Finance

Reminder – all designated fiscal officers must be bonded

Every community school is required by law to have a designated fiscal officer. Additionally, the auditor of state requires the fiscal officer of any community school, be bonded in an amount and with surety approved by the governing authority of the school, payable to the state. The bond must be deposited with the governing authority of the school, and a copy filed with the county auditor.

 

Early Kindergarten Entrance Update

For the 2012-13 school year only, kindergartners who turned five prior to September 30 or those who turned five after September and were eligible under an Early Entrance Acceleration Policies for Advanced Learners policy, will be funded. The Ohio Department of Education must have approved the acceleration policy for your community school.

All other early-enrolled kindergartners, regardless of whether they remained in school or not, must be zeroed out in school options enrollment system for funding purposes, if schools have not already done so.

Looking ahead to the 2013-14 school year, please be mindful of the timelines if a community school has adopted an early entrance acceleration policy. In most cases, the entire process of referral, assessment and eligibility determination (along with the opportunity to appeal a committee decision) should occur during the summer prior to the start of school. Note that this is also the case when considering early admittance to first grade where the age requirement is age six before September 30, unless early admitted under an approved acceleration policy.

A more detailed version of the latest issues involving Early Entrance Acceleration Policies for Advanced Learners will be sent to sponsors to share with their schools.  For questions, please contact John Taracko at john.taracko@education.ohio.gov  or 614-644-9741

Special Education – Part B funds

Prior to the start of each school year, districts and community schools are required to conduct public hearings on how they intend to spend their Part B funds for special education.  In addition to presenting a spending plan for these funds, the hearing must include an opportunity for public comments and input from program participants and parents regarding the usage of these funds.  Schools must  document that the meeting occurred and that it was adequately advertised in advance through news releases, flyers or other public communication.

To ensure Ohio complies with this federal requirement,  districts and community schools must maintain and present the required documents for review by the ODE Office for Exceptional Children, or to a state auditor during the audit of a district. For additional information about this process or requirement, contact Naim Sanders at 614-644-6083 or Naim.Sanders@education.ohio.gov.

Pupil transportation in Ohio relies upon numerous operation and safety rules that cover topics ranging from school bus driver certification to school bus inspection. Here are intrepretations by the Office of Pupil Transportation on topics that may or may not be identified in those rules.