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Board discusses setting a 5%–8% unassigned fund balance, updates policies after ESSER audit
Summary
At an October meeting the Southern Columbia Area School District reviewed a proposed update to Policy 6‑20 to set a 5% minimum and 8% maximum unassigned general fund balance, and introduced Policy 8‑30 on breach notification after ESSER audit recommendations. Staff provided account snapshots and asked the board to consider assigning surplus to capital projects such as solar and turf replacement.
President Davis opened the policy review portion of the meeting to address a set of changes prompted by the district’s ESSER audit and routine code updates.
The board considered renaming Policy 6‑20 from “capital reserve fund” to “fund balance,” and discussed adding numeric guidance that would ask the district to strive to maintain an unassigned general fund balance of no less than 5% and no more than 8% of budgeted expenditures. The 8% ceiling was described as a state threshold; the 5% figure was presented as a local target to improve financial stability. The business manager gave ballpark dollar equivalents for the percentages and reported several current balances, noting that some funds have already been assigned to projects such as solar and capital reserves.
On the new Policy 8‑30, the board reviewed language for computerized personal information security and breach notification. President Davis said the policy is being recommended by ESSER auditors and would codify procedures the district already follows informally when a student or staff data breach is suspected.
Board members pressed staff for clearer accounting treatment of assigned funds and for an explicit plan to move existing over‑threshold balances into designated accounts (solar project, turf replacement) so the unassigned total reflects ongoing commitments rather than idle cash. The business manager said the district’s unassigned fund balance was roughly $3,000,000 as of June 30 (reported as an approximate figure during the discussion) and that the turf replacement fund (Fund 33) held about $172,000; both figures were presented as year‑end snapshots that would change with accounting assignments.
No formal adoption vote was recorded during the meeting; staff outlined plans to return with refined language and a recommendation to place the fund‑balance resolution on the November agenda. The board also agreed to add the ESSER‑requested breach‑notification policy to the next consent or action packet after staff completes drafting the procedural elements.
Next steps: staff will provide a revised policy draft that includes the 5%/8% guidance, a schedule for formally assigning funds tied to specific projects, and clarifying language for the breach‑notification procedures for board review in November.
