WEBINAR “Finance Information Sharing & Questions

Reminder:   The webinars will continue on Tuesday, April 19 at 8:30 a.m.

Salary Related Issue – LEAs Only

Salary Audit Exception - Employee not certified to be paid from the budget code assigned

In an effort to minimize the impact of the implementation of the new Licensure system and limited staffing on the year end process for LEAs, pro-active processes are being introduced.

We encourage you to begin reviewing and analyzing your salary audit exceptions for certified personnel that do not align with the lists of certified budget codes and their required license.

This information is required for salary calculation purposes and impacts State and Federal paid certified budget codes (Fund 1, State and Fund 3, Federal). This issue is identifiable by the following method:

1.  Access the LEA License and Salary Info Center

•  Select LEA, Exception List

•  From the drop down menu select Fiscal Year-2016, Status-“Open”, click Search

•  Review “Exception” column for the message: “Add’l Rsrch Not Cert For BC”

2.  Identify the correct budget code for the certified employee in error using Attach A, Snapshot from Chart of Accounts (COA) Database.

Attach A list the certified budget codes and the required licensure area for salary calculation purposes.

•  Access Working Documents FY 2015-2016, Attach A

3.  LEA submits BUD batch to change budget code according to certification area and position responsibilities.

Questions/Issues: Contact Angela Harrison with the School Business Division.

SBE Requests State funds for School Nutrition Program

As you may have heard, the State Board of Education (SBE) has requested $20 million in an annual State appropriation to support North Carolina’s School Nutrition Programs.  This request was made as part of the SBE’s annual budget request to the Governor last month.  Under the request, schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program would receive an additional State reimbursement of 13 cents per reimbursable lunch meal served.  This is great news as it reflects the SBE’s understanding of the complexities and challenges facing the School Nutrition Program as a result of recent rules and regulations over which School Nutrition Administrators have little, if any, control.

This week, the School Nutrition Section conducted webinars with School Nutrition Administrators to discuss the SBE’s request and possible strategies for educating decision makers about the need for State funds.   As a follow-up to those discussions, we would like to take this opportunity to provide the talking points that were used to frame the discussion so you may be well-informed about the issue.  In order for this budget request to receive the attention it deserves during the development of the State budget over the next several weeks, it is important for school officials to educate their local and State policy makers about the SBE’s request and the importance of this request to the School Nutrition Programs and the students they serve.  Please take this opportunity to collaborate with your School Nutrition Administrator to inform the Superintendent, local school board members or other advocates about the SBE’s budget request, so they, too, may help educate policy makers about this important matter.

The intent of this request is to identify new funds that may be available as part of a State revenue surplus.  There is no intent to redistribute State education funds from one source to another.

Should you have questions about this request, please do not hesitate to contact Lynn Harvey, Chief, School Nutrition Section.