Tracking cents makes sense

Student activity money is crucial in providing access to meaningful extracurricular experiences like field trips, proms and clubs. It is important that the money is spent wisely and benefits from thorough oversight.

It is wise for Boston Public Schools to roll its money into the citywide financial system after an audit conducted by Ernst & Young, which analyzed student activity funds and use, assessed key internal controls and reviewed historical transactions at 118 schools in the BPS system over the past five years.

As the Herald’s Kathleen McKiernan reported, both the IRS and Ernst & Young have looked at the books and indicated that changes needed to be made.

“The audit by Ernst & Young and the previous audit by the IRS can really in this case be viewed as helping the BPS achieve greater accountability, transparency but also stewardship with funds that are meant to benefit our most important asset, which is our students,” interim Superintendent Laura Perille said. “And we do have the responsibility to ensure that all funds in the BPS, whether they are taxpayer funds or money obtained through fundraising student activity fees, are being used in the correct manner.”

The Ernst & Young report noted a lack of policy in regards to student activity accounts, and the IRS audit in 2017 indicated that poor record-keeping was a concern.

Now that the city of Boston has created a master account for the funds and will manage all deposits and expenditures, we can have faith that there will be more transactional integrity than there was under the old system.

It is good governance at play when municipalities create and execute action items based on audits and analysis of their many processes.