| (l) A financial accountability rating remains in effect
until replaced by a subsequent financial accountability rating.
(m) The TEA will issue a preliminary financial accountability
rating to a school district, an open-enrollment charter school, or
a charter school operated by a public IHE on or before August 8 of
each year. The TEA will base the financial accountability rating for
a rating year on the data from the fiscal year preceding the rating
year.
(1) The TEA will not delay the issuance of the preliminary
or final rating if a school district, an open-enrollment charter school,
or a charter school operated by a public IHE fails to meet the statutory
deadline under the TEC, §44.008, for submitting the AFR. Instead,
the school district, open-enrollment charter school, or charter school
operated by a public IHE will receive an F rating for substandard
achievement.
(2) If the TEA receives an appeal of a preliminary
rating, described by subsection (n) of this section, the TEA will
issue a final rating to the school district, open-enrollment charter
school, or charter school operated by a public IHE no later than 60
days after the deadline for submitting appeals.
(3) If the TEA does not receive an appeal of a preliminary
rating, described by subsection (n) of this section, the preliminary
rating automatically becomes a final rating 31 days after issuance
of the preliminary rating.
(n) A school district, an open-enrollment charter school,
or a charter school operated by a public IHE may appeal its preliminary
financial accountability rating through the following appeals process.
(1) The TEA division responsible for financial accountability
must receive a written appeal no later than 30 days after the TEA's
release of the preliminary rating. The appeal must include adequate
evidence and additional information that supports the position of
the school district, open-enrollment charter school, or charter school
operated by a public IHE. Appeals received 31 days or more after TEA
issues a preliminary rating will not be considered.
(2) A data error attributable to the TEA is a basis
for an appeal. If a preliminary rating contains a data error attributable
to the TEA, a school district or an open-enrollment charter school
may submit a written appeal requesting a review of the preliminary
rating.
(3) A school district, an open-enrollment charter school,
or a charter school operated by a public IHE may appeal any other
adverse issue it identifies in the preliminary rating.
(4) The TEA will only consider appeals that would result
in a change of the preliminary rating.
(5) The TEA division responsible for financial accountability
will select an external review panel to independently oversee the
appeals process.
(6) The TEA division responsible for financial accountability
will submit the information provided by the school district, open-enrollment
charter school, or charter school operated by a public IHE to the
external review panel members for review.
(7) Each external review panel member will examine
the appeal and supporting documentation and will submit his or her
recommendation to the TEA division responsible for financial accountability.
(8) The TEA division responsible for financial accountability
will compile the recommendations and forward them to the commissioner.
(9) The commissioner will make a final ratings decision.
(A) The commissioner may adjust a score for an indicator
or the overall score upon appeal of the indicator(s) by the school
district, open-enrollment charter school, or charter school operated
by a public IHE.
(B) Upon appeal of the indicator for the timely submission
of a complete AFR, the commissioner may adjust the overall score and
rating as described in clauses (i)-(iii) of this subparagraph if the
certificate of the board and the audit opinion letter from the external
auditor for the school district's or charter school's AFR were signed
on or before the due date of the AFR as required in TEC, §44.008.
(i) For a school district or charter school that has
a failed preliminary FIRST rating with 85 to 100 points, deduct 15
points from the total points for an overall passing score if no other
critical indicators were failed.
(ii) For a school district or charter school that has
a failed preliminary FIRST rating with 70 to 84 points, adjust the
overall score to 70 points for an overall passing score if no other
critical indicators were failed.
(iii) For a school district or charter school that
has a failed preliminary FIRST rating with total points less than
the threshold for an overall passing score and/or the school district
or charter school failed any other critical indicators, no adjustment
to the points will be made for the overall score.
(o) A final rating issued by the TEA under this section
may not be appealed under the TEC, §7.057, or any other law or
rule.
(p) A financial accountability rating by a voluntary
association is a local option of the school district, open-enrollment
charter school, or charter school operated by a public IHE, but it
does not substitute for a financial accountability rating by the TEA.
(q) Each school district, open-enrollment charter school,
and charter school operated by a public IHE is required to report
information and financial accountability ratings to parents, taxpayers,
and other stakeholders by implementing the following reporting procedures.
(1) Each school district, open-enrollment charter school,
and charter school operated by a public IHE must prepare and distribute
an annual financial management report in accordance with this subsection.
(2) Each school district, open-enrollment charter school,
and charter school operated by a public IHE must provide the public
with an opportunity to comment on the report at a public hearing.
(3) The annual financial management report for a school
district, an open-enrollment charter school, or a charter school operated
by a public IHE must include:
(A) a description of its financial management performance
based on a comparison, provided by the TEA, of its performance on
the indicators established by the commissioner and reflected in this
section. The report will contain information that discloses:
(i) state-established standards; and
(ii) the financial management performance of the school
district, open-enrollment charter school, or charter school operated
by a public IHE under each indicator for the current and previous
year's financial accountability ratings;
(B) any descriptive information required by the commissioner,
including:
(i) a copy of the superintendent's current employment
contract or other written documentation of employment if no contract
exists. This must disclose all compensation and benefits paid to the
superintendent. The school district, open-enrollment charter school,
or charter school operated by a public IHE may publish the superintendent's
employment contract on its website instead of publishing it in the
annual financial management report;
(ii) a summary schedule for the fiscal year (12-month
period) of expenditures paid on behalf of the superintendent and each
board member and total reimbursements received by the superintendent
and each board member. This includes transactions on the credit card(s),
debit card(s), stored-value card(s), and any other similar instrument(s)
of the school district, open-enrollment charter school, or charter
school operated by a public IHE to cover expenses incurred by the
superintendent and each board member. The summary schedule must separately
report reimbursements for meals, lodging, transportation, motor fuel,
and other items. The summary schedule of total reimbursements should
not include reimbursements for supplies and materials that were purchased
for the operation of the school district, open-enrollment charter
school, or charter school operated by a public IHE;
(iii) a summary schedule for the fiscal year of the
dollar amount of compensation and fees received by the superintendent
from an outside school district, open-enrollment charter school, charter
school operated by a public IHE, or any other outside entity in exchange
for professional consulting or other personal services. The schedule
must separately report the amount received from each entity;
(iv) a summary schedule for the fiscal year of the
total dollar amount of gifts that had a total economic value of $250
or more received by the executive officers and board members. This
reporting requirement applies only to gifts received by the executive
officers and board members (and their immediate family as described
by Government Code, Chapter 573, Subchapter B, Relationships by Consanguinity
or by Affinity) of the school district, open-enrollment charter school
(or charter holder), or charter school operated by a public IHE (or
charter holder) from an outside entity that received payments from
the school district, open-enrollment charter school (or charter holder),
or charter school operated by a Cont'd... |
