Julie H. Rucker
|
 |
Standard 3: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
Questions:
How can the stakeholders of the school be assured that monetary resources raised for student organizations are used for those organizations' needs?
How can technology improve accounting for school organizations?
Situation:
At Covey High School, several parents and club advisors have complained to the principal because there appears to be funds raised for student organizations which have been misappropriated. Just this past winter, for example, the new senior graduation advisor was told that she had a negative balance in her account and could not order necessary graduation supplies until that deficit was recovered, even though she had deposited several hundred dollars in student dues and had not made any purchase requests to that point.
The advisor, Mrs. Henry, did some investigating. She began by asking the secretary how the account could be overdrawn several hundred dollars. The secretary told her that senior advisors came to her before graduation last year and wanted to use an excess of funds in last years' graduating class's account to purchase gift cards to give as door prizes at the senior picnic. At the time, there was money in the account, so the secretary and the principal approved the use of funds. Over the summer, bills came that she did not know about which were tagged for that account, overdrawing the account.
When Mrs. Henry went to last year's senior advisors to determine the purpose for which the money was spent, she was told that the funds were actually supposed to come from the graduating class's prom account, which did have excess funds, not the graduation account. Upon returning to the secretary, Mrs. Henry realized that the funds were never transferred from the prom account and that they were still sitting there unused. Mrs. Henry did not feel it was fair for this year's class to pay the debts of last year's graduating class when the money was still sitting in a different account. After talking with the principal, the funds were transferred to the senior account now supervised by Mrs. Henry.
What the Principal Discovered:
The current method of accounting for funds in club/class/sports accounts at Covey High School is not working. Too many people have access to the accounts making it difficult to know who has requested a use of the funds and for what purpose. Even though the principal has to sign checks for the funds to be administered, he is often unaware of any outstanding bills and only knows current balances based on what the bookkeeper tells him.
While the accounts are managed with a computer program, the current program does not limit the amount of users nor does it keep record of outstanding POs or bills. It also is managed solely by the school secretary who must stop what she is doing and pull it up whenever a faculty member needs to get an update on the account for which s/he is responsible.
What Changes Will Be Made As a Result:
When the principal began looking into another method of managing school funds, he realized that many other administrators in the small school system were unhappy with their programs as well. As a result, the system invested in a new accounting program. This particular program could be accessed by teachers approved to manage accounts from any computer on campus. Teachers who took in money for any reason were required to log in to the program, create a deposit, and submit it to the office online. Then the teacher take the money to the office along with the deposit number and deposit it with the secretary. A similar process was used with purchase requests. Teachers identified the vendor, items for purchase, and reason for purchase and submitted it online to get a PO number or a check. The principal would then periodically go into the program and approve or decline requests based on the amount of money in the account and any outstanding bills to the account. The secretary still took in money, wrote checks to be signed by the principal, and managed the accounting program, but teachers were able to readily see their account balances and be the only ones in control of the account other than the principal.
Responding to the Questions:
How can the stakeholders of the school be assured that monetary resources raised for student organizations are used for those organizations' needs?
The new online program limits the number of people who have access to an account. While the club/extracurricular advisors/coaches may have to wait a few days to receive approval for POs, they are able to access their accounts anytime to see their balances. While previously there were those who felt suspicious toward the secretary because they felt funds were unaccounted for, now they can easily track when their money is deposited and how it is used.
How can technology improve accounting for school organizations?
The new software used by the school actually has an online component which makes it easy for those with passwords to access school accounts to check balances, make deposits and request POs. The password protected system also helps to limit unauthorized access to the program while tracking users in the program. While unintentional, the misappropriation of funds in the instance with Mrs. Henry's graduation account will not occur again because the principal, his secretary, and the fund manager are the only ones with access to the account and can see outstanding bills that require payment before further funds can be used.
Assessment of Administrator: Developing
I initially wanted to rate this administrator as rudimentary for the way he allowed school activity funds to be managed, but prior to this incident, school funds traditionally had been managed in this manner. The principal had not seen a need to change the procedure until Mrs. Henry's insistence that the school be accountable for how her fund was managed. I do rate the principal as "Developing" in this situation instead of rudimentary because he reacted to the problem in a constructive manner that actually affected the way student funds were managed across the school system. I believe the principal should have addressed budgetary concerns when he took the head job at Covey High School; instead, he had to react to a situation that could have been prevented with appropriate budgetary procedures.