In addressing the financial challenges facing the school district the District Sustainability Committee received many suggestions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of school and district operations. One of those suggestions was to have Parent Advisory Councils assume responsibility for all accounting aspects of their own operation.
At the District Parent Advisory Council meeting on Monday, April 12, Superintendent Brian Pepper advised those in attendance that effective September 1, 2010 it would be required that all Parent Advisory Councils assume this responsibility. The Constitution and Bylaws of most Parent Advisory Councils outline these responsibilities in the Duties of the Officers and the Finances sections.
Specifically this means that:
• Each PAC will be required to keep its own accounting records. In many schools, the school secretary has provided this service. We recommend that a basic accounting software package such as Quicken be used for this purpose.
• Each PAC will be required to open its own bank account and ensure that it is reconciled on a monthly basis. This account will be separate from and in addition to their existing PAC Gaming bank account. We recommend that the PAC have at least three authorized signing officers of which any two must sign together.
• For example the bank account name should be:
___________________ Elementary PAC or __________________Secondary PAC.
• Each PAC will be required to receive, receipt and deposit all PAC related funds to this bank account.
• Each PAC will pay all of their own expenses directly from this account. Payments should be made by way of cheque from this account. Supporting documentation should be available for review by the cheque signers at the time of signing.
We believe that Parent Advisory Councils will benefit from this decision as the PAC will be able to make their own payments by cheque on a timely basis rather than having PAC members use personal funds and await reimbursement from the school. Also financial decisions made at PAC meetings can be acted on immediately by PAC members. The PAC will also always have access to their current bank balance without inquiring at the school office.
District Parent Advisory Council
The District Parent Advisory Council website at https://sd57dpac.ca has valuable information to support and assist Parent Advisory Councils in these responsibilities.
Policy 1223 – School Parent Advisory Councils
The Administrative Procedure to Policy No. 1223, School Parent Advisory Councils currently provide two options for PAC’s to account for their fundraising. This decision removes the option in Administrative Procedure 1.1 to utilize a school trust account. It will be recommended to the Policy and Governance Committee that Administrative Procedure 1.1 be removed from the policy. Administrative Procedure 1.2 may be subject to revision. We still encourage Parent Advisory Councils to ensure that a current copy of their Constitution and Bylaws is on file in the Finance Department.
Transition Recommendations
In order to facilitate this transition for Parent Advisory Councils, schools are not to accept PAC raised funds after June 30, 2010. All PAC cheques issued and PAC deposits received should clear the bank by the end of this school year. The July and August 2010 school trust account bank reconciliation must be reconciled to the school trust bank account statement. This reconciliation will clearly identify any outstanding cheques from funds held in trust for the PAC that have not yet been cashed. Once the July and August 2010 bank reconciliation is complete please contact Jan Cote, in the Finance Department to review the Bank statements. Once this process occurs, Jan will provide the school and the PAC with written authorization for the school administration to issue a cheque to the PAC for deposit into their new bank account.
PAC wishes to open their bank account prior to July 1, 2010
In the event that your PAC wishes to open their own bank account and account for their operations before July 1, 2010 we ask they provide us with at least two weeks notice in order to have sufficient time to start the transition process. Please contact Jan Cote at local 224 if the PAC chooses this option.
Thank you
Please ensure that your PAC is aware of this change in process. You may wish to share this message with them. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jan Cote, Finance Clerk or me.
Allan Reed, AReed@sd57.bc.ca