AISD Earns State’s Highest Fiscal Accountability Rating for 20th Straight Year

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For the 20th consecutive year, Aldine ISD received a “Superior” rating under Texas’ School FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) accountability rating system. The “Superior” rating is the state’s highest rating, demonstrating the quality of Aldine ISD’s financial management and reporting system. Aldine ISD received a score of 986 out of 100 possible points.

The primary goal of the School FIRST system is to ensure that Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices. The School FIRST system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to manage their financial resources better and provide a maximum allocation for direct instructional purposes.

The School FIRST system has 15 indicators that are evaluated. The first five indicators are critical and must be met to avoid failure. The other 10 indicators evaluate financial solvency and financial competency.

According to Chief Financial Officer Stan Osborne, Aldine met the five critical indicators’ requirements. Those indicators are filing of the district’s annual financial report within a month, the district’s annual financial report was free of any instances of material weaknesses, the district complied with the payment terms of all debt agreements at the end of the district’s fiscal year, the district made timely payments to the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the IRS and other governmental agencies, and the district’s total unrestricted net asset balance in the Statement of Net Position/Assets was greater than zero.

Indicators 6-10 evaluated the financial solvency of the district. Those indicators analyzed the amount of cash on hand needed to cover operating expenditures, the ratio of current assets to current liabilities, the ratio of long-term liabilities to total assets, total revenue compared to expenditures, and whether the district had sufficient funds to cover its debt. Aldine met the requirements for each of those indicators.

Indicators 11-15 evaluated the district’s financial competency. Those indicators assessed the district’s administrative costs ratio, student enrollment compared to the number of staff, the accuracy of its PEIMS reporting, compliance with guidelines, and revenue forecasting. Aldine met the requirements for those five indicators as well.