FINANCIAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 11, 2012
Meeting held:
Jefferson County Education Center; Basil T Knight Center, Mesa 51 School District; Swink 33 School
District; Centennial BOCES, Greeley
Members Present
Marita Vogrin, Academy 20
Phil Onofrio, Eagle County Re-50
Kathleen Askelson, Jefferson County R-1
Brad Arnold, Cherry Creek 5
Kim Krause, Akron R-1
Diane Raine, Mesa County Valley 51
Linda Rau, Plateau Valley 51
Mike Thomas, Fowler R4J
Karen Andrews, Dolores Re-4A
Rhonda Bohlander, Crowley County Re-1J
Cassie Walgren, CSI
Denise Pearson, Kiowa C-2
Dave Montoya, Poudre R1
Bill Sutter, Boulder Valley RE-2
Steven Clawson, Denver 1
Terry Buswell, Centennial BOCES
Dale Mellor, Steamboat Springs RE-2
Karin Slater, Montrose County Re-1J
Velva Addington, Swink 33
Amy Lyons, Bayfield 10JT-R
Paula Sublett, San Juan BOCES
Ex-Officio Members Present
Leanne Emm, CDE
Terry Christensen, CDE
Crystal Dorsey, State Auditor’s Office
Wendi Chapin, CDE
Kirk Weber, CDE
Alternates Present
Jane Schein, St Vrain Valley RE-1J
Shae Martinez, Mapleton 1
Anthony Whiteley, St. Vrain Valley Re-1J
Donna Villamor, Littleton 6
Guests Present
Karen Cordova, Pueblo City Schools
Sue McKnight, Brighton 27J
Kristine Githara, Cherry Creek 5
Misty Manchester, Canon City Re-1
Joanne Arguello, Westminster 50
Molly Janzen, Poudre R-1
Stan Rodriquez, Adams-Arapahoe 28J
Mimi Livermore, Adams 12
Stacy Sondberg, Byers 32J
Janice Martin, Buena Vista R-31
Tammy Hohn, Englewood 1
Stephanie Abram, Jefferson County R-1
Sean Connor, Jefferson County R-1
Tina Wallace, Lewis-Palmer 38
Laura Hronik, Colorado Springs 11
Mark Capps, Colorado Springs 11
Laurie Darnell, Sheridan 2
Meggan Sponsler, Greeley 6
Nikki Schmidt, Windsor 4
Sherry Shay, Thompson R-2J
Cheryl Brewster, Weld Re-1
Angela Ryan, Gunnison Re-1J
Barb Hazelton, Mesa County Valley 51
Steve Kraft, Rangely Re-4
Rose Belden, Garfield 16
Jack Bay, Douglas County Re-1
Dana Thomson, Harrison 2
David Brungardt, Valley Re-1
Lynne Winchell, Adams 14
Trisha Morris, Denver County 1
Sherry Dennis Murphy, Yuma 1
Sharon Thompson, Holyoke Re-1J
Shelley Becker, Adams 12
Kay Schreiber, East Central BOCES
Terry Scharg, Gilpin Re-1
Jon Kvale, Englewood 1
Kay Bridges, Jefferson County R-1
Brisa Villalobos, Adams 50
Marcy Studtmann, Lewis-Palmer 38
Chuck Struck, Colorado Springs 11
Ken Wieck, Colorado Springs
Mandy Hydock, Greeley 6
Brian Lund, Park R-3
Tim Unrein, Eaton Re-2
Brenda McKee, Thompson R-2J
Jan Brummond, Platte Valley Re-7
Colleen Love, Ridgway R-2
Nancy Paregien, Mesa County Valley 51
Cathy Kiser, Meeker Re-1
Mark Rydberg, Moffat County Re-1
Laine Gibson, Durango 9-R
Janell Wood, Archuleta County 50JT
Don Trujillo, Pueblo 70
June Martin, Southeastern BOCES
Kara Emmerling, Genoa-Hugo C-113
Zelpha Deines, Plainview Re-2
David Schniederman, CDE
Julia Stone, Rubin Brown, LLP
Justin Petrone, Clifton Larson Allen
Anne Gundersen, Ignacio 11JT
Susan Doudy, Mancos Re-6
Sherry Herman, Cheraw 31
Janet Harmon, Southeastern BOCES
Patty Venem, Rocky Ford R-2
Richard Luna, CSI
Vicki Graham, CDE
Cheryl Wallace, Rubin Brown, LLP
Marc DeVries, Clifton Larson Allen
Members and Alternates Absent
Carole Herman, Liberty J-4
Terry Kimber, Delta 50J
Eileen Johnston, James Irwin Charter
Brenda Johnson, Weld Re-8
Melissa Brunner, Montezuma-Cortez Re-1J
MINUTES
FINANCIAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE
May 11, 2012
I.
Call to Order and Introductions
Leanne Emm called the meeting to order at 9:30 am. Those in attendance were asked to introduce
themselves and their district.
II.
Presentation of Agenda
Leanne presented the agenda with amendments. Denise Pearson made a motion to approve the
agenda. Cassie Walgren 2nd the motion. Motion carried.
III.
Approval of Minutes
Dave Montoya made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 10, 2012 meeting. Marita
Vogrin 2nd the motion. Motion carried.
IV.
Legislative Updates
a. HB-1345 School Finance
Leanne gave an overview of the School Finance bill that was passed in the Legislature late
Wednesday night. The highlights are:
 No change to state-wide average per-pupil funding
 Base increase by inflation of 3.7% which increase it to $5,843.26
 Negative factor increasing to 16.11%
 Increase charter school capital construction funding from $5M to $6M
 Allows the Mountain BOCES more flexibility in entering into contracted services for
supplemental on-line education courses
 Provides $1.3 million to assist small rural districts with the implementation of the state’s
“educational priorities”
 Adds an Early Literacy Assessment Tool – This assessment tool is intended to provide
teachers a real-time tool to assess K – 3 students on reading skills
 Provides at-risk supplemental aid to districts and any of their charter schools which were
chartered before July 1, 2004
 Adds a provision for Accuplacer Tests for high school students
 Adds language regarding school discipline and the zero-tolerance policies and amends legal
grounds for suspension or expulsion of a student to increase the discretion of school
administrators and school boards
 Adds an appropriation of $480,000 for the School Counselor Corp program
She then reviewed the spreadsheet that shows total program funding, by district, as appropriated
in the School Finance bill.
b. HB-1240 Statutory Changes
Leanne pointed out the highlights to HB-1240 concerning statutory changes to K-12 education:
 Changed the date for the State Board to adopt high school graduation standards from
December 15, 2011 to May 15, 2013
 Added statutory language that allows a charter school that operates a full day kindergarten
program to receive the .08 supplemental full day kindergarten funding
 Clarification in definition between on-line programs vs. on-line school.
 Districts are no longer required to submit collective bargaining agreements to the Department
 Added statutory language to clarify definition of an ongoing deficit
 Districts using buildings to cover TABOR requirements will have a review process
 Districts will no longer be required to submit a certification of Division of Wildlife payments

Any charter school permitted by its charter authorizer to operate a kindergarten program may
also operate a preschool program under the Colorado Preschool Program Act.
c. Bill Status Update
Leanne turned the meeting over to Wendi Chapin who reported on other education related bills.
Bills of note that were passed were:
 HB12-1043 Concurrent Enrollment
 HB12-1238 Early Literacy Act
 HB12-1268 Health Facility Compliance
 SB12-036 Parental Consent for Surveys
 SB12-051 LEA Contract Requirements
 SB12-068 Trans Fats in Food
 HB12-1224 Consolidated Communication Systems Authority. Anyone with questions on the
implementation of the bill is asked to send Wendi an email and she will provide information.
V.
Grants Fiscal Management Unit Presentation
a. IDEA
I. Closeout Payments Request for Funds
Vicki Graham with the GFMU at CDE reviewed changes in the request for funds process for
IDEA closeout payments. The purpose for the changes is to ensure that AU’s receive their
funds within 90 days of the end of the grant. The form will be posted to the website on August
16th and may be submitted until September 15th with closeout payments issued by September
30th.
II. IDEA Maintenance of Effort (MOE)
Vicki then discussed the process for reviewing IDEA MOE. MOE is verification that Federal
Funds are used to supplement not supplant local funds. There are two parts to MOE,
determination of eligibility to receive IDEA funds and compliance. New this year is the
Eligibility Certifications that were sent in April. To be eligible to receive IDEA Federal Funds
the regulation says that an AU must budget at least the amount it expended in support of
Special Ed. in the last fiscal year for which data is available to be eligible to receive IDEA
funds. The amount budgeted for FY2012-13 must be at least the amount spent in FY2010-11
which is the most recent data available. MOE is calculated using Financial December ADE
expenditures reported with grant codes 3130 and 3131. The resulting figure is compared to
the prior year. If the amount is less the AU fails MOE on the first test. The second test is per
pupil funding. If this is also lower than the prior year, the AU fails MOE on the second test.
There are some allowable adjustments and exceptions. If an AU’s allocation increases from
one year to the next, the AU may reduce its level of expenditures by half of the amount of the
increase; voluntary departure or departure for just cause of special ed. staff; termination of high
cost obligations; termination of costly expenditures for long-term purchases. She stressed that
it is critical that all State and Local expenditures are coded using grant codes 3130 and/or
3131.
It was discussed for BOCESs that report MOE for multiple districts that they work closely with
their districts to ensure that they are all meeting MOE.
b. All Grants – Change in Request for Funds Submission Due Date for June
Vicki next discussed the new June 11th due date for request for funds. It takes 7-10 days to
process a payment and have it in the hands of the district recipient. It is the intent of the
Department that by moving the date up districts will receive June Federal grant monies by the end
of the fiscal year.
VI.
Financial Policies and Procedures
a. Handbook Revisions Review
Kirk Weber reported that this was carryover from the February meeting related to the district
emergency reserve discussion which is still ongoing so nothing will be presented at this meeting.
Hopefully something will be ready to present at the June meeting.
b. Membership By-law Amendment Proposal
At the February meeting, Phil Onofrio presented a proposal that the FPP guidelines be amended
to expand the committee membership to include any entity that submits financial ADE data have
one voting membership on the committee. Wendi Chapin worked with a sub-committee to look at
the proposal. Leanne asked those in attendance to conduct small group discussions over the
statements for and against the expansion presented by the sub-committee then provide feedback
for voting members to weigh before voting. After the group discussions, Leanne called the
meeting back to order and had each meeting site report on their discussion. After the discussion,
Phil Onofrio made a motion, based on the input, to leave the membership structure as is. Vela
Addington 2nd the motion. Motion carried.
VII. Chart of Accounts Proposed Changes
Wendi Chapin reported that the Department is currently working on a Statewide Longitudinal Data
System (SLDS) project. Part of the project is software upgrades that have been desperately need.
Staff has spent the last couple of weeks reviewing the current Chart of Accounts (COA) and has
proposed changes to be proactive on upcoming programming changes. Wendi asked for volunteers
to create a sub-committee to review the proposed changes. Those volunteering to serve on the subcommittee were: Molly Janzen, Poudre R-1; Kristine Githara, Cherry Creek 5; Diane Raine, Mesa
County Valley 51; Mimi Livermore, Adams 12; Tony Whitely, St. Vrain Valley Re-1J; Suzanne Collins,
Denver Public Schools; Donna Villamor, Littleton 6; Laine Gibson, Durango 9-R.
VIII. ADE Updates
a. FY2010-11 Submission Updates
Terry Christensen reported that FY2010-11 ADE submission was finalized. All districts and
BOCES have been reviewed and letters, except for CSI, mailed. This has been the earliest this
task has been completed in recent history and the Department wants to thank all for the
cooperation.
b. FY2011-12 Submission Changes
Going forward for FY2011-12, there were some minor changes/additions to the Accreditation
Report. The question regarding collective bargaining agreements has been removed, a two part
question has been added regarding reporting positive unassigned fund balance and the
Department is requesting districts provide vendor contact information for their financial software
programs.
There are several new edits being developed for MOE, Flow-thru coding between BOCES and
member districts, a SWAP edit, and an edit only allowing the use of one Federal grant code (no
more 5XXX, 6XXX).
IX.
FPP Membership
Since the current membership structure will not change, Leanne will send out a call for membership to
replace the outgoing members and one vacancy by email sometime next week. The retiring members
will act as the nominating committee and submit their recommendations at the June meeting.
X.
Other Topics of Interest
a. Fiscal Health Analysis – State Auditor’s Office
Crystal Dorsey reported that the first round of data is close to being available to be distributed to
school districts. She stated that this round is very important and encouraged all to review and
verify the information and contact her with any questions. The information is scheduled to be
presented to the Legislative Audit Committee in August. She will be contacting districts that have
two or more indictors and asking them to provide information to include in the report.
b. CDE-18 Update
Kirk Weber reported that the CDE-18 file has been update but is not yet posted. If anyone is
working with last year’s file and would like him to update it email it to him.
c. Indirect Cost Rates
Kirk Weber reported that a preliminary report included in the ADE reports is available to districts.
The final report is not available yet for posting on the website. Generally these numbers do not
change between the ADE reports and the final report posted.
d. Future Meeting Dates
The proposed meeting dates for next year were presented (Sept. 7, 2012, Feb. 8, 2013, May 10,
2013 and June 21, 2013). The Sept. 7 date conflicts with the CASBO fall conference so that date
has been changed to Oct. 5th, 2012.
There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned.