Dodgeland board authorizes procurement-card program to ease district purchasing

The Dodgeland School District board voted to authorize a procurement-card (P-card) program on March 10, a change administrators said will give departments more flexibility and cut the time spent processing checks.

A district administrator explained the motivation: the district currently operates with four credit cards that together amount to about a $25,000 combined credit limit, which has constrained purchases and sometimes required employees to use personal cards. The administrator said the plan is to scale to roughly 10 cards, issue some to departments and some with individual names, and perform an audit through the vendor (Bosco) to set appropriate credit limits. "They should be able to use a card," the administrator said, describing the goal of reducing staff use of personal funds for approved school spending.

Board members asked how departmental control and reconciliation would work; the administrator said departments would check out a departmental card for approved purchases and that existing approval and budget controls would remain in place. The board approved a motion to authorize issuance of procurement cards; the motion carried by voice vote.

Supporters said the program aims to improve efficiency in vendor payments and reduce postage and check-processing costs, while the board requested that finance maintain audit controls and link P-card use to approved budget accounts.