On February 14-15, the Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA) hosted a CFO Summit. During this event, a wide range of financial leaders served as presenters in order to share their vast knowledge with charter leaders. David Marx of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) shared that charter operators will need to earn at least 90 points in order to secure a superior rating on Charter FIRST. David Loseke, also with the TEA, demonstrated the importance of good data quality in PEIMS and defined how our educational funding streams are driven by student attendance.

One of our own charter financial officers, James Dworkin of Trinity Basin Preparatory, highlighted data he uses with his board to create a simple, yet understandable financial picture based on current spending and future projections.

Leaders from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) shared information about surcharges and when they are due, the 403(b) program, which employees are eligible to participate in TRS, and described the process of re-employment following retirement. TRS also shared how to view employee information in the TRAQS system and provided updates on the new Reporting Entity Portal.

Jerry Negrete of the Chapman Firm outlined procurement procedures for charter schools related to construction and Adam Courtin from Shulman, Lopez, Hoffer and Adelstein provided content on the Fair Labor Standards Act, exempt employees, and the Texas Pay Day Law.

The two-day event concluded with an overview of bonds with Janet Robertson from Haynes and Boone, and a presentation by Andrew Moore from Judd Thomas on how to best prepare for your audit. Andrew stressed the importance of error free financial reports that charters must create throughout the year that would inform the work of the auditor.

Special thanks to JR3 and Stand2Learn for sponsoring this two day event. We appreciate each of the thirty attendees that were committed to their own professional growth.