Question: One of our elementary schools in 2001-02 had an organized ASB. They had carryover money to spend in 2002-03. That school is now a charter school operating under the college district, but it is operating as a separate entity through our books. The school has not yet set up an ASB this year but plans to in the next couple of months. Can it be considered "unorganized" now until it becomes "organized"?  The school wants to pay for a performance now using last year's carryover money. As a charter school, is it still required to submit a constitution and a budget to us since we are currently doing their bookkeeping?

Response:  Our research indicates that the core rules for student body accounting need to be followed.  At some time in the future there likely will be new rules in place specifically related to associated student body funds and charter schools, but until then we should follow what is currently in place.

Because you have an elementary school, the law states that you can have an unorganized student body, with the governing board delegating authority to oversee the raising and spending of funds to an administrator.  Carryover is allowable and appropriate and can be spent as you are suggesting if the funds are spent for the benefit of the students who raised the funds, regardless of the school being a charter school this year.

As far as if they are still required to submit a constitution and a budget to the district since you are currently doing their bookkeeping, we would again say yes. The appearance, based on how the bookkeeping is currently structured, is that the reporting structure remains the same as previous years even though it is now a charter school.  Unless this relationship changes in some way, we believe you need to go with the practices and procedures that have already been put into place in past years.

Please remember, these questions should also be raised with your independent auditors, as this is an area that is strictly reviewed and audited by them every year.  They will have specific ideas of how they feel this relationship should be handled.

1/30/03