District reviews Land Trust requirements, deadlines and allowable expenditures ahead of April submissions

Scott Summers, who oversees the district’s Land Trust program, trained the board on the district’s upcoming trust lands timeline, state requirements and allowable expenditures on March 25.

Summers told the board annual principal assurance forms and a district signature page are required and that school Land Trust plans are due April 1. "This training is part of our required state obligation," he said. He asked the board to expect paper copies of every school plan on April 22 and to submit suggested changes by May 8 so the board can vote to approve plans at the May 13 meeting.

Summers summarized the district’s expected allocation for the coming year as roughly $13,000,000 (about $154 per student in the district under current numbers) and said the largest single school allocation in the district this year was about $480,000. He described three recurring audit findings staff has worked to correct: ensuring school websites meet required inventory and disclosure items, improving expense monitoring and reconciling expenditures to plan, and obtaining required signature pages.

On allowable expenditures, Summers advised the board that school plans must tie expenditures to the district’s coherence map and academic priorities. He stressed the state’s rule that only a 10% carryover is allowed and that schools must keep trust funds focused on measurable, student‑centered academic goals. "Schools may carry up to 10% as a carryover, but they must justify it," Summers said.

Business administrator Jason Sundberg and other supervisors will monitor expenditures and implement additional checkpoints to reduce the risk of misallocated purchases, Summers said. He noted the state sampled 10 schools and found some purchase items that did not align with allowable uses (for example, certain furniture and facility expenses are not appropriate uses of trust funds), and that corrective journal entries and accounting controls are used when misalignments occur.

Summers told the board the district performed a self‑audit of school websites and made substantial improvements after state reviewers asked for better accessibility of materials. He asked board members to review school plans and to attend the May 13 board meeting for final approval.

Board members asked about training logistics and communication with principals and SCCs; Summers said supervisors and staff held cluster training in September and followed up with on‑site support for principals. The board did not vote on policy at the March 25 meeting; Summers asked that the board accept the training and noted staff will provide digital and paper copies of plans for board review.