The Special Report on Athletic Expenditures for the year ended June 30, 2011, was reviewed by the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee on May 11, 2012. This report is required by Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-20-2001 to 6-20-2004 for the purpose of enhancing accountability for athletic expenditures by public schools. Each school district's reported athletic expenditure data is to be reviewed and evaluated by the Division of Legislative Audit at least once every five years.
The Special Report for the year ended June 30, 2011, is attached to this Commissioner's Memo.
The report included 46 school districts with total reported athletic expenditures of $19.1 million. After review adjustments were made, the total increased to $20.7 million. Athletic expenditures for 20 of the 46 districts had review adjustments in excess of 10%. If repeat findings are contained in the current fiscal year athletic audit, these findings could represent indicators of fiscal distress at a material level.
According to the Special Report, one of the primary inaccuracies involved the allocation of salaries and benefits between athletics and instruction. Section 5.00 of the Rules Governing Athletic Expenditures for Public School Districts (attached) provides the requirements pertaining to Salaries and Benefits for Coaches.
• 100% of any stipend paid exclusively for athletics must be charged to a budget unit containing program code 115
• 100% of the pay for days above the base teacher contract must be charged to a budget unit containing program code 115.
If the coach is assigned to classes that are especially for students participating in athletics, part of the base teacher contract pay (per the teacher salary schedule) must be charged to athletics:
• Divide the total class periods pertaining to athletics, including any preparation period(s) in excess of one, by total class periods during the school day.
• The factor obtained above should be multiplied by the teacher contract amount to obtain the amount pertaining to athletics.
• APSCN has an Excel spreadsheet that can be saved to your computer to assist in calculations: www.apscn.org > FMS > FMS Training Documentation > Forms > Salary Allocation Form.
Other review adjustments were primarily made in the following expenditure categories:
• Allocation of Maintenance
• Calculation of Travel
• Allocation of Construction.
If you have questions or concerns in any of these areas, call the APSCN help desk at 800-435-7989.