Question: One of our coaches has run up bills (in 2 different sports) with a vendor. These invoices total over $9,000. I believe that some of these bills are from a prior school year. There are no funds in either sport's ASB account to cover these bills. In fact, one sport operated solely from their booster account. There was no prior request or approval with ASB. No purchase orders were issued. There are ASB minutes showing that ASB would not pay them. Two questions: 1. Is ASB responsible to pay these invoices? 2. Can the principal make ASB pay these invoices?
Response: ASB organizations have a lot of flexibility and discretion about how they may use their funds, but there are overlying principles that guide what is allowable and what is not. Allowable expenditures are those that promote the general welfare, morale and educational experiences of students. Student body funds must also be used to promote and finance programs of worthwhile activities beyond those provided by the district, and with few exceptions, must benefit the students as a group.
Questions to ask when deciding whether or not an expense would be allowable include the following:
- Will the expenditure be used to promote the general welfare, morale and educational experience of the students?
- Is the expenditure benefiting a group of students?
- Is this expenditure a responsibility of the district?
- Has the ASB or the district paid for this in the past?
- Is the ASB being asked to pay for this because the district is making a budget cut?
- Is this something the district should provide, or is it really an "extra" that the students want?
Since it is often confusing as far as what is and is not allowable, it is critical that districts establish board policy and administrative regulations containing guidelines for their own specific district on what they consider allowable and prohibited expenses. These policies/regulations should be regularly reviewed and updated as individual questions come up so that they cover the types of items that are specific to your own district.
For your specific question, we would say that these invoices are not the ASB's responsibility nor are they allowable ASB expenditures because:
- They were not pre-approved as required by Education Code. ASB expenditures must be approved BEFORE they occur, which definitely does not fit this situation. Backing this even more are the ASB minutes stating that ASB would not pay for them.
- Proof of pre-approval is not in place (i.e. purchase order) with the signatures of the student representative, board designee (principal) and ASB advisor (per Education Code).
- The expenditures appear to be a responsibility of the district and/or the boosters club; the students cannot be expected to pick up that over-spent amount.
To us there is not "a way to get around this". It's actually a very clear answer without any gray area. ASB is not responsible for these invoices and it is not within the principal's sole discretion to approve payment from ASB as the Education Code requires two additional signatures (i.e. student's and ASB advisor).
6/21/09
