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Resident questions district cash management, diversification and internal controls; staff outlines SOPs
Summary
During public comment resident Patrick Oates asked whether the district diversifies deposits and whether staff receive certified training on cash management. The Business Administrator said the district maintains an internal control manual updated annually and uses segregation of duties; staff agreed to review diversification options.
A resident raised questions during public comment at the Winslow Township Board of Education meeting about the district’s cash management, investment diversification and internal controls in light of recent bank failures.
Patrick Oates, who identified himself as a resident, asked whether the district was diversifying funds after recent bank closures, whether staff take certified training on cash management procedures and what internal controls are in place. He asked specifically about page 20, item 41 concerning repository funds for investment purposes and about procedures for monthly reconciliations and petty cash replenishment.
Oates asked: “are we as a township only diversifying our funds?” and, “what type of internal controls do you guys have that you're using for, your funds? Is it separation of meetings, authorizing procedures, stuff like that?” He also said he thought annual training was required and asked whether staff receive it.
The Business Administrator/Board Secretary replied that the district maintains a “standard operating slash internal control manual that we maintain update, annually.” She described segregation of duties in cash handling: the person collecting cash is not the person reconciling accounts in order to reduce risk. She said the district conducts monthly reconciliations and follows the cash management plan. On diversification, staff said they had not widely used alternative depositories or investment vehicles but would review the district’s cash-management options and examine whether changes were appropriate for the timing of capital projects and vendor payment needs.
The resident also raised a petty-cash concern, reporting a request to replenish petty cash for more than the amount remaining and asking whether receipts were kept. Staff confirmed they monitor receipts and would update procedures as needed to reflect changes such as ticket-sale platforms.
Why it matters: how a school district invests and protects cash affects availability for payroll, vendors and capital projects and can expose the district to liquidity or custodial risk.
Staff said they would explore diversification options for the district’s cash and that standard operating procedures would be kept current. The public record shows questions and staff responses but no formal board action recorded on the topic in the available transcript.
