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School committee approves student-activity account limits, authorizes closing inactive accounts after district audit
Summary
After a business-office review and a required DESE audit, the committee set maximum checking-account balances by school level and authorized administration to close inactive student-activity accounts and pursue unclaimed checks procedures.
The Westford School Committee on June 9 approved administrative recommendations to set maximum checking-account balances for student-activity funds and authorized the business office to close a number of inactive accounts districtwide following an internal review and pending external audit.
Why it matters: The business office told the committee the changes aim to reduce account proliferation, improve reconciliation practices and meet Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) audit requirements.
Key approvals and numbers
- Maximum checking limits: The committee approved the business-office recommendation to retain maximum checking account balances at $77,000 for elementary schools, $35,000 for middle schools and $150,000 for the high school. The motion passed unanimously.
- Audit schedule: The business office said any student-activity account with expenditure mode greater than $25,000 must undergo a formal audit; auditors were scheduled to perform elementary- and middle-school student-activity audits the week after the meeting.
- Inactive accounts and clean-up: The business office presented more than a dozen school-level requests to close inactive accounts and to transfer inactive balances into school-wide accounts where appropriate. Committee members discussed individual items but approved a motion authorizing administration to close the recommended inactive accounts and pursue consistent classification and consolidation across schools; that motion carried unanimously.
Business-office findings and recommended next steps
Director of Finance Jenny Lynn summarized that high-school (WA) accounts had a substantial backlog of unreconciled items, some long-standing checks, and a previously misposted CD that required an adjusting entry. The business office reported progress after monthly reconciliation work with the high-school financial assistant and recommended:
- Regular monthly bank reconciliations and timely turn-ins of receipts for activities (e.g., online ticket sales). - Follow-up outreach to payees for outstanding checks before posting unclaimed items; business office said the recommended method is a public posting (newspaper and business-office web link) for at least 60 days before treating funds as unclaimed property. - Consolidation of small or inactive club accounts into school-wide student-activity accounts to reduce administrative complexity, particularly at the elementary level.
What the committee voted
- Approved the maximum checking-account balances: elementary $77,000; middle $35,000; high school $150,000 (vote unanimous). - Authorized administration to close the recommended inactive accounts and to pursue account consolidation and reconciliation steps (vote unanimous).
Ending: The committee asked that the finance subcommittee review consistency items in the fall and requested an update on audit outcomes and reconciliation progress at the start of FY26.
