Update on Lancaster ISD financial filings

by Jeff Melcher

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The Texas Education Agency requires annual financial reports with them by 150 days after the close of the fiscal year in August. At worst, districts may file within a 30-day "grace period" after the January deadline.

The Texas Education Agency requires annual financial reports with them by 150 days after the close of the fiscal year in August. At worst, districts may file within a 30-day "grace period" after the January deadline. A senior official with TEA confirms that the state agency has not received Lancaster ISD's filings. However, the district has, according to that source, last week filed a request for an extension. However, the TEA school finance office advised that their agency has no authority to issue either extensions or waivers regarding this legislative requirement. Another source in the Region Ten schools support offices confirms that failure to file these reports is a "serious problem" for the Lancaster District.

LISD’s most recent CFO, Eugene Smith, was on record as present for public meetings with the Board of Trustees as late as December 18th 2006. But early this year, trustees quietly confided to constituents that the CFO had been terminated. The confusion following the departure of the CFO contributes to the lateness of the required reports.

The annual financial reports form the basis for the TEA’s "FIRST" rankings, (the "Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas"). The state agency assigns a “Substandard” rating for any districts failing to file within a month after the January deadline.

In mid-February TEA began posting reports, online at http://hancock.tea.state.tx.us/audit/PDFviewer.asp, from other districts that had filed on time. On February 16th, an Open Records Request for the Fiscal-Year 2006 was filed with LISD. It was the week following that the district requested the extension from TEA. The missing audit reports were mentioned during "Citizen Comments" of the March 5th Board of Trustees meeting by Lancaster resident Debbie Wade. The Board made no comment; and as is their practice, approved the recent month's financial reports, as prepared by acting financial officer Cheryl Peoples, during an executive session, not open to the public.

But November, 2006, the Trustees were still voting, unanimously, to approve financial reports as submitted by CFO Smith.

And on December 18, 2006, with Eugene Smith present, the Trustees voted to approve a 4% increase in salary for the officer ultimately responsible, Superintendent Larry D. Lewis.

This story was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community

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