Finance+Week+4,+Part+1

From Shirley Hitt:

FIRST is a financial rating system used in Texas school districts, and the primary goal of Schools FIRST is "to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts' financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas' school finance system." It's a guide/set of criteria for districts to use to stay in compliance with state standards and to develop sound financial management processes and practices for the district. The Financial Accountability Rating System is put in place to encourage districts to funnel a maximum amount of their revenues to direct instructional purposes. The system also focuses on the local control/management of the district budget as well as the local decision-making processes in place with regards to the budget and how funds are allocated.

The most important components of the FIRST system in my opinion are 1) financial management practices of a district, 2) local decision making processes, and 3) disclosures of specific information. It's important to know the accountability system you are using (just as it is important to know our campus/district accountability system (AEIS) so that we can develop and implement action plans); with the FIRST system, you know what your district should be striving for, when/why/how to make adjustments, to be in a constant state of evaluation (monitor), and to be ready and able to present and discuss/explain/justify the financial standing of the district. It's a great "check-and-balance" system for school districts to use year round.

At each monthly Board meeting, our CFO reports and presents budget updates. These reports have been presented to the supt prior to the Board meetings. This allows the supt to know where we stand financially at regular "small intervals" of time throughout the year. It also allows the supt to be able to answer any questions the Board has about the budget throughout the year. Additionally, this practice allows the supt and CFO to know very quickly if we are having problems in the budget; they can find solutions quickly and move forward. It wouldn't be very prudent to wait until budget problems built up over a period of months before the supt was aware. That would be much more difficult to overcome. Regular monitoring of the budget and meeting with the CFO is critical to the budget/financial processes of any district.