In the event your check is returned for non-payment, the face value may be recovered electronically along with a state allowed recovery fee.  Furthermore, your checks will no longer be an acceptable form of payment for the remainder of the school year. Alternative forms of payment (cash, credit card, online payment) may be accepted instead of a check depending on the campus.  For special or unique circumstances, please contact our office to negotiate an acceptable resolution as quickly as possible.

Contact
Lynn Lyon
972.727.0511 ext.244

Activity Funds Policy and Procedures
Activity funds consist of monies received by the campus to be expended for the benefit of students in accordance with District policy. Specifically, they are funds accumulated from various school-approved money-raising activities and the receipt of student dues or fees, commissions, investment interest and donations. All funds collected by school district personnel from students are defined as activity funds and must be handled through activity funds accounts.

There are two types of Activity Funds that are common for Texas public schools. The first type is Campus activity fund (461) used for such things as school pictures, yearbooks, donations and revenue from vending machines. These funds shall be used to promote the general welfare of each campus and will be administered by the campus principal.

The second type consists of funds that are the property of student organizations such as student council, choir, and pep squad (Fund 865). The District is required to provide stewardship by properly safeguarding and accounting for these funds. Decisions on the use of student funds are the concern of the specific student groups, to whom the funds belong, as long as the decisions regarding the use of funds do not conflict with Board policy and/or legal regulations or restrictions.

Each campus secretary is responsible for the proper collections, disbursement, and reconciliation of all campus activity funds. This responsibility includes the physical safeguard, accounting, administration, and disbursement of funds in compliance with District policy.

Each campus principal must review and approve every outgoing and incoming resource.

All interest earned on the 461 and 865 accounts will go to offset administrative costs.


Activity Fund Sponsor Responsibility
The sponsor of each student organization is required to sign a Sponsor Acknowledgement of Responsibility form and submit to Bookkeeper/secretary.

The sponsor of each student organization is required to maintain adequate records to support the financial activities of the group. These records are subject to review during the audit of the school’s activity funds and should include, at a minimum, the following:

> Copies of money receipts and tabulations of monies collected
> Copies of invoices or disbursement vouchers
> Copies of fund raising applications
> Detailed records of fund raising proceeds
> Minutes of the organization’s meetings with detail, at a minimum, attendance, discussion of fund raising activities, and review and approval of expenditures and financial status

Each month, the sponsor should compare his or her balances and financial records to those kept by the campus Bookkeeper/secretary. If there is a discrepancy, the sponsor should promptly contact the Bookkeeper/secretary.


Fund Raising Activities
In order to provide administrative oversight of the extensive fund raising activities promoted by the various campuses and organizations, all fund raising activities must first be approved by the principal and the Accounting Office.

Sponsors desiring to begin a fund raising activity are required to complete an Application for Fund Raising Project and submit it for approval before the activity can take place. The application details the vendor, product to be sold or service to be rendered, dates of the activity, organization, and the estimated proceeds. Within one month of the close of the activity, the Fund Raising Project Report must be completed and forwarded to the campus secretary. This form details the total sales and deposits made during the fundraiser. The campus should maintain these records at all times for audit purposes.


Collection of Money
All money collected by an organization or club for fees, dues or other fund raising activities must be recorded in detail using pre-numbered deposit slips, tabulation of monies collected forms, or collection forms provided by the fund raising vendors. All collections must be deposited in the appropriate school activity fund.

Money collected should not be kept over-night in a desk or file cabinet, nor should the sponsor take it home. If, for some reason, all records cannot be completed and recorded before the end of the day, the funds should be locked in a locking bank bag or lock box to be completed the following day. All money collected from a fundraiser should be deposited with in three days of receiving the money.

Personal check cashing by faculty members is prohibited. Likewise, cash should not be removed from activity fund collections and replaced with the sponsor’s personal check. In addition, cash collections may not be used to purchase supplies, refreshments or for any other purpose. Activity fund collections must be deposited intact, in the same manner in which they were received.

Sponsors will often be collecting money for more than one activity. Each activity should be clearly documented on the collection records. This will assist the Bookkeeper/secretary in determining the sales tax due to each project. It will also help the sponsor measure the profitability of fund raising efforts.


Depositing Funds Collected
When a sponsor submits funds collected to the campus secretary for deposit, at that time the secretary should verify the funds in the sponsor’s presence. All money should be verified and signed for when given to the campus secretary. This is simply a prudent cash handling procedure that protects both parties. After verifying the funds, the secretary must provide the sponsor with a receipt or copy of the deposit slip documenting the amount of the deposit.


Miscellaneous Student Activity Guidelines
Alcoholic Beverages
The purchase of alcoholic beverages with activity funds is strictly prohibited.

Payments to Employees
Payments and gifts to employees are not permitted from the student funds.

Cash Balance
A record of your organizations’ cash balance must be maintained at all times to ensure that your account is not overdrawn. Under no circumstances should you have a negative cash balance in your account.

Personal Check Cashing
Employees’ personal checks may not be cashed or substituted for cash collections.

Scholarships
If a club or organization wishes to donate a portion of their ending balance to a scholarship fund, the officers and sponsor of the organization must submit a signed request to the principal. The funds will then be transferred to the scholarship account. A committee of faculty members will evaluate the scholarship applicants and will make a recommendation of recipients and ward amounts.

Cash Loss
The student activity funds sponsor will be held responsible for any student activity fund entrusted to them. The sponsor will reimburse the student organization for any money, which is lost due to carelessness, theft, fraud, or failure to follow established procedures.


Expenditures of Activity Funds
All expenditures from activity funds must be made by check. No expenditures should be made using undeposited cash. Prior to the expenditure of funds, a Manual Purchase Request (MPR) or Purchase Order must be created and approved by the principal. Expenditures must be made in compliance with existing purchasing rules, laws, and regulations. Under no circumstances should purchases be made without proper approval.

Before creating the MPR or PO, first check and make sure that you have sufficient funds in the activity fund for the purchase that want to make. You should never make a purchase if you do not have enough money in your activity account to cover. Under no circumstances are you to allow you account to have a negative balance.

To the greatest extent possible, purchases should be planned in sufficient time to allow them to be made by a MPR or PO.

Club and organization funds should be used for the benefit of the students who participate in the club’s activities. These funds should be expanded on an annual basis so that the students who generated the funds can have the benefit of their use.


Responsibilities of Faculty Sponsors
of Student Groups
The purpose of the raising and expending of funds by student groups is for the direct benefit of the students. Fund raising activities will contribute to the educational experience of the students and will not conflict with the instructional program. The school as trustee will hold money raised by student groups and organizations. The faculty sponsor of a student club or group is responsible for maintaining adequate financial records as evidence of proper custodianship of money received by and disbursed by club accounts.

I hereby acknowledge that I have read the Activity Funds Guidelines and that I am responsible for complying with it. In particular, I acknowledge that;

1. All fund raising activities will be approved in advance by the Principal and the Accounting Office by completing and turning in an Application for Fund Raising Project form.
2. I am responsible both for safeguarding and accounting for funds received from or on behalf of the students.
3. Student activity money will be turned in to the office daily in the same form in which it was received.
4. At the completion of all fundraisers, the Fund Raising Project Report will be completed and submitted to the principal and the Accounting Office for approval.
5. All purchases made on behalf of the student organization will be made by check and approved in advance by the principal.
6. I will maintain a positive balance in my organization account at all times.

I understand that I will be held responsible for any student activity fund entrusted to me and that I will reimburse the student organization for any money which is lost due to carelessness, theft, fraud, or failure to follow established procedures.