46 STATION BULLETIN 346 



School Districts 



Inasmuch as the school tax is included as part of the town tax 

 collector's warrant and is therefore paid over to the town treasurer, 

 the school district must obtain its tax money from the latter and only 

 upon selectmen's orders. The school district treasurer can then pay 

 the claims against the district only upon order of the school board. 



In most districts the bookkeeping is done by the treasurer and 

 school board members, much as the town treasurer and selectmen 

 keep town accounts. The treasurer keeps a cash book and retains 

 the stubs from all orders of the school board. One of the school board 

 members keeps a classified account of all district expenditures on 

 forms prescribed by the state department of education. 



The school board is responsible for the collection of money due 

 the district, including such items as tuition, transportation, and, per- 

 haps, rent of the school house. These sums are frequently paid di- 

 rectly to the treasurer, or even to the school principal, but they are 

 ultimately turned over to the district treasurer. 



School districts within a supervisory union are. in increasing num- 

 bers, jointly employing a full-time office clerk for the purpose of 

 keeping the accounts of each of the districts in the union. This clerk 

 is usuallv located in the office of the superintendent and works under 

 his supervision. In addition to keeping the accounts, the clerk cares 

 for the superintendent's correspondence, prepares the school board 

 orders, sends out bills for accounts due the district, and cares for 

 other office routine. The clerk's salary is fixed by the school boards 

 of the supervisory union at a joint meeting. The boards also de- 

 termine the manner in which the expense is apportioned among the 

 districts. 



This procedure relieves school board members of much routine 

 work, but it has little, if any, efifect on the district treasurer. It has 

 the further advantage of assuring uniform accounting throughout the 

 supervisory union. One would suppose that this procedure might 

 cause school board members to become less well informed about ex- 

 penditures, but this problem is partially overcome by having the 

 superintendent forward a financial statement to each board member 

 periodically during the year. 



In a few instances the school district publishes its own report, 

 but more frequently it appears in the town report. Because the school 

 year ends June 30, the annual school report api)earing in the town 

 report is always for the year ending June 30 preceding the end of 

 the town year on January 31. Payments made to the school district 

 as reported by the selectmen are always those for their owai year 

 and not for the school year. To obtain district expenditures for the 

 school year, one must look to the school report. 



School districts are required to make annual reports to the state 

 tax commission as well as to the state department of education. Reg- 

 istration and attendance arc reported by the superintendent. The 

 state board of education requires more numerous and detailed re- 

 ports of districts which receive state aid. In all cases the costs of 



