Sound financial practices and meticulous fiscal management pay big for Aiken County Public Schools. At its December 11, 2018, regularly scheduled School Board Meeting, auditors from Elliott Davis, LLC., shared clean audit results from the District’s annual financial audit. Additionally, the Board of Trustees approved utilization of funds from a growth in fund balance to support upgrades to security and facilities, additional classroom and instructional supplies for schools and a Christmas Bonus for all employees.
Per School Board Policy (DA), the District is to maintain a minimum unassigned fund balance sufficient to cover two-months of operations. Fund balance, much like a personal savings account, provides assurance that regular operations could continue without interruption temporarily (for at least a period of two months) in the event of a financial crisis in which funding wasn’t available.
In recent years, a portion of fund balance in excess of two months’ reserves has been utilized, at the discretion of the board, to address a variety of needs ranging from technology upgrades to service vehicle replacements and School District rebranding. Unassigned fund balance for 2017-18 grew from $38,047,254 to $46,042,479, the equivalent of nearly three months’ reserves. At its meeting, the board approved the administration’s request to allocate more than $6 million of the $7,995,225 unassigned fund balance growth to address previously unmet needs.
Key factors the School District’s Chief Financial Officer, Tray Traxler, attributed to the increased fund balance include a growth in the tax base, conservative revenue budgeting, and retirements of higher- earning teachers who were replaced by younger, lower-salaried educators.
“We’re grateful for the school board’s approval to allocate approximately 75% of the fund balance increase to enhance instruction and for facilities and security improvements and upgrades across the District,” Traxler stated.
Among those non-recurring needs that will be addressed through these one-time funds are security cameras at all elementary schools and bus camera upgrades, bathroom improvements at Greendale Elementary School, classroom enhancements and a covered walkway for students at Gloverville Elementary, parking lot improvements at LBC Middle, stairway improvements and repairs for Midland Valley High School’s baseball field, as well as various updates needed for the campus transition of Aiken Middle to Aiken Intermediate School. Also included is support for thematic programs, a software suite to streamline human resources and finance functions, $5,000 in additional funding for each school for classroom and instructional supplies, and a Christmas Bonus for each and every employee of Aiken County Public Schools.
Also during the meeting, Mr. Tim Grow with Elliott Davis, LLC., presented audit results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018. He attributed consistently clean audits, the financial benefits enjoyed by the District and the growth in fund balance to a systemic commitment to sound financial practices.
Though the school district is only required to issue a standard financial statement each year, the issuance of a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, commonly referred to as a CAFR, offers additional assurance that school district finances are being handled appropriately and with consistent oversight and diligence from a highly-qualified business services team.
Aiken County Public Schools has received the Governmental Finance Officer Association’s Certificate of Achievement in Excellence in Financial Reporting for its past six CAFRs and the Association of School Business Officials International’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting over the past seven years. An independent and random third party performs an annual review of the CAFR for any award consideration.
Because the District receives funding from the federal government, a single audit is also conducted in areas of high significance such as Title I dollars, IDEA and School Food Service. There were no findings with the single audit and no deficiencies to report.
“We are very proud of our Business Services Department and the work they do every day to ensure financial matters for our school district are pristine,” Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford stated. “We look forward to the projects that the overage in fund balance will support, and are certainly thankful to be able to provide additional supplies to schools and a Christmas Bonus to our dedicated teachers and staff.”