The Franklin County School Board has changed its policy on the approval of transferring funds between categories and spending on non-budgeted items.
Ed Jamison, chairman of the school board, said Thursday that any extra spending and/or transfer of category funds will now be approved by the board before any purchases are made.
The issue surfaced earlier this year when the school system spent about $2.7 million above what was budgeted for various items in April, May and June.
The board did not officially approve the spending and the transfer of funds between categories until June, after the bulk of the purchases had been made.
Some members of the board of supervisors questioned the spending and whether proper procedures were followed.
But Jamison referred to an opinion written by the school board's' attorney, Clyde Perdue, which said the spending and subsequent board approval were acceptable.
The board, its superintendent and director of business and finance "followed adopted policy and procedures in regard to its budget ... and is in compliance with state law and school board policy."
Perdue's letter said that as long as the school system stayed within its overall allocated budget and the board approved any transfer of funds before the fiscal year ends (June 30), such action "is in compliance with policy requirements for the school board."
"In this instance, two categories (facilities and technology) were discovered, in early June, to be over budget for the month ended May 31, 2011," Perdue said. "The school board, as it is legally authorized to do, in its regular June meeting authorized the division superintendent and the director of business and finance to transfer funds between categories and thus be in compliance with the school board policy. This is tantamount to an amendment of the amount budgeted for each category but has no effect on the total budget allocated by the board of supervisors."
Perdue's opinion said it is "not an unusual circumstance within our school system or other school systems" to take such action.
"Category expenses often are found to be over or under budgeted near the end of the fiscal year," he said.
Jamison said it is also not unusual for the school system to spend extra money during the last few months of a fiscal year in order to be ready for the upcoming school year.
More money was spent during those three months this year, he said, because the purchase of many items, especially in technology (which accounted for $1.6 million of the $2.7 million) had been delayed earlier due to the budget crunch.
"Could the money have been saved, and not spent?" he said. "Sure. But we have to keep up (in technology) to provide our students with the best tools."
Jamison said the school system has been recognized in many categories as one of the best in the state and the school board wants to maintain that standing.
When it involves the transparency of the budget and the school board's relationship with the supervisors, Jamison said improvements in both areas are being made and will continue to be made.
"We are becoming more transparent to the public," he said, adding that the information has always been there, it has been more of a matter of making it more accessible and easier to understand.
Jamison said the school board is also continuing to look for ways to save money, pointing out that state cuts over the last few years have amounted to about $9 million.
But with more money from the county and some stimulus money, the cuts amounted to $4.1 million.
"We've been good stewards of the money," he said. "It (absorbing a decline in funding of $4.1 million) shows we're being just as conservative as the rest of the county."
Jamison said he hopes that clarifying the extra spending this year and changing the policy on approval of such spending will satisfy those on the the board of supervisors who questioned the issue.
The board of supervisors was set to approve about $900,000 in carryover funding to purchase new school buses at its September meeting, but after the extra spending issue surfaced, the request for the money was tabled until the November meeting.
Although the school bus purchase request was again on the agenda of last week's meeting, supervisors had it removed before the meeting began, saying all of their questions on the spending and other issues had not been answered.
Charles Wagner, chairman of the board of supervisors, said he is pleased with the change in policy.
"That's a step in the right direction," he said.
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