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Cabarrus schools add $300,000 fund balance cushion as district works with DPI on data mismatch
Summary
The Cabarrus County Board of Education approved a $300,000 increase to a special revenue fund appropriation after staff flagged unresolved data reconciliation issues between the district's LINC software and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
The Cabarrus County Board of Education on Monday approved a $300,000 increase to the district's Fund 8 fund-balance appropriation to cover potential post-close adjustments tied to a data mismatch between the district's vendor LINC and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Board members voted to approve the closing budget amendment after district staff said the additional appropriation is a precaution while the district and DPI work line-by-line to reconcile student data files.
District financial presenter Philip Penn told the board that the district left open the possibility of a closing amendment after the June 30 close and recommended the $300,000 cushion because the LINC outbound file contains data that DPI's systems do not appear to be picking up correctly. "To the extent it's not needed, anything that we appropriate and that doesn't get used just rolls right back into the fund balance," Penn said, according to the board transcript.
Why it matters: the amendment is a risk-management step to prevent ending the fiscal year short on revenues versus expenses while staff pursue a technical reconciliation. Penn said resolving the issue will likely be time-consuming, possibly requiring work at the upcoming NCASBO/DPI conference and continued follow-up with DPI and LINC.
What the board did: Board member Sam Treadaway moved to approve the amendment; Pam Escobar seconded the motion. The board voted to approve the amendment.
Discussion and context: Penn said district CFOs that use LINC had discussed potential post-close resolution strategies, and he expects follow-up information after a statewide conference next week. A small net decrease of $30,000 on page two of the memo was noted during the meeting but not explained in detail during the discussion; Penn offered to share the exact line-item clarification with the board later.
Next steps: district finance staff will continue to work with DPI and LINC to reconcile the file; any unused portion of the appropriation will roll back into Fund 8's balance after reconciliation.
