Financial records of the school district shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as required or modified by law.  School district monies shall be received and expended from the appropriate fund and/or account.  The funds and accounts of the school district shall include, but not be limited to:

 

Governmental fund type:

• General fund
• Special revenue fund
  • Management levy fund
  • Physical plant and equipment levy fund
  • Public education and recreation levy fund
  • Student activity fund
• Capital projects fund
• Debt service fund

Proprietary fund type:

• Enterprise fund
  • School nutrition fund
  • Child care fund
• Internal service fund

Fiduciary funds:

• Trust or agency funds
  • Expendable trust funds
  • Nonexpendable trust funds
  • Agency funds
  • Pension trust funds

Accounting groups:

• General fixed assets account group
• General long-term debt account group

 

As necessary the board may, by board resolution, create additional funds within the governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary fund types.  The resolution shall state the type of fund, name of the fund, and purpose of the fund.

The general fund is used primarily for the education program.  Special revenue funds are used to account for monies restricted to a specific use by law.  Proprietary funds account for operations of the school district operated similar to private business, and they account for the costs of providing goods and services provided by one department to other departments on a cost reimbursement basis.  Fiduciary funds are used to account for monies or assets held by the school district on behalf of, or in trust for, another entity.  The account groups are the accounting records for fixed assets and long-term debt.

These funds may be comprised of several sub-accounts at the discretion of the Superintendent or Director of Finance and Operations.

 

 

(April 17, 1989; June 16, 1997; July 7, 2003; July 18, 2011; June 23, 2014; February 4, 2020)

 

School district accounting practices will follow state and federal laws and regulations, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and the uniform financial accounting system provided by the Iowa Department of Education.  As advised by the school district’s auditor, determination of liabilities and assets, prioritization of expenditures of governmental funds, and provisions for accounting disclosures shall be made in accordance with governmental accounting standards.

In Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 54, the board identifies the order of spending unrestricted resources applying the highest level of classification of fund balance – restricted, committed, assigned, and unassigned – while honoring constraints on the specific purposes for which amounts in those fund balances can be spent.  A formal board action is required to establish, modify, and/or rescind a committed fund balance.  The resolution will state the exact dollar amount.  In the event, the board chooses to make changes or rescind the committed fund balance, formal board action is required.

The Board authorizes the Superintendent and Business Manager to assign amounts to a specific purpose in compliance with GASB 54.  An ‘assigned fund balance’ should also be reported in the order of spending unrestricted resources, but is not restricted or committed.

It is the responsibility of the superintendent to develop administrative regulations implementing this policy.  It is also the responsibility of the superintendent to make recommendations to the board regarding fund balance designations.

 

 

(August 18, 2014; February 4, 2020)