HPISD Athletic Miscellaneous Expenses. Anyone Speak School District Code and Want to Sift Through 350 Pages With Me?
A few more answers to reader questions concerning ACE fees.
Item 6499, miscellaneous/ other expenses (adjusted budget $63,250), can you provide an itemized list of this category?
6499 is the item code for Miscellaneous Operating Costs.
I understand that sometimes the word “miscellaneous” raises questions, so let me explain. Like all Texas school districts, HPISD is required to follow the accounting budget coding system developed by the state. The state requires that we list these expenses under 6499 Miscellaneous Operating Costs. but it is not a “catch-all” category, but rather, a category that allows us to account for legitimate expenditures.
Here is a list of the expenses listed under 6499 for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years:
- Fees (ex., tournament entry fees),
- Dues (ex., association dues),
- Awards,
- Food/refreshments for school-related meetings
I am told the itemized list for this category is 350 pages and all coded.
And concerning travel staff expenses, I’m trying to stay focused but it’s hard with the warehouse mention below because I mean how much is the storage facility versus a scanner? But that topic is for another day.
Item 6411 is the item code for employee travel. The way the process works is when coaches travel on business, they are required to submit a travel voucher listing all expenses, which include mileage, meals and lodging. Those vouchers are reviewed and approved by the Business Office, then stored in the warehouse.
UPDATE: After this post was published today, Helen Williams with HPISD sent the following email as an update to the answers above.
Just to clarify, the ACE fees are a revenue source that represents 21-22 percent of the total Athletic Department budget. 6499 is the item code for the Athletic Department’s miscellaneous operating costs (more details below).It’s important to put the ACE fees in context, given the large number of students participating in athletics and the budget that is necessary to run the program. Remember, ACE fees are not subject to recapture by the state, which takes 70 cents of every locally collected tax dollar for redistribution. I have taken some of the information from our earlier conversations. Let me know if you need additional information.
- 2007-08: $1.8 million (ACE fees pay for 22 percent)
- 2008-09: $1.9 million (ACE fees pay for 21 percent)
Here are the details on student athletes:
- 2007-08: 1,764 student athletes in grades 7-12
- 2008-09: 1,987 student athletes in grades 7-12
I understand that sometimes the word “miscellaneous” raises questions, so let me explain. Like all Texas school districts, HPISD is required to follow the accounting budget coding system developed by the state. The state requires that we list these expenses under 6499 Miscellaneous Operating Costs. 6499 is not a catch-all category, but rather, it is a category that allows us to account for legitimate expenditures.Here is a list of the expenses listed under 6499 (Miscellaneous Operating Costs) for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years:. Fees (ex., tournament entry fees). Dues (ex., association dues)
. Awards
. Food/refreshments for school-related meetings
56 comments to "HPISD Athletic Miscellaneous Expenses. Anyone Speak School District Code and Want to Sift Through 350 Pages With Me?"
I have two of my own children plus a foreign exchange student living with me this year and they all play sports and I’ve paid the ACE fee for each of them, and I have written checks for fundraisers, t-shirts and miscellaneous fees. I’m happy to do it. They get a lot from participating in the sports programs. If you don’t want to pay the ACE fee, don’t pay it. No one is forcing HP kids to play sports.
I believe, as do many others, that our district is managed by extremely competent people who have the blessing/curse of having very involved, educated volunteers to help them. Why is it so critical for Helen Williams and others at the district to stop what they’re doing to answer these questions which, in my opinion, have already been answered – and in a forum that is subject to interpretation and snipey comments. I bet Helen has spent the equivalent of three full work days getting answers to these questions – enough already. If you’re not satisfied, take it up with the school board or the Sports Club.
You know I’m a big fan, Merritt, but I have to say – let’s move on from this subject. Mad for Plaid is launching soon and the reality of school financing in Texas is BLEAK. We have entrusted these people in the district to be good stewards of our very limited tax revenue and the HP Education Foundation to be good stewards of our contributions.
Sorry. Let’s still be friends and have coffee at Kuby’s soon.
(slow clap starts, now standing and applauding)
Agree with everything you said – it’s time to move on.
Your attitude(and mine, unfortunately) is what cost UP $75 grand in a park re-improvement on Hillcrest & Lovers.
Merritt asks the questions that need to be addressed.
If these questions make people uncomfortable, they need to get a job not involving taxpayer/public money.
I agree that there needs to be a critical look taken at the use of taxpayer money – not just for parks but for the school too. For example, I wrote a blog post on You+Media Park Cities blog about the number of direct dial lines going into HPHS that aren’t used – ever. That needs to be looked at because the district could save a lot of money by discontinuing telecom and other services that aren’t being used. But, again, at some point you have to leave it alone. Asking for every single GL and Cost Center number in the budget and a detailed explanation for each isn’t going to save anyone any money. It’s wasting Helen William’s time, which is wasting taxpayer money since we pay for her salary. And anyway, that’s what budget review sessions are for.
Bravo, Kersten!
While most likely all these expenses are legitimate, it is blind trust that can allow corruption to go on undetected. Good work Merritt.
Go Merritt!
I’ll help you sift through the paperwork.
I don’t think there’s corruption, I think there’s a lack of transparency.
I don’t think it’s crazy for someone to ask these questions, and to ask for answers. Especially after the money spent on renaming a park, and redoing a perfectly fine park that no one uses. Transparency is always good.
I think you are trying to create controversy where there isn’t any. Oh, I forgot, that’s your job.
But I also believe that someone has the right to understand where it goes. Calling it “voluntary” really isn’t true, since it’s the only way that your child can play a sport (excepting a hardship fee waiver).
Why are people so sensitive about someone asking a question? Charles, I love the reference.
I think Merritt was pretty clear about what she finds confusing about the fee breakdown. Why does it cost HPISD more to transport athletes, provide refreshments, purchase awards, etc. than it costs other districts?
I think part of the reason for the confusion here is that this discussion has been disjointed over numerous posts over the last three weeks. The discussion started with the question, “What is the ACE fee, and what does it pay for?”
The answer is that the ACE fee is collected to offset the considerable expense of running an athletic program that serves more than 1,750 students in grades 7-12. Please note that many students participate in more than one sport. However, they are only required to pay one ACE fee per year.
Students whose families cannot afford to pay the ACE fee may make a partial payment or apply for a hardship waiver.
Since ACE fees are not subject to recapture by the state, every dollar collected stays here in HPISD. Considering our current recapture rate is 70 percent, you can see the difference that makes.
From there, we supplied audited financial figures for the athletic budget for 2007-08 and 2008-09, supported by revenue & expenditure reports for each year(including payroll, travel dues & awards, supplies, materials & equipment, contracted services, which includes payment for officials, security, rental equipment & printing costs).
- 2007-08: $1,794,995 – Athletic expenditures
- 2008-09: $1,859.813 – Athletic expenditures
Here is the corresponding ACE fee information for those years:
- 2007-08: $390,587 – ACE fees collected
- 2008-09: $388,708– ACE fees collected
Here are the athletic participation numbers for those years:
- 2007-08: 1,764 student athletes in grades 7-12
- 2008-09: 1,987 student athletes in grades 7-12
As you can see, HPISD has very high athletic participation numbers, which means the ACE fees make a difference in allowing us to run a top-notch athletic program. ACE fees cover approximately 21-22% of the total expenses each year.
We also supplied the details about other revenue sources, such as gate receipts, Sports Club donations and concessions, along with expenditure reports for both the school years.
We also reviewed the budget and item codes and answered all of Merritt Patterson’s questions about the design of the state accounting system (example, all personnel expenses fall under budget code 6100).
We invited Merritt Patterson to review the general ledger, which details each and every expense. The general ledger for the Athletic Department is 358 pages for the 2007-08 school year and 348 pages for the 2008-09 school year. That invitation is still open.
HPISD enjoys a tremendously successful athletic and academic program, a reputation that has been earned by the hard work of our students, supported by amazing parents, teachers and coaches.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at williah@hpisd.org.
Extracurricular activities are a privilege and not a right. If you go back to Merritt’s original post about the ACE fees, I commented then that the real problem is recapture and not the fees. I still feel that way.
When almost 60% of the HPISD school budget walks out the back door and we don’t even get the benefits of the money – to me, that is an issue that everyone should be upset about.
I think the ACE fee controversy has become what I would call a “sound and fury” issue.
@Merritt – Please get involved with Mad for Plaid – focus your efforts on a cause where you could make a difference. Worst case is you could get some column fodder.
And Mr. Commentor, thank you for clarifying the correct way to spell that word, I never know if it’s commentEr or commentOr. But as a PR professional for almost 23 years, my opinion is that blogs are a tricky and often dangerous venue for PR folks . . . the anonymity and snarky tone make it a slippery slope for the playing-it-straight PR person. I don’t think Ms. Williams is blaming anyone. I think that perhaps she provided Merritt with the information and was following up to be sure all of the information she provided was represented. That’s what it looks like to me, anyway. Blogs are subject to interpretation though, for better or worse. I thought her answer was informative and satisfying.
I imagine the air must be a little nicer all the way up on your high horse, but if you could maybe not get your feathers so ruffled about your sacred HP school district and listen, sympathize, and reason it might be a nice change of pace.
Yes Merritt has written about this a lot, as she should have. Congratulations on being able to spend literally thousands of dollars on your children throughout school so that they can voluntarily (if they make it) play sports. Some people however just simply cannot do that, and even if they can it is their money and are allowed to see where it’s going.
Now with regards to all of this my question is:
Why is it fair to make a child that plays 3 sports pay the same as another child that plays only one and perhaps does choir or another activity that requires fees? Shouldn’t it be “charged” on how much you do? I.E. – football costs x amount, baseball costs y, etc. I’m sure it’s easier as it is now but I would rather have costs specific to the sport my child is participating in.
I wanted to start some type of “scholorship” fund or something when my son was in band to offer the kids whose parents couldn’t pay all of the fees. There were fees to be in band, manditory clothing and equipment to be purchased, a manditory amount of “junk” to sell – (ie: $250 of bbq tickets, $100 lottery tickets, etc. ) and then the band trips each year cost money. We knew of two family’s at least that couldn’t afford it one year, and we knew if a fund was started many would donate to insure these kids full participation. All of you saying you gladly pay the fees, consider for a moment if circumstances change – your kid is in the sport/activity and loves it – but you cannot scrape it together financially. There should be a fund for these folks to – confidentially – request help. As far as I know that fund wasn’t ever started for the band – even when the previous band director screamed at the kids whose parents hadn’t paid, during class, humiliating them.
Thank you for your message. If you’ll look back to Sept. 15 when this discussion began, you’ll see that HPISD has been part of the conversation from its inception.
Because this has not been a continuous thread, but rather multiple disjointed posts, it is understandable that many readers just tuning in are not aware of the input, facts and reports HPISD has been providing for the last three weeks.
The bottom line is that under the current school finance system, both wealthy and poor school districts across the stage of Texas are struggling.
Please feel free to contact me by e-mail – williah@hpisd.org – or phone – 214-780-3008 – if you have any questions.
All of HPISD’s financial records and other documents are public information. All you need to do is ask.
So, now that we got all of that out of the way, can you help shed light on the real question, what exactly is covered in the miscellaneous category? Just as you have fairly pointed out, it takes a great deal of time and resources to sort through all of this. For the benefit of the broad population in HPISD, what is the misc. fee for – office supplies, sneakers, Starbucks, what?
What you’ve done in responding to the request is what any good trial attorney would do – bury the opposition in irrelevant facts. That, in and of itself, raises a red flag for me. So please tell us, what are the miscellaneous fees (6499) for? (please, in something less than 300 pages)
Or, perhaps you can provide an excel spreadsheet with the data so we can actually sort the information.
Clearly this is an important issue to you and the school (you wouldn’t be engaging at 10pm otherwise) so let’s just make this very simple for everyone.
I value this community and our schools very much but it’s disappointing when HPISD tells us to “trust” them and give us answers that only lead to more questions. As James Carvell would say, “sometimes you gotta take out your own trash.”
Good land, She’s trying to give you her number so you can ask anything you want, not because there is a super secret conspiracy she is trying to cover up. And I’m willing to go out on a ledge and tell you that she would be equally happy to talk to anyone else who wants to ask questions too.
The suggestion that HPISD employees are going out to Starbucks on parent-supplied sports fees is out of line.
In this day and age, transparency should be as easy as a click, double click and/or print.
I just re-read Merritt’s original post. Hard to see where she cast any aspersions to wrong doing or nefarious actions or people. She asked for transparency. Off with her head!
I used to be like AMD. Back in the late ’80s, my buddy and I both banked at 1st Interstate. He asked me if I knew why a $1 misc charge was on our statements every month. I didn’t and just shrugged it off. He called the bank and they wouldn’t/couldn’t give him an answer. The charge mysteriously disappeared from our statements from that point on. $1 a month times how many customers?
AMD-3.4% of that budget is a significant amount of money. No one thinks Helen is pocketing the money. Just asking a few questions.
And I’m not on a high horse or thinking I’m better than anyone else, Cynthia. I’m a working mother with kids in the district. I’ve been involved in many fundraising and volunteer activities since my kids started school. I’m just like every other person who slings food in the cafeteria, buys unwanted wrapping paper and magazines I don’t have time to read because that’s kind of what we have to do here. It doesn’t make me feel like a hero or above anyone. It makes me feel like a member of the community and, sometimes, a chump.
This is getting personal, with rude comments directed at me and others here. I’m tired of the discussion so I’m leaving it.
@jp – The ACE fee is charged only if you make the team. You aren’t charged to try out. Any student can try out for the teams but not every student makes the team (except for football and girls cross country)
@grump – FYI – “Nothing to see here, move along” is from the movie “The Naked Gun” and is not a Monty Python quote.
@kmom – What more is there to discuss? Currently there is a fee charged for athletic participation. It is accounted for in the athletic budget and the backup has been provided. There is a district contact for people who have questions.
The issue that everyone seems to keep flogging like a dead horse is WHY is there an ACE fee? I would suggest that anyone who has commented on this issue go to the next HPISD school board meeting (next Tuesday 10/12, 5pm, MIS Auditorium) and ask the Board these questions.
My dead horse (so to speak) is that I am more interested in how the HPISD’s $72.7 million sent to Austin is spent. That isn’t a voluntary activity for the District. Do you think there would be an ACE fee if we didn’t send 60% of the school district’s budget to Austin?
Would I prefer not having to pay the ACE fee? Absolutely. Will I keep paying it? Yes.
All the vitriol and name calling here doesn’t accomplish anything.
I agree with Southern Gent that Ms. Harris probably has better things to do than sit around reading all the comments on this blog and responding. Unlike many other people, I doubt she has time to waste her day on here. I also don’t think she deserves some of the rather negative vitriol that is getting directed toward her. As she has clearly stated on more than one occasion, if you have a question or need additional information, all you need to do is ask her, and she has kindly provided both her email address and phone number. All of this is TONS more than we would get out of anyone at DISD!
Southlake was mentioned as not charging ACE fees, but they charge for parking…I can’t imagine that if a district isn’t charging ACE then they are on the receiving end of Robin Hood or making up the money in some other way. In fact, Southlake dropped the ACE but is in a budget shortfall. Is that preferable?
I tried to call Plano ISD to ask if they charge for parking, and after ten minutes of being on hold the phone system hung up on me. So maybe they are saving money through reduced admin personnel. At least at HP you still get a person when you call.
Oh, and Mr. Commentor “Helen, bravo for learning how to post to the blog” struck me as rude and unnecessary. Beyond the fact she HAD been responding and giving Merritt answers to her questions, that is the kind of statement people are willing to make on a blog but, one would hope, would never speak that way directly to a person. Helen is one of the most straight forward honest people I have ever met, and everything I read was that of a person wanting to give information and be clear.
And I agree with DallasD’s assessment of Mr. Commentor. If he actually takes Ms. Harris up on her offer I bet she won’t post a comment such as “Mr. Commentor, bravo for learning how to dial a phone”.
But, my point was that we are making excuses at every turn – either we are blaming Robin Hood, or the strained resources of a District employee – or just criticizing people (Merritt) for asking too many questions.
Yes, her style can be over the top and yes, it’s very unconventional in this community. I dont always get her humor or agree with the positions sh takes But, she’s willing to ask the tough questions (and she puts herself out there by name) despite the fact she’s getting clobbered by many folks here – giving her the same treatment they are crying foul over wehen it’s directed at someone other than Merritt
Yes, I’m hiding in anonymity – but I’m not going to subject myself to the badgering.
Anyway, my frustration is this…the information at the heart of Merritt’s request (what is the exact nature of the “miscellaneous” expenditures) is apparently available to anyone industrious enough to sort through hundreds of pages of entries. Why, then, can’t that data be sorted to provide a line-by-line listing for category 6499 or whatever it is.
But, instead of answering the question, the focus gets shifted and devolved into a debate about Robin Hood, dead horses, limited time and resources of a public employee whose job it is to INFORM the public.
Ms Williams, can you please help sort the list of expenses and separate out the miscellaneous category so we can see that there arent any needles buried in the haystack. Merritt, will you please post the list if/when it’s made available?
I fully expect everyone will see there is nothing to hide and no wrongdoing/misuse or whatever – but we just don’t know and that leaves us wondering and asking more questions.
Admit it. This story is a tempest in a teapot, and was several weeks ago when it first came up.
I am not trying to shift the focus, just point out that the issue has been asked and answered by the District. If you want to see some red tape, take a look at what hurdles the District could make you go through to get the information under a FOIA request – but they didn’t.
http://bit.ly/crz9Wy
If you aren’t happy with that, again I would say to go to the HPISD School Board meeting next Tuesday the 12th and raise your question with the School Board. They are the ultimate decision makers in this.
If you are too uncomfortable in that forum, I can arrange one of the school board members to contact you to discuss.
I will make sure that they are aware of the situation.
And it’s a legitimate question, and not a new one, particularly. I’ve covered all kinds of school districts in my time as a reporter, and how school funds are used is always a bone of contention – or at least a point of curiosity. One district – that served a town of 1,800 – actually saw its entire school board voted out of office because they approved the expenditure of $60,000 for a metal building to be used as an indoor practice facility. When Prosper built its athletic complex, plenty of people (who didn’t understand how bonds worked) griped about the fact that the district had a multi-million dollar athletic facility, but teachers still had to buy supplies to make up for what the district couldn’t give them.
It’s not an unusual question, and I think it’s probably more troubling to pay for something and not know what you’re paying for, exactly. Would you do that with any other bill?
Yes, sports are optional and if you decide your kid will do them you are deciding to pay the fee, but only if you know about the fee when you and your kid decide to do the sports. I suspect the problem here is more the surprise than the fee itself or where it is being spent. Perhaps the course listings should list financial requirements of a class along with the academic summary of the class.
Misappropriation? Probably not.
But, I think we could all work together to help discover waste that could be curbed, if we just put an extra pair of eyes on the situation. I’m guessing that our athletic director, Randy Allen, is probably a little busy 6 months out of the year with his “other job” to monitor line item spending.
And, wouldn’t that be good for everyone?
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