Question:  I have a request to reimburse a teacher for attendance, registration, yearly dues and the flight to attend the CADA conference out of the ASB account. Is this a valid use of ASB funds?

Response: Student body funds must be used to promote and finance a program of worthwhile activity beyond those provided by the district. State law also requires that all student body expenses be pre-approved. In high schools and middle schools the student organizations are called organized student body associations because the students organize their activities around student clubs and a student council. The students are involved in making the decision about how the ASB funds are spent.

Because the distinction between allowable and unallowable expenses can be very confusing, school district governing boards should adopt rules and regulations by which the student body is governed. If your district's governing body has not adopted such a policy for student body accounts, it should do so to establish parameters for the operation of the accounts and to help determine whether certain costs or allowable or not.

Expenditures must directly promote the general welfare, morale, or educational experience of the students to be an allowable use of student funds. In addition, student body funds cannot be used for expenditures that are the district’s responsibility. Assuming that sending the teacher to the CADA Conference is normally paid for using district funds, student body funds cannot be used for the associated costs. If conferences of this type are usually paid for from student body funds, then these funds could be used to pay the conference costs if the students pre-approved it.

2/22/05