Question: Can you clarify the meaning of Education Code 42631, “All payments from the funds of a school district shall be made by written order of the governing board of the district”? What action causes this to happen? Is it a listing of all payments that goes to the board for approval?
Is 42631 in addition to 42632? “Each order drawn on the funds of a school district shall be signed by a majority of members of the board, or by persons authorized by the governing board to sign orders.” I interpret this to be that someone must approve each order individually or within a batch to be paid after the board submits for payment. Please help me understand if these are two separate processes or one process.
Response: Education Code Sections 42630 through 42652 govern how money must be paid from school district funds. These code sections are related and build on the actual requirement.
To ensure compliance with Education Code Section 42631, county offices must prescribe the form to be used by school district to process orders unless the warrants are processed via an online data processing system. You may want to ask other county offices what process/form they require within their specific county to ensure compliance. Since most districts are on an online data processing system, various forms are used to satisfy this requirement. Some reports are more detailed than others, as there is no set requirement for detail. Basically, the county office has to be satisfied with the report, as they must ensure that batches are appropriately approved.
Education Code sections 42631 and 42632 are related. When districts ask county offices to process warrants, at least a majority of the members of the governing board or a person(s) authorized by the governing board must have signed the orders, allowing the warrants to be paid from school district funds. In order for a county office to process the warrants, the school district must submit a signed authorization with the order. The person signing the authorization must have been previously approved by the governing board. Governing boards are responsible for filing or causing staff to file verified signatures of each person, including members of the governing board, who are authorized to sign orders. When signed orders come to the county office for processing, the county designee must ensure that the district signatures are approved and on file in their office. If the county is not satisfied that the signature is that of an authorized person, it may decline to process the order (this provision does not apply to fiscally accountable districts).
FCMAT’s Fiscal Procedures Manual for county offices can be found on our Web site. The section titled “Approving District Orders,” procedures 012, provides additional information that you may find helpful.
4/05/05
