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Board clears reconciliation, approves fund transfer and handbook and policy updates
Summary
The Lawrence Township board approved a set of routine but consequential items: a resolution to transfer funds between education and operations, an account reconciliation clearing $58,646.05 of long‑standing unreconciled balances, student and classified handbook updates (including a bell‑to‑bell cell‑phone restriction), and a Neola policy packet.
The Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township Board approved several finance and policy items during its June meeting, including a plan to transfer funds between the education and operations funds, a one‑time account reconciliation to clear an unreconciled balance, and updates to student and employee handbooks and district policies.
Finance director Mr. Miles explained the reconciliation request as a cleanup of bookkeeping artifacts tied to a bank transition and timing entries from roughly 2016–2019. He said the district had identified an initial unreconciled balance of $41,282.71 and an additional variance of $17,363.34, for “a grand total of $58,646.05,” and that the State Board of Accounts recommended board approval to resolve the discrepancy. Mr. Miles told members the auditors found clerical or timing causes and he said there was no indication of fraud.
On the transfers, Mr. Miles presented a routine resolution that will allow staff, after June balances are finalized, to move funds between the education and operations accounts within the state’s 15% transfer cap. He said final amounts will be reported to the board in July once end‑of‑June balances are known.
On policy, the board approved student handbook updates for 2026–27 that implement a new bell‑to‑bell restriction on personal communication devices: devices must be powered off and stored during the school day to comply with state law effective July 1. Assistant Superintendent Shawn Bush said the district will begin communicating the change to families on July 13 and through the summer. The board also approved classified employee handbook changes (transportation and food services), which include updates on special‑needs recertification for transportation staff, attendance monitoring in food services, and GPS‑based enforcement language for lot speeding.
A broad Neola policy revision packet (volume 38, number two) containing multiple policy updates was approved on second reading; board members noted some changes were required by state law. All of the above items were adopted by motion or included in a consent agenda and the motions passed.
