Schools Disbursement Warrants

Board of Education. It is the duty of the local board of education to order warrants drawn on the county trustee. T.C.A. § 49-2-203(a)(4).

Chair of the Local Board of Education. It is the duty of the chair of the local board of education to countersign all warrants authorized by the board of education and issued by the director of schools for all expenditures of the school system. T.C.A. § 49-2-205(4). See Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 79-180 (April 19, 1979).

Director of Schools. It is the duty of the director of schools to issue, within ten days, all warrants authorized by the board for expenditures for public school funds. T.C.A. § 49-2-301(b)(1)(E).

Mechanical Signing of Warrants. Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-2-113, a board of education, with the permission of its chair, is empowered to authorize, with the consent of the commissioner of education and the comptroller, the use of mechanical signing equipment approved by the commissioner and comptroller of the treasury, to affix the signature of the chair of the board of education and of the director of schools to the original of a public school warrant; provided, that a clear duplicate of the warrant is kept on file in the office of the director of schools, together with the proper supporting papers to justify the issuance of the warrant.

County Trustee. It is the duty of the county trustee to require the director of schools to attach a voucher to every school warrant amounting to $500 or more drawn by the county board of education for any purpose other than the salaries of the supervisors and teachers, showing that the board has complied with the law requiring contracts to be let on competitive bids. Additionally, it is the duty of the county trustee to keep all public school funds separate and apart from all other funds coming into the trustee's hands. T.C.A. § 49-2-103. See also T.C.A. § 8-11-104.

Student Activity Funds. A school may, if authorized by the board of education, receive funds for student activities and for events held at or in connection with the school. Funds derived from such sources are the property of the school. The board of education must provide reasonable regulations, standards, procedures and an accounting manual covering the various phases of student body activity funds and other internal school funds accounting. T.C.A. § 49-2-110(a). The regulations must include, among other things, procedures for the proper handling of cash receipts, the making of deposits, the management of funds, the expenditures of funds and the accounting for funds. T.C.A. § 49-2-110(a)(2). It is the duty of the principal of each school to institute and follow the regulations, standards, procedures and the accounting manual adopted by the board of education. T.C.A. § 49-2-110(d). Additionally, the State Department of Education has prepared a uniform accounting policy manual for local school systems as required by T.C.A. § 49-2-110(e) which must be followed. See Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 92-54 (September 24, 1992).

With regard to school support organizations (e.g. booster clubs, parent teacher associations, parent teacher organizations) handling of money see T.C.A. § 49-2-110(f) and T.C.A. § 49-2-601 et seq. See also Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 08-174 (November 18, 2008) (School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act).