms
• Districts should purchase from responsible business
entities.
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Purchasing Process
• Bidding
▫ Public notice normally 10 to 20 days before
▫ All bids must be sealed
▫ All bids must be opened during a public bid
opening where the contents are announced
▫ Bids should be awarded to the lowest
responsible bidder who conforms in all
material aspects to the requirements and
criteria set in the invitation to bid
• Request for Proposals - often used for
services
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Options for Purchasing
• Quotes from vendors
• State Contract pricing
• National Purchasing cooperative
▫ US Communities
▫ NJPA (National Joint Powers Alliance)
• Allow participating governmental and municipal
agencies to reduce the cost of purchased goods
by leveraging their combined purchasing power.
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Manage Accounting Functions continued
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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Agenda
• Manage Annual Budgets
• Prepare Financial Reports
• Manage Cash Flow
• Managing Activity Accounts
• GASB
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Know your funds
• Governmental Funds
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General Fund
Special Revenue Funds
Capital Project Funds
Debt Service Funds
Permanent Funds
• Proprietary Funds
 Enterprise Funds
 Internal Service Funds
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Know your funds
• Fiduciary Funds
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Pension Funds
Investment Funds
Private Purpose Funds
Agency Funds
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Manage Budgets
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• What is a budget?
▫ An educational plan that….
 Satisfies requirements of state, local and federal
governments
 Provides both expending and taxing authority
 Estimate of revenues and expenditures
 Provides a tool to measure fiscal performance
 Seeks to accomplish the financial goals of the
Board of Education and its stakeholders
 It’s an estimate.
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• Philosophies
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Student-Based
Zero-Based
Site-Based
Program-Based
Combination of the above
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• Begin with assumptions
▫ State and federal government budget projections
▫ Tax cap, if applicable
▫ Contractual obligations (collective bargaining
agreements, vendor contracts, etc.)
▫ Programmatic changes
▫ Staffing changes
▫ Non-routine expenditures (e.g., textbooks,
uniforms)
▫ Technology needs
▫ Capital projects/expenditures
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Manage Budgets, cont’d
Budget revenue
▫ Local
▫ State
▫ Federal
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Difficult to forecast and budget
Review historical trends
Know the program or population being served
Federal Grants are potentially difficult to budget
because of the timing of approvals
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Manage Budgets, cont’d
Budget expenses
• Review assumptions on key budget drivers, make
additional assumptions and collect other expense
related information, including:
▫ Current and projected enrollment
 Trend analysis
 Cohort survival (i.e. grade level roll)
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Current and projected number of employees
Status of negotiations
Current fiscal year – year to date results
Limitations imposed by revenue projections
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Manage Budgets, cont’d
Budget expenses
• Salaries
• Benefits
• Purchased Services
• Supplies & Materials
• Capital Outlay
• Other Objects
• Out of district tuition (e.g., special ed)
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• Estimating expenditures
▫ Identify programs and functions
▫ Determine types and quantities of resources
needed
▫ Estimate costs of each program or function
▫ Consider the teacher contract
 How much schedule movement can you anticipate?
 Is there a new Master’s program in town?
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• Continuum for budget reduction
 Obtain reduced prices for services
 Increase productivity
 Defer spending
 Make across-the-board cuts
 Eliminate “non-essential” services
 Reduce instructional positions and programs
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• Reductions through improved efficiencies
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Energy conservation
Risk management
Purchasing
Privatization
Training for operations/support staff
Deferral of expenditures
Use of more efficient equipment
Early retirement plans
Lower salary increases
Lower cash carryover (working cash)
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Budgeting Adjustments
• Budget reductions due to program reductions
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Reduce instruction staff
Reduce course offerings
Reduce support staff
Reduce non-essential services
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• Reductions are inevitable, but how can we
increase revenues to avoid cuts?
▫ Charge for services provided
 Facility use by others (pool, auditorium, etc.)
 Parking
▫ Charge for non academic services
 Transportation (if not mandated)
 Private sector support
 Volunteers
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Manage Budgets cont’d
• The budget is “done”, the year is almost over,
what now?
▫ Compare budget to actuals
 Are actual expenditures within the budgeted
amount?
 How much is left to spend?
▫ Look at encumbrances
 Defined-obligations in the form of purchase orders,
contracts or salary commitments chargeable to an
appropriation and for which part of the
appropriation is reserved
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Preparing Financial Reports
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Accountability
Transparency
Environment of trust
Reporting is dependent on the needs of the
stakeholders and legal compliance requirements
• How do you present your budget?
 PowerPoint presentation?
 Executive Summary?
 Detailed spreadsheet?
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Preparing Financial Reports
• Consider Budget at a Glance reporting
• Consider Performance reporting at various levels
▫ School and Department Level Budgets
▫ Information on School & District Goals
▫ Be considered for national budget awards
 ASBO, GFOA
 Set the professional standard for your school district
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Budget at a Glance Sample
Performance Budgeting by Level
http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/FiscalServices/Budget/Pages/2013-14.aspx
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Managing Cash Flow
• Determine cash on hand requirements
• Cash on Hand Liquidity Test = projected
estimate of the number of days a district could
meet operating expenditures provided no
additional revenues were received
• Review historical cash flow patterns
• Evaluate anticipated changes in patterns
(recession)
• Establish Board Policy
• Create plan to build fund balances over time
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Managing Cash Flow
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• Cash vs. Accrual
▫ Cash
 Recognizes revenue when received
 Recognizes expenses when paid
▫ Accrual
 Recognizes revenue before it is received
 Recognizes expenses when they are incurred
▫ Modified accrual
 Recognizes revenue when it becomes available
and measurable and, with a few exceptions,
recognizes expenditures when liabilities are
incurred.
Colorado has rules to follow (i.e. FPP Manual)
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Student Activity Accounts
• Activity account
▫ ONLY benefit students
▫ Owned, operated, and managed by organizations
within the student body under the guidance of a
faculty member
▫ Examples?
• Convenience account
▫ For faculty, staff, parent organizations, or similar
non-student groups
▫ Maintained by the district
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Student Activity Accounts cont’d
• School Board responsibilities
 Approve the establishment and purpose of each
activity fund
 Set policy for student participation and adult
supervision of funds
 Appoint a treasurer to oversee funds
 Ensure appropriate recordkeeping
• Treasurer responsibilities
 Consistent with district funds
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Student Activity Accounts cont’d
• Quiz!!!
▫ Which expense is not an allowable activity account
expense?
a) Meals for students participating in an away
football game
b) Magazines used for the benefit of the student
organization
c) Meals for football coaches meeting
d) Athletic tournaments outside of regular scheduled
games
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Student Activity Accounts cont’d
• Quiz!!!
▫ Which expense is an allowable activity
account expense?
a) Meals for football coaches meeting
b) Polo shirts with team name and sport for
football coaches
c) Sales tax for football supplies for football
students
d) Gifts for football coaches or adult volunteers
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GASB 54
• Governmental Accounting Standards Board
▫ GASB 54 Fund Balance Reporting and
Governmental Fund Type Definitions
 Clarifies fund types (general, special revenue, debt
service, capital projects) and their use
 Revises how balances are reported
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Nonspendable fund balance
Restricted fund balance
Committed fund balance
Assigned fund balance
Unassigned fund balance
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Find out more about GASB at….
http://www.gasb.org/st/summary/gstsm54.html
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Conduct Financial
Planning and Analysis
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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Serve as School Leader
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Represent the district on financial matters
Community
Budget
“Data-driven” analytical resource
Legislature
Bond ratings
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Some Questions to ponder
• What is your overall student-teacher ratio? How
does it compare to similar districts?
• How do your (program) costs compare to other
similar/state/provincial districts?
• How do your budget expenditures tie to the
organization’s stated mission?
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Leadership
• “You are a fund balance manager”
• Ready access to various data services
• Awareness of financial trends in your state,
province, or region
• Long term planning- multi-year projections
• What are the demographic trends being seen
in your district, and what are the cost
implications?
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Legislation
• How often does the governing legislature meet?
• Is your state/ province financial system stable or
constantly being changed? What data resources
are available to you?
• (Good chance for a brainstorm: what are your
best sources to know what to expect? Share with
the group)
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Impact of Legislation/Other
National Events
How will the downgrading of municipal
debt in general impact your school
district’s debt ratings?
What are the most important factors
affecting your debt rating?
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Presenting Your District
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Presenting Your District
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Presenting Your District
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Telling Your Story
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• Be ready with talking points at all times:
necessary for community and elected
representatives
• Be ready to provide cost data, as legislators
may call on you for immediate answers when
they are deliberating new laws/requirements
• Demographic trends
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Financial Impact of Strategic
Planning Goals
• Know ahead of time what a program is likely to
cost: have metrics to know what
• Involves working closely with program
developers, particularly Curriculum
• An example:
▫ Science scores need to improve
▫ Pilot run, funded at $120,000 to provide regular
rotation of science kits by grade level
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Example of Budget Costs for Strategic
Objective: Improve Science Scores
• Added Science materials Center Manager
• Purchased building
• Purchased initial start up supplies for kits,
expanded each year
• Courier cost was absorbed in current mail
delivery model
• Science scores show great improvement at all
levels
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Sample Goal: Want latest
technology for students
• Operational definition: “Latest” (Best? Newest?)
• TCO: Total cost of ownership (CoSN model)
• What are the direct costs of the goal?(Teacher training?)
Other staff to support the equipment? R and D to
identify the proper technologies, space (small
classrooms?), computer(s) and peripherals, suppliesmore printing, for example (paper, toner), training,
energy, opportunity cost—what else are we giving up?
• Capital refreshment cycle
• Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)
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Develop Financial Goals
• Operating cost per student
• Cost of instruction as a percent of dollar
• Cost of teacher starting salaries to be highest in
region
• Fund balance policy, if not prescribed by law
• Cost of support (metrics:cost per square foot to
maintain, clean, landscape)
• Long-term strategies: 10 year facilities plan
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Other Financial Goals
• Does the Board wish to control its tax rate against
any given benchmark?
• Long-term replacement plans (buses, copiers,
technology refreshment, musical instruments)
• Construction of facilities: cost to construct, life
cycle costs, green initiatives (LEED)
• For each area or program, what are the costs?
• For example, do you pay more for staff
development, but have lower turnover as a result?
(Better retention/morale – student
achievement)
• Can you point to resources in the budget that
demonstrate commitment to strategic goals?
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Evaluate Funding Options for
Debt Management
• Typically, highly regulated…you need an attorney and a
financial advisor
• Bond programs require a long-term strategy
• Including community involvement, education,
identification of essential projects, recognition of
failing existing building systems (roofs, HVAC, e.g.),
Informational materials for the general community, tax
election
• Lease vs. Buy (consider state aid funding mechanisms)
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Funding Options for Debt Management
• The following are various forms of securities, which may not be
legal in your state or province
• General Obligation Bonds
• CIBs (Current Interest Bonds)
• CABs (Capital Appreciation Bonds)
• RANs and TANs (Revenue and Tax Anticipation Notes-not for
raising capital, only for cash management)
• Leasing (TABOR provisions)
• Budget Notes, Public Property Finance Contractual Obligations
(PPFCOs), Lease Revenue Obligations (public facility corporation is
created which issues)
• Time Warrants
• Maintenance Notes, Delinquent Tax Notes, Stadium Revenue Notes,
Refunding Bonds
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Lease vs. Buy
•
•
•
•
Calculate the total cost of ownership
Calculate the cost of leasing
Which is a better economic value?
Which poses more risk? (for example, if you
lease, what happens if your budget cannot
sustain?)
• NON-APPROPRIATIONS clauses-include in
all contracts
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Contract Management as Financial Tool
• Central review of all documents which bind the district
• Does state/province have a caveat emptor or caveat
vendor philosophy? Include venue, hold-harmless
restrictions, restrictive covenants
• Be sure that someone does not “lease” what is actually a
lease-purchase capital acquisition if your state does not
permit such acquisitions
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Develop Outside Funding Sources
• Financial Advisor
• Grants- cost/benefit analysis (monitor cash
request submissions)
• Donors
• Foundations (MOUs)
• Fund Raising (internal controls)
• Wise investments
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Analyze Economic Data
•
•
•
•
Annual schedule of economic announcements
What is your region’s primary industry?
What is housing doing in your region?
Are there any tax-credit housing developments
being started?
• Consumer confidence
• Interest rate projections
• Unemployment rate
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Economic Factors
• Slower housing may lead to slower growth in
enrollment (or not! More nuclear families in
one domicile)
• Tax-credit developments may lead to higher
school nutrition program eligibility (U.S.)
• Unemployment may result in slower tax
collections (what are you using for collection
rate?)
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Analyze Demographic Data
• What is your cohort survival at each grade
level?
• Are your lower grades more populous than
your higher grades?
• What is your free/reduced percentage over
time?
• Are you enrolling more harder-to-educate
youngsters? What impact will that have on
your costs? On your general programs?
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Analyze Your Demographic Data
• Housing: any new starts? Foreclosures?
• From city planning departments: Plat approvals
• Inventory of homes: size in square feet, number
of bedrooms, starter vs. move-up
• Apartments
• “Recycling” of neighborhoods (children grow
up, house sells, new family with new children)
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Develop Multi-year Forecast
• Use Excel as an easy tool for this
• Identify major budget drivers: enrollment,
property value, income (if part of the state aid
equation)
• Identify major budget costs:
• Personnel (staffing ratios) , Operating metrics
(cost per square foot or student or ‘x’)
• Other: energy, support costs, equipment
refreshment
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Multi-year Forecasting
• Important to understand how various
components affect your state aid calculations
• Look at least three years ahead on your debt
rate, do you need to smooth it out?
• If operating rate is concern, look at
combination of both tax rates (debt and
operating), consider timed application of
fund balance, if available
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Multi-year forecasting
• Develop and share replacement schedules with
Board (action, where applicable)
• Develop and share staffing ratios with Board
▫ (action, where applicable)
• Examples: 1:22 k-4, 1: 27 at 5th, 6 teachers to
150/team at middle school, 30 per class at high
school (watch core class enrollments)
• Examples: Buses, 200,000 miles or 15 years, Band
Uniforms, every 8 years
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Multi-year Forecast
104
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Estimate Real Property Tax Revenues
• Maintain long term collection data, and couple it with
economic health indicators in your area
• Are there any changes to the formula that will affect
your collections?
• If you have disabled, senior, or portability exemptions,
is there any new development that might cause an
increase in exemptions?
• Is the City/County considering any economic
development strategies that will impact your
collections
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Tax Collections
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• Know the local tax office officials
• Have there been any property value appraisal
studies?
• Based on longitudinal data, estimate tax
collections. Consider last three years, last
five, last ten. If the economy is changing,
shorten the comparison years.
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End of Financial Planning
and Analysis Module
Questions?
109
Conduct Budgeting and Reporting
Activities
Conduct Budgeting and Reporting
Activities
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Copyright 2012 ASBO
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Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
Copyright 2011 ASBO International
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Conduct Budgeting and Reporting
Activities
 Project Student Enrollment
 Evaluate Instructional Program(s) Costs
 Develop Annual Budgets
 Manage Grant Activities
 Prepare for Annual Audit
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Project Student Enrollment
 Purpose
 Trend line analysis
 Cohort survival
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Evaluate Instructional Program(s) Costs
 Salary and Benefits
 Cost vs. Results
 One-time vs. Continuous
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Develop Annual Budgets







Budget Calendar, Budget Process
Revenue Forecast/Funding Per Pupil
Assumptions drive cost projections
District Goals/Policy
Budget – Compensation Negotiations
Approaches to Budgeting
Capital and Operating Parameters – Budget goal setting
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Manage Grant Activities
 Grant Sources
 Local, Private, Foundations
 State
 Federal
Confirm expected funding for budget and anticipate carryover
 Key terms – Sequestration effects, if any
 Reporting to State, Federal, Local, Private Sources
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Prepare for Annual Audit
 Checklist
 Be vigilant about reconciliations, documentation
 Inventory
 Cut-offs for determining year-end figures
 Year End Closing
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Conduct Risk Management
Activities: Plan, Prepare, Protect
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Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County Schools
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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What will we cover?
• What is School Risk
Management?
• How do you perform a
Risk Audit?
• How to follow up a risk
audit?
• How to analyze
available insurance
options.
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School Risk Management for Dummies!
The process of analyzing
the risks to the health and
welfare of our students and
staff then finding ways to
effectively mitigate that
risk!
The process of analyzing
the risks to the stability and
well being of our physical
assets, our schools and
finding ways to mitigate
them.
Making intelligent financial
decisions regarding how to
best manage that risk.
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What is a risk audit?
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It is an exercise in
history and predicting
the future.
A risk audit begins with
a historical analysis of
incidents that have
occurred in your schools,
including Workers
Compensation Claims
and Incident Reports.
What happened and
when?
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Predicting the future?
Perform a trend analysis!
• Look at weather or flood
predictions.
• Review long term
community growth
trends.
• Review crime statistics
and discuss possible
future trends.
Flood Data From NOAA
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What’s Next?
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Mitigation Planning
• Review ways to reduce risks
associated with historical or
possible future threats.
• Purchase products or create
policies to reduce risks
associated with operating a
school.
• NEVER STOP! The cycle
continues!!!
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Insurance Management
Outside Insurance Firms
• Review available options from
commercial business insurers.
• Allow them to help provide you with
a risk assessment!
Self Insurance
• What are the risks?
• What is your current situation?
• What knowledge do YOU have?
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Other Options?
• Insurance Pool?
• State Office of Insurance?
• Combination planning.
• Legal insurance.
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Manage
School
Facilities
If you build it..
They will come!
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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What would school look like
without walls?
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So we know we need walls!
• We will review how we plan our schools.
• How do we maintain our schools?
• How do we build new schools?
127
You need a plan!
• How many schools do
you need?
• How many schools
WILL you need?
• How many schools do
you have?
• How long will the
schools that you have
last?
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Did you know?
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• The average age of a
school in the US is 42
years old!
• 1927 new schools were
opened in 2008.
• 2120 schools were closed!
• Public school enrollment
is expected to increase by
12% before 2017.
http://www.rebuildameric
asschools.org/
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How do we maintain them?
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• A strong maintenance
team is necessary to
extend the service life of
schools.
• Focus on preventive
maintenance, use
electronic work orders.
• Perform life cost
analysis rather than the
early savings!
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Train your team
• They must focus on good
work skills.
• They should have a
strong sense of
ownership in the
facilities.
• They can be a key
resource for any energy
saving initiatives!
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Build your next school!
• Once you know that you
need a new school.
• Where can you build it?
• How much money will it cost
too build?
• How will you pay for it?
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Marketing for school facilities
• Use your parents as key
stakeholders
• Sell your School Board
• Sell your elected officials
• Sell your voters or the public!
Caution: Most states do not allow schools to advocate ,
only to inform with facts regarding school district bonds
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Once you pass a bond or budget
funding
• Find the right architect.
• Decide what construction model
you would like to use: Managing
Architect versus Construction
Manager.
• Begin planning!
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What else?
• Outside groups using school
facilities
• Preventive maintenance
programs
• Recreational and sports facility
management
• Energy purchasing and
conservation programs
• Green cleaning initiatives
• Life safety management
programs
• Fixed assets
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Where can I learn more?
• ASBO School Facilities Committee
• National Clearinghouse for Educational
Facilities.
• Facility Masters Program
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Manage Information
Systems
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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Assist in Developing Technology Plan
• What is the district’s Technology Vision?
• What is desired for children to use and to
know?
• Roles include automational, transformational,
communications, efficiency
• “Mission critical”
• What is mandated?
• What does it take to get there?
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Assist in Developing Technology Plan
Consider:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Infrastructure, bandwidth, telecommunications (E-rate)
Training of staff (critical!)
Equipment standards and refreshment
Accessibility of printers to classrooms (cost factor)
Standardization of software
Disaster and recovery (share with other schools?)
Business interruption insurance
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Assist in Developing Technology Plan
• High degree of attention needs to be placed on
security
• Secure versus non-secure sites
• Many textbook companies are offering online
textbook enhancements, but the sites are not
secure: FERPA and privacy concerns
• You need a Technology Plan !
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Assist in Developing Technology Plan
• Open source computing vs. proprietary software
• Cloud computing
• Scope agreement
▫ Due diligence about project scope (avoid scope creep)
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CoSN Checklist for Efficient Operations
• IT Asset Management
• Manage software licenses repurpose minimally used
computers: Some computers are used more than others.
Certain software applications are no longer used, or they’re
not installed on all of the systems for which they are
licensed. It is prudent to make sure that computers
(including servers) are located where they are needed most
and licensed only for the software actually in use. An IT
asset management application can monitor this use over
the network, evaluating usage results over time.
• Consortium for School Networking, www.cosn.org
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CoSN Checklist for Efficient Operations
• Help Desk and Centralized Support Tools
• Technical support consumes time and money when technology
professionals must travel from building to building to maintain
equipment, troubleshoot problems and support end users. With
already stretched staffs and more staff reductions in the offing,
it’s a good idea to find a way to support users more efficiently.
• Automated, remote support from a centralized help desk is an
answer. Centralized user support requires tools to view and
control computers remotely. This approach to problem
management does have some up-front costs, but it provides the
opportunity for efficiencies over the longer term, while
maintaining user satisfaction by effectively managing responses
to support requests. A vendor-provided centralized support
ROI calculator can be found at www.kace.com (a Dell program)
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CoSN Checklist for Efficient Operations
• Computer Refresh Cycle
• During times of economic stress, one of the budget areas that receives
scrutiny is the IT capital budget and the computers scheduled for
replacement. Leasing…
• Direct and Indirect Labor
While looking into reducing time computer support techs spend traveling
through centralized support techniques, it is also important to ask, "Who is
providing direct labor services?" Direct labor includes all personnel who
have as at least part of their responsibility to provide computer support or
other computer services. This may include external providers, teachers,
aids, school-based techs who don't report to the IT organization, as well as
the computer services organization. Is your current support structure as
effective as it can be? In many cases it doesn't make sense to pay teachers,
who are not trained as techs and are more expensive, to provide user
support services.
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CoSN Checklist for Efficient Operations
• Computer, Server and Network Consolidation
• Server Consolidation and server virtualization reduce complexity, OS
and other software licenses, and power usage. This process involves
up-front planning and some initial investment, but can result in
significant savings. This topic is covered under "Other Resources" and
in CoSN's Green Computing Leadership Initiative.
• Networks: A district telecom system typically consists of data lines
from campuses to the central office and connection to the Internet,
plus internal and external voice communications and often security
and clock synching networks. The external voice connections through
the local telephone company can add up to a significant cost, as do
Internet access lines and Internet service provider (ISP) charges. A
study of VoIP costs and savings should be considered, as well as
consolidation of the data networks.
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CoSN Checklist for Efficient Operations
• Number of Supported Operating Systems and Applications
• A broad mix of desktop, laptop and server operating systems requires
a broad mix of support talent and complicates system integration and
network management. This is not to say there should be only one
operating system. More than one client and one server operating
system however, that supporting multiple OS versions also could be
more costly in terms of support talent and system/network integration
issues.
• Printing
• Printing and copying can be major expense that include hardware, ink
or toner cartridges, energy and paper costs. It’s important to evaluate
your current printer inventory: How many and what type of printers
and copiers are connected to computers and on the network?
Operational costs can be drastically reduced by replacing individual
other inkjet printers in favor of strategically located print/copy
centers. Implementing electronic forms for staff and school board use
can also reduce the cost of printing.
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Maintain Technology and
Telecommunications Systems
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Platform decisions-cost and complexity
Staffing ratios for support - fixing and teaching
R&D: emerging trends and technologies
Cloud computing, in-house programming, open-source
VoIP, POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
Refreshment cycles, and how funded
E-rate decisions
Security policies, spam filtering, content blocking
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Maintain Technology Systems/Oversee
Telecommunications Systems
• Capacity should always be measured: when will you
need more (ports? shelves? band width?) Conduct
predictive exercises
• Planning for capacity is multi-year effort (budget and
bonds)
• License compliance
• Acceptable use policies, employment consequences
• Policies on social media-risks and benefits
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Manage Technology and
Telecommunications Systems
• Staffing: expertise and staying competitive with market
• Preventive Maintenance schedules
• Service Level Agreements
• ITIL: (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
• Responding to growing dependence on IT, the UK Government's
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) in the
1980s developed a set of recommendations. It recognized that
without standard practices, government agencies and private sector
contracts were independently creating their own IT management
practices.The IT Infrastructure Library originated as a collection of
books, each covering a specific practice within IT Service
Management. ITIL was built around a process-model based view of
controlling and managing operations often credited to W. Edwards
Deming and his plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology_Infrastructu
re_Library
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Manage Information Systems
Questions?
151
Manage Human Resource
Functions
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County Schools
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
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Manage Hiring of Good Employees
• Recruitment
▫ Review the necessary qualifications by
appropriate personnel: HR, principals,
supervisors
Utilize interview paperwork
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Manage Hiring of Good Employees
• Vacancy Notice
▫ Include job description or summary job
description
▫ Work Schedule
▫ Hourly rate
▫ Salary
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Manage Hiring of Good Employees
•
•
•
•
Application
Qualifications
Reference Check
Interviews
▫ Use at least teams of two
 Ensure at least one individual on the team is knowledgeable
of job functions
▫ Document questions and answers
▫ Ensure questions are appropriate
▫ Prohibit comments that are personal and subjective
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Manage Hiring of Good Employees
• Orientation Goals
▫ To promote the new employee’s identification with
the school entity
▫ To facilitate the new employee’s successful
adjustment to the entity and to the position to
which he/she has been assigned
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Manage Hiring of Good Employees
• Probationary Period
▫ 30 days to 1 year
▫ Formal evaluation
157
Manage Hiring of Good
Employees
ORIENTATION TOPICS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tour of facility
Introduction to staff
On-site organization structure
Reporting time/procedures
Inclement weather procedures
Attendance/punctuality
Absence notification
Special equipment/supplies
(tools, etc.)
• Dress
• Security/ID badges
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Emergency procedures
School calendar
Break times
Lunch area procedures
Parking
Telephone calls/rules
Overtime/comp. time/extra
duty
• Staff/faculty meetings
• Sick leave/other leaves
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Manage Hiring of Good
Employees
ORIENTATION TOPICS
• Jury duty
• Safety/accident reporting
• Handbook or contract
distribution
• Review of position description
• Evaluation form
• Review and receipt of
particular policies
▫ (harassment,
smoke/tobacco/drug-free
workplace, workers’
compensation, evaluation,
discipline, child/student
abuse)
• Explanation of applicable
employee benefit programs
▫ (Retirement, health and life
benefits, flexible spending
accounts)
• Tax-sheltered annuities
• Payroll dates and procedures
• Probationary period
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Develop Compensation Structure
• Compensation Management
▫ Goal: Have a system of determining
compensation for employees that is:
 Fair
 Understandable
 Rational
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Develop Compensation Structure
• Compensation Management
▫ Internal Equity
 Range of pay for positions in organization and the relative
value/rate of pay assigned
▫ External Equity
 Rate of pay for a position as compared to the “market”
 “Market” for school districts is surrounding districts
 For some trades and technology other external data may be
relevant
 Critical to attracting and retaining qualified candidates
161
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Manage Staff Development and
Training Programs
• Link training with ASBO/ Local ASBO
• Look for appropriate college opportunities
for staff development
• Bring effective personnel through internal
and external development programs
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Manage Evaluation Process
Purpose of Evaluation
• First, it acts as the tool to evaluate
administrator/teacher/staff support
performance
• Secondly, it provides the documentation
necessary to award merit increases as a result
of demonstrated performance
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Manage Personnel Administration
• Pertinent Regulations
▫ Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)
 The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration,
Wage and Hour Division, administers and enforces the Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA) for all private, state and local government employees,
including school entities. FMLA became effective on August 5, 1993 and
entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected
leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons. The
employer may elect to use the calendar year, a fiscal year or a 12-month
period prior to or after the commencement of leave as the 12-month period.
 The law contains provisions on employer coverage, employee eligibility for
the law’s benefits, entitlement to leave, maintenance of health benefits
during leave, job restoration after leave, notice and certification of the need
for FMLA leave and protection for employees who request or take FMLA
leave. The law also requires employers to keep certain records.
 School entities should adopt policies to clarify specific aspects of the law.
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Manage Personnel Administration
▫ Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
 Federal law requires that employers offer eligible employees and their
dependents the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage
called continuation coverage at group rates in certain instances, or
Qualifying Events, where coverage under the plan would otherwise end.
▫ The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPPA)
 HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families
when they change or lose their jobs.
 http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/
▫ Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
 Required of any organization who receives federal funding
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Manage Personnel Administration
▫ Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991
 requires all school entities to establish programs and practices designed
to help prevent accidents and injuries resulting from the misuse of
alcohol or controlled substances by drivers of commercial vehicles
subject to the commercial driver’s license (CDL) requirements
▫ Harassment Policy
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on
discrimination because of sex define sexual harassment as any
unwelcome sexual conduct that “has the purpose or effect of
unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or
creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.”
▫ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
 Activities covered under the ADA include but are not limited to walking,
talking, seeing and hearing. People with a record of such impairment and
those regarded as having an impairment are protected under the ADA.
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Manage Personnel Administration
▫ Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
 prohibits employment discrimination against any individual forty years
of age or older.
▫ Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
 Employees who are pregnant must be treated the same as other
employees with similar disabilities or limitations. An employer cannot
refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant nor may an employer
terminate a woman simply because she becomes pregnant.
 If an employee is temporarily unable to perform the requirements of a
job due to pregnancy, the employer must treat her like any other
temporarily disabled employee
▫ State Regulations
 Veterans Preference
 State Certification Guidelines
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Manage Employee Benefit Programs
• The most important and overlooked aspect of
employee benefits administration is
communicating the value of these benefits to
staff
• Benefits can average 25-30% of total
compensation for most entities
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How to Communicate Benefit
Information
• Personalized statements sent periodically to each
employee showing the employee’s salary and an
itemized list of the benefits available to that
employee and the entity’s cost to provide those
benefits
• Benefit booklets written so that they can be easily
read and understood by the employee
• Periodic meetings to review changes in coverage
utilizing insurance company representatives to
explain coverage, answer questions, etc.
• Orientation programs for new employees
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Manage Employee Benefit Programs
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Manage Employee Benefit Programs
• All school administrators should have a basic understanding of
the value and coverage offered through their entity’s benefit
package. They should be able to direct employee inquiries to
the appropriate staff person who can answer specific questions.
Areas in which staff members must be knowledgeable include:
• Eligibility requirements for all insurance coverage
• Rates for all insurance coverage
• Co-payment amounts, if applicable
• COBRA regulations
• Eligibility requirements for PSERS (PERA)
• Basic understanding of all coverage provided
• Amounts and procedures for calculating vacation days, sick
days, personal days, etc.
171
Manage Ancillary Services
Karin Slater, CFO, SFO
Montrose County School District
Montrose, CO
Dan Huenneke
Director of Budget, SFO
Cherry Creek School District
Greenwood Village, CO
Copyright 2012 ASBO
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Manage Ancillary Services
• There is a tendency in society to see the
mission of schools as exclusively
instructional
• The unfortunate outcome is other areas are
ignored when they should also be valued for
their role in providing equal opportunity and
meaning to the social and educational
mission of schools
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Transportation and Food Service
Programs
• Schools would be negatively impacted
without these operations
• Every child has a right to a good education
without regard for socioeconomic status
• Every child should be able to get to school
without hardship and attend classes free
from hunger
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Transportation and Food Service
Programs
• There is no equal opportunity when educational
programs are physically inaccessible or when
children are underfed
• All stakeholders in education should be
concerned with organizing and operating
efficient systems for transporting and feeding
children.
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Transportation
• These operations are large and complex
regardless of school district size
• Urban districts use many buses to
transport thousands of students over
short distances
• Rural districts also need many buses,
despite low pupil population, to travel
over countless open miles
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Transportation
• Actual costs may be similar, and large and
small systems alike face issues of safety,
insurance, and so on
• Billions are spent annually, making it a major
industry
• Complex issues of liability, safety, and equal
access
• State and federal regulations
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Transportation Function
• No doubt one of the most visible services in
schools
• Bright yellow school buses arrive in front of
homes of more than half of all school
children each morning
• And the bus is often the last school contact of
the day
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Transportation Function
• Also involves taking students on field trips
and to athletic and academic events
• Also assist with other services such as special
education
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“When floors shine, the schools seem
good”
• When buses are late or when problems arise,
everything about schools seems suspect
• As a result, transportation is one of the most
important and visible non-instructional
activities of schools
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Transportation Origins and Purpose
• Transportation and state financial support
have been in existence since 1869
• Pupil transportation has had no choice but to
grow as compulsory attendance, district
consolidation, and the advent of motor
vehicles have drastically affected society.
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Transportation Origins and Purpose
• A major role for transportation has also arisen
from court-ordered desegregation plans
revolving around forced busing
• More recently, magnet schools and year-round
schools have added to the complexity of pupil
transportation
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Complexity of Transportation
• Variables such as population density,
number of pupils to be transported,
topography, road conditions, and length of
routes affecting the size of buses on routes
• Movement of population within a community
may create new transportation demands
• Racial integration may require new school
attendance boundaries
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Director of Transportation Services
Requires a variety of talents and skills:
• Ability to efficiently organize a large transportation
fleet and to consistently demonstrate human
relations skills in working with personnel problems
• Skilled in decision-making to manage effectively
• Knowledge of diverse topics, including computer
routing, budgeting, labor relations, inventory, drug
testing, underground storage tanks, and hazardous
materials
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Comprehensive Transportation Manual
• Document should be open to public, and inservice should be held with transportation
staff to clarify the policies of the district
• Special emphasis must be given to driver
training, pupil discipline, energy
conservation, disability issues, public
relations, bus routes, and bus schedules
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Transportation Funding
• Like other forms of state aid,
transportation aid varies in amount and
distribution method from state to state
• Formulas include a variety of factors, such
as expenditures per pupil, population
density, bus capacities, matching grants,
or some combination as common
denominators
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Transportation Funding
• Some states provide a transportation
allowance based on hazardous walking
conditions
• In some states, transportation aid is tied to
the general fund formula
• One basic similarity: in most states,
transportation aid almost NEVER covers the
entire cost
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What other Transportation issues are
relevant?
• Owning or Contracting
• Computerizing Transportation Services
• Purchasing Buses
• Maintenance and Safety
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Owning or Contracting
• Contracting avoids the cost of buying buses
• Contracting avoids the high maintenance
cost of older buses
• It’s argued that contracting lowers
capitalization costs, reduces personnel and
administration costs, and provides greater
efficiency through contractors whose sole
business is transportation
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Contracting Transportation
Counterarguments, however, include:
• how to ensure quality performance by a
contractor when the district no longer controls
the public relations aspect of the contractor’s
behavior
• the need for insuring against liability for acts of
contractors
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District Ownership of Transportation
Arguments for district ownership:
• Provides more flexibility, provides selection,
training, and supervision of transportation
employees, and ensures control over changes in
operational costs
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Owning or Contracting
• It may be that there is no one best option for
transportation, as the right choice may depend
on a district’s financial position and the
community’s attitude about this vital service
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Computerizing Transportation Services
• Every year more districts are using
computerized routing systems
• These plans are cost-effective in that they can
apply mathematical formulas for routing
efficiency
• Aid in mapping routes, including census data,
highway time delay studies, and other manual
data supplied
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Computerizing Transportation Services
• Software is even available to preplan routes in
undeveloped areas in advance of actual
population movement
• Computerized fleet maintenance is also
common. Total costs and item costs can be
accounted for instantly and used to make
decisions about maintenance and disposal
• Geocoding, privacy issues
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Purchasing Buses
• Large outlays (over $50,000 per bus, plus
additional thousands for a bus with a wheelchair
lift)
• Local districts use written specifications, usually
based on state guidelines
• Especially complicated because they are
purchased on separate chassis and body bids,
but this provides both economy and
specialization that can be used by manufacturers
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Purchasing Buses
• Larger buses are more versatile, which in turn
reduces the number of buses and staff.
• Smaller buses are used in sparsely inhabited
areas or inner cities on crowded streets
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Maintenance and Safety
• Maintenance, safety, and staff are
inseparable in any discussion of
transportation
• Good drivers cannot offset bad buses, nor
can new equipment offset bad drivers.
• Transportation utmost duty: To ensure
student safety
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Surprise Quiz!
• Let’s say you are a bus driver. You make your
first stop, and ten children get on. At the
second stop, two get off (for some
permissible reason), and eight get on. At the
third stop, seven students board the bus.
When you get to the school, all the children
disembark.
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Surprise Quiz! (Cont’d)
•How old is the bus
driver?
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Food Service Programs
• Like transportation, the food service function is
a key to effective and efficient operation of
schools
• Less visibly related to the primary mission of
schools, but provides vital support to the
instructional process
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Food Service Function
Need to understand the following:
• How it operates
• How meal prices are set under federal, state,
and local participation
• How revenues and expenditures in food
service budgets are allocated
• Much more regulation on meal content
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Linking School Performance
to Nutrition
• Undernourishment due to poverty and
ignorance is still sizable in today’s era of
economic progress
• Data exists that links poor school
performance to nutrition
• The role of food service in schools has
increased with time, as seen in the fact that
most U.S. schools now have both breakfast
and lunch programs
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Food Service Funding
• Long history of federal (U.S.), state, and local
subsidies to supplement meal prices paid by
children
• These sources make up the revenue side of food
service operations and are highly interdependent
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Federal Support
• Surplus commodities began to be used in
school lunch programs in 1936
• Not long afterward, The United States
Congress enacted the National School Lunch
Act authorizing grants to states to help
provide food and facilities for school lunch
programs
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State Support
• Individual state participation is harder to
summarize because each state has been free
to determine the extent of its involvement in
the National School Lunch Act
• State funding is relatively small compared to
federal spending
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Local Support
• The local contribution is defined as dealing
with the leftover costs after fed/state
revenues are expended
• The local role is thus one of determining how
much, if any, the district wishes to further
subsidize meals by shifting additional local
tax revenue to food service
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Local Support
• Leaving the unfunded part of meal costs to
the local district creates a heavy burden for
schools, in that such decisions have moral
and financial implications.
• If the district channels all unfunded costs to
families, then some children may not receive
the intended benefits of food service
programs.
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Local Support
• If the district subsidizes meals from tax
revenues, a choice to reduce other
program expenditures is often made.
• Costs, efficiencies, and all other aspects of
operations are a function of district size
and skill in directing food service
operations. The number of meals and
dollars becomes large very quickly.
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Relevant Issues
• Often the biggest problem is rising costs
associated with purchasing and preparing
foods such as supply price increases, labor
costs, and equipment and facilities – all of
which must factor into what the district
ultimately charges for meals.
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Compliance Requirements
• Compliance is a common concern whenever
outside aid is provided. Assurances are
directed to the federal government in return
for dollars and commodities
• Districts must assure states of compliance so
the state can provide its own assurances to
the federal government.
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Operate a nonprofit program
▫ Only a 3 month operating balance may be kept on
hand and still be nonprofit
• Serve meals that meet nutrition requirements
- Programs can offer single menu, fast food choice
menu, or a’ la carte menu
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Price meals as a unit
▫ To count as reimbursable, meals must be priced as
a unit. This does not prohibit single item sales
• Supply free and reduced meals
▫ To eligible needy children
• Agree to avoid discrimination
▫ No child may be refused because of inability to
pay, race, gender, or national origin
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Keep accurate records of income and
expenditures
▫ Records are subject to intensive state and
federal audits
• Complete a formal reimbursement claim
▫ Claims must be sent on a timely basis each
month to the state
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Distribute applications for free and reduced meals
▫ Districts must actively inform each student of the
program
• Review and act on F&R applications
▫ Parents or guardians must be notified regarding
decisions
• Develop and implement verification procedures
▫ A method of verifying accuracy of applications must
be followed
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Maintain accurate participation records
▫ The district must establish procedures for
obtaining accurate meal counts
• Establish and implement purchasing
procedures
▫ Purchasing procedures must comply with state
and federal regulations
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Federal Rules and Regs
• Use federally donated foods or commodities
▫ This includes the ability to store commodities
properly without spoilage
• Approved programs provide meals based on
daily nutritional requirements
▫ Must provide approx 1/3 of the recommended
dietary allowance (RDA)
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Meal Reimbursements
• To receive reimbursement, a lunch must contain
a set of specified components and menu items,
where components are:
▫ Meat or meat alternate
▫ Vegetable and/or fruit
▫ Bread or bread alternate
▫ Milk
•
The Goal is a balanced diet
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Food Service Management
• Options on types of management systems
best suited to a district’s needs:
▫ Management companies
▫ Centralized in-house operations
▫ Decentralized in-house food service
• Careful cost analysis necessary since each has
its benefits and problems
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Management Companies
• Use of outside management companies centers
around debate of whether it is more costeffective
• The main reason many districts have decided to
contract for food service has been a benefit
stemming from fiscal and managerial efficiency
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Benefits to Contracting
• Administrators have more time for
curriculum
• Wage and benefit costs, disputes, and
grievances have been reduced because the
district no longer handles personnel
• Menu planning is improved by use of food
professionals
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Benefits to Contracting
• In-house record-keeping requirements are
reduced
• There is strong incentive for food service to
become a profit center with high client
satisfaction
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Contracting Services
• Districts should take care to choose from a list of
reputable and experienced firms
• Should act from a set of bid specs to assist
bidders in deciding whether to bid, as well as
establishing the criteria for evaluating proposals
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• Centralize or de-centralize services
• On-site food preparation vs. satelliting from
central kitchens
• ‘Satelliting’ means delivering cooked food with
finishing kitchens on-site, in contrast to onsite food prep
• Major benefit is mass preparation and nonduplication of full facilities
• Concern could be loss of site control and
responsiveness, and over standardization
In-House Food Services Director
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In-House Operations
• Full time director highly trained to assure the
efficient and cost-effective operation.
• Needs skills to work closely with principals
and central office, as well as supervising
service workers
• Must work with district budget director, and
provide leadership in setting meal prices
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Wrap up
• Ancillary services are a vital contribution to
educational outcomes
• Although often lacking in glamour, they
represent vast expenditure outlays and
significant liability
• They are interrelated parts of a complete
educational system. Each piece makes a vital
contribution and can’t be slighted without
significant harm to children
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All One Team
• Involving support staff in the instructional
program, such as voluntary mentoring, has
tremendous benefit to the campus, and generally
provides more fulfillment to the workers. Job
satisfaction is a tremendous asset of any school.
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Thank you!
• Thank you for being here today and for your
personal investment in bettering the lives of
those we educate and care for
• Thank you for your personal commitment to
enriching your skills
• HAVE A GREAT CONFERENCE!