Del. Code tit. 14, ch. 18 — District and Charter School Financial Responsibility | Delaware Code — Delaware

Del. Code tit. 14, § 1801 Definitions.

As used in this chapter the phrase “school district” shall include all school districts, including vocational-technical school districts.

Del. Code tit. 14, § 1802 Financial Recovery Team.

Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Education (“Secretary”) that a school district or charter school is in financial distress as provided in paragraph (1) of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (“Director”), with the consent of the Controller General, may appoint a Financial Recovery Team (“Team”), and the Department of Education is hereby authorized to secure technical assistance and other resources as necessary to ensure the effective operations of the Team. (1) For the purposes of this section a local school district or charter school shall be considered in financial distress when 1 or more of the following criteria are met: a. The district financial position report required to be submitted on May 1, pursuant to § 1507(a) of this title, projects less than 1 month’s carryover; or b. It is projected at any time during the course of the fiscal year that local payroll expenses will exceed projected local revenues; or c. The charter school has been placed on formal review based, at least in part, on concerns regarding the charter school’s finances; or d. Whenever a school district or charter school projects that it cannot fund 1 or more scheduled payroll disbursements. (2) During any period of time when it is determined that a school district or charter school is in financial distress, the Financial Recovery Team shall be empowered to exercise, subject to the approval of the Secretary, control over the expenditure of funds appropriated to a school district or charter school as deemed necessary by the members of the Team. Control shall include, without limiting the foregoing, the right to approve the school district’s or charter school’s annual budget and any subsequent material amendment thereto, the right to approve district tax rates, the right to request drawdown of state financial assistance if applicable, the right to approve financial reporting to the local board of education or charter school board, the right to approve accounting policies, procedures and reports, the right to require a Financial Responsibility Committee be established by the local school board or charter school comprised of 1 or more members of the said board and/or residents of the district or, in the case of a charter school, parents of students attending the school. The Committee shall examine and report on the financial status of the district or charter school and shall have the right to pre-approve any obligation or contract that would require the expenditure of funds by the school district or charter school. Notwithstanding any provision of either this Code or any applicable rule or regulation to the contrary, the authority extended under this section shall apply to the expenditure of all funds received by a school district or charter school. (3) The Financial Recovery Team shall report at least monthly to the Governor, the General Assembly, Director and the Controller General regarding the district’s or charter school’s current and projected financial position. (4) The district or charter school shall reimburse the State for all salary and related costs of the Financial Recovery Team. (5) Upon the recommendation of the Secretary that a school district or charter school is no longer in financial distress as defined in this section, the Director, with the consent of the Controller General, may elect to remove the members of the Financial Recovery Team.

Del. Code tit. 14, § 1803 Financial responsibility training.

(a) With the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General, the Department of Education, hereinafter referred to as “Department,” is directed and authorized to develop a program of financial responsibility training to instruct district and charter leaders, members of school boards, including vocational-technical school boards, and the boards of charter schools, in properly discharging their responsibility to ensure that public funds, including both state and local funds, are appropriately managed and expended, and shall also include training on state and local funding of public education. The training must be offered virtually at least twice a year. The Department is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to implement such a program of training. District and charter leaders and members of the aforementioned boards shall be required to attend such training as may be required by the Department pursuant thereto. (b) For purposes of this section, “district leaders” is defined as the district superintendent and business manager and “charter leaders” is defined as the head of school or principal and business manager. If 1 individual acts in a dual capacity as both superintendent and business manager or as head of school or principal and business manager, the district or charter school shall designate a second individual to attend the training. (c) The president of a school board for a school district or charter school shall inform each newly-elected or appointed member of the obligation to complete training under subsection (a) of this section. By January 15 of each year, the president of a school board shall send a letter to any board member who has not completed the training required under this section by January 1 following the board member’s election or appointment.

Del. Code tit. 14, § 1804 Financial responsibility committee.

Repealed by 75 Del. Laws, c. 439, § 6, effective Aug. 17, 2006.