ACCOUNTING: ACTIVITY FUNDS MANAGEMENT
CFD-R (LOCAL)

ACTIVITY FUND ACCOUNTS GENERALLY	The principal of the school shall be responsible for the proper administration and accounting of all general school activity funds in accordance with state and local law, District-approved accounting practices and procedures, and TEA Bulletin 679. The principal has the authority to expend these general school activity funds for any legitimate school related purpose, consistent with these regulations. Activity fund accounts may consist of student organization funds and campus activity funds. Campus activity funds are generated by the campus at the direction of the principal from various activities such as class dues or fees, vending machine commissions, school store sales, class ring sales and donations. Money raised by student organizations are Agency funds held in trust by the school for the benefit of the student organization and shall be distributed only for purposes authorized by the organization or upon approval of the sponsor. Funds on deposit for student organizations that have ceased to exist shall be converted to campus activity funds.
PAYMENT TO DISTRICT PERSONNEL	District employees shall not be paid directly from petty cash checking funds for stipends, overtime, or compensation for additional services performed. Any such payments shall be included in the employee’s paycheck and the principal is responsible for ensuring that any increased amount attributable to the activity fund is transferred to the District payroll account.
CAMPUS STIPENDS	No activity funds may be used to increase or supplement a stipend that is designated by the District’s salary schedule without the express approval of the Superintendent. Prior to the beginning of each school year, each campus principal shall develop a campus stipend schedule for those supplemental duties that are not designated or otherwise provided a stipend by the District’s salary schedule and for which the principal determines a stipend should be paid. The campus stipend schedule must be expressly approved by the Superintendent prior to payment of any campus stipend. A campus stipend for a particular supplemental duty must be established prior to an employee’s assuming the additional duty in order to be payable. Campus stipends shall be funded by campus activity funds and shall not exceed $3,000 per person per school year regardless of the number of activities or duties performed unless specifically approved by the Superintendent. Campus activity funds shall be transferred to the District payroll account to fund each campus stipend paid.
GIFTS	Activity funds may not be used to purchase gifts for students or employees. A gift is a gratuitous offering for personal benefit that does not serve a legitimate educational interest. For example, birthday presents, or presents and acknowledgments for other personal occasions are considered gifts. Employees and students may, however, donate personal funds to be applied toward the purchase of a gift.
INCENTIVE PROGRAMS	Incentive programs are permissible as long as they are designated to achieve a legitimate educational benefit. For example, programs designed to address a situation negatively affecting the educational program, such as teacher or student absenteeism, employee turnover, or poor reading skills, may be conducted and campus activity funds may be used to purchase incentive awards in connection with such programs. Incentive awards cannot be cash or readily converted into cash (e.g., savings bonds, money orders, refundable tickets or gift certificates redeemable in cash, etc.). Incentive awards shall not exceed a value of $100 per person per school year unless the principal obtains written approval to do so from the Superintendent or his/her designee. With the exception of years of service awards, any incentive program and the incentive award(s) must be clearly defined prior to the commencement of the program. No awards may be granted that are not earned in accordance with the terms of the incentive program.
CONTRACTING GENERALLY	Purchases made with campus activity funds are subject to District competitive bidding and purchasing requirements as delineated in Board policy and administrative regulation (see CH and CHD), as well as to District conflict of interest guidelines (see BBFA and DBD).
EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENTS	A campus principal may not enter into a contract giving any vendor the exclusive right to sell property or services to students and/or staff without prior review and approval by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
CONSULTING AGREEMENTS	Activity funds shall not be used to hire employees. In accordance with policy CFD (LOCAL), principals may use campus activity funds to hire independent contractors to perform consulting services for a period not to exceed one year. Contracts with consultants are subject to District purchasing requirements (see CH series) and shall not exceed $9,999 per year without Board approval. An independent contractor, as distinguished from an employee, has the following characteristics. • Controls the performance of work except as to the final results; • Furnishes his or her own tools, supplies, materials, etc.; • May contract with other entities while performing services for the District;    and • Is free to hire additional helpers and to determine what they will be paid. Any consulting arrangements involving continuous service in excess of thirty (30) days must receive prior review and approval by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
APPROVED USES OF FUNDS	In addition to the expenditures explicitly permitted above, allowable uses of campus activity funds include: • The cost of field trips, including items such as admission fees, snacks,    and other costs. • Expenses for snacks, favors, and other incidentals used in seasonal or    holiday parties and programs. • Cost of school assemblies and special programs, class picnics, student    dances, etc. • Expenses for the sponsor and chaperones for an approved event. • The cost of legitimate contest entry fees. • The cost of building use fees and security fees for an approved event. • Cost of inexpensive symbolic awards for Who’s Who, Mr. and Miss    ____________., etc. • Expenses associated with the senior prom, senior day, graduation, etc. • Awards for student achievement (subject to "cash benefit" limitations    discussed in "INCENTIVE PROGRAMS" above). • School supplies, uniforms, and other school related items for students who    are educationally disadvantaged. Campus activity funds may also be used    to waive a required deposit or fee if the student is educationally    disadvantaged. • Items designated to beautify the school, the classrooms, and playgrounds    or other school property. • Items for classroom use or for school operations. • Campus after school programs.
APPROVAL FOR FUNDRAISING	Sponsors of student groups and representatives of parent groups must submit to the principal at the beginning of the school year their plans for any fund raising activities during the year, the amount of money to be raised and the use of such funds. The principal shall review the fund raising request to avoid conflicting activities and to regulate the number of fund raising projects any one organization has in a year.
RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDRAISING	Door to door sales or sales to businesses by students shall be confined to the school’s attendance area and shall be done by groups of not less than two students. The Administration Building and other school campuses are off limits to student salespersons and advertising. Solicitation of cash gifts by individual students for any school related purpose is prohibited.
COLLECTION OF FUNDS	All funds collected shall be receipted and deposited as soon as possible. Students shall avoid keeping money overnight, and no money shall be left in classrooms overnight. The sponsor or designated parent group representative is responsible for all money, merchandise and materials used in the fund raising project. State and city sales tax must be collected on non-edible, tangible merchandise.
SCHOOL FACILITIES	Parent organizations must secure approval to use school facilities for fund raising projects, e.g. school cafeteria for spaghetti supper, gym for benefit game, etc.
PURCHASING MERCHANDISE	All merchandise used in student money-making projects must be ordered using proper purchasing procedures. No blanket purchase orders shall be issued for money-making project merchandise; additional items of merchandise shall be ordered on new purchase orders and may not be added to the existing purchase order. All merchandise used in student fund raising activities shall be delivered to the school and shall be the responsibility of the sponsor. Merchandise ordered by parent organizations must be delivered to a place other than the school campus.
FIXED ASSETS	Student organizations should not own fixed assets or non-consumable supplies (Object 6398) carried in the name of the organization. If such assets are to be purchased with student organization funds, they should be donated to the District, with School Board approval, and carried on the District’s asset inventory.
FUNDS BELONGING TO OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS	Funds belonging to outside groups, such as PTA’s/PTO’s, booster clubs, Project Graduation, etc., are not Agency funds or activity funds and should not be handled by school personnel as part of their official school duties. Such funds should be handled only by officers or the designated treasurer of the organizations themselves.
ACCOUNTING GUIDELINES	Payments from the campus petty cash checking account will be made by check for the designated purpose and signed by the principal or designee. Checks issued for more than $500 require the prior telephone approval of the Superintendent of his/her designee. All receipts to and disbursements from the activity fund account will be kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting principals and District guidelines. Activity funds, petty cash checking accounts, and petty cash boxes will be audited annually and/or when a change of principal, campus bookkeeper, or lead campus secretary is about to occur. The new principal will review the results of the audit before assuming responsibility for the funds.