P E Y T O N   W O L C O T T
WHY THERE
ARE NO
DOLLARS
MENTIONED
ABOVE:   YOU
CAN'T GET
THE WHOLE
STORY ABOUT
THE
NON-TEXAS
DISTRICT'S
SPENDING.   
Almost all of the
dollar reporting I
have found in
other states is
projected, to
which I say a
friendly, "Hahaha."
 And they can
keep their pie
charts and bar
graphs with
percentages.  If
actuals are
mentioned, it's
been almost
impossible to
determine the
formula used,
whereas here in
Texas we can look
at very clearly
defined amounts:  
Total Receipts/All
Funds, Total
Expenditures/All
Funds, and Total
Disbursements/All
Funds, just to
mention a few.  

et's look at the
differences in how
school spending
can be reported by
observing
projected versus
actuals Texas
averages for
2006-07:  This
lowest number in
the pink box
below, $6,996, is
the amount to
which most
districts are
referring when
they talk about
their budgets.  
Generally when
schools forecast
for the next year
they do not
include grants
and federal funds.
 When you hear
superintendents
talk to their school
boards about
having found
some money in
the budget for
some pet project,
it's often pulled
from these
undisclosed
sources, which
may represent in
effect a sizeable
slush fund.  Look
at the next figure
in the blue box,
the total receipts
dollars -- almost
twice as much.  
Even the total
expenditures
amount in the
orange box is
considerably
higher than the
projected general
fund budget
amount.
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ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information.   In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately.  Thank you.
Copyright 1999-2010 Peyton Wolcott

"Walk softly
and carry a big
stick."
-- Teddy Roosevelt

"Trust but
verify."
-- Ronald Reagan
Just because you
can
doesn't mean you
should.
H o w   w e   t a k e  b a c k   o u r   c h i l d r e n ' s    e d u c a t i o n:    o n e   p e r s o n ,  o n e   q u e s t i o n ,   o n e   s c h o o l   a t   a   t i m e.
H O M E
Welcome to National HQ for the Grassroots School District Online Check Register Movement!  Est. 10.01.06
Terms & conditions
U.S. SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH CHECK REGISTERS ONLINE:     Utah - Wyoming
o about us
o accounts payable
o a/p
o approved bills
o approved warrants
o board of directors
o board of edu./BOE
o business office
o checks
o check journal
o check listing
o claims docket
o community news
o district information
o documents
o expenditures
o facts
o finance
o financial services
o information
o legal notices
o links
o monthly expenses
o monthly report
o monthly spending
o monthly warrants
o news
o non-payroll
expenditures
o paid bills
o payment register
o public notices
o public information
o public records
o required postings
o school board
o superintendent
o technology
o vendor payments
o vendor check register
o vouchers
o warrants
o warrant register

If there's no direct
link to check registers on
the home page, try first the
business office or financial
services-type area.  After
that try the "district
information" page,
something close to that
description.  If you still
haven't found your district's
checks, a third place to try
is your school board's
agendas; often where
districts have gone to
paperless board packets
the checks are included as
a link, many times as a line
item on the consent
agenda.  

Three more
variables
First, I myself am still
finding new places.  My
local Llano ISD supe put
checks for a time on his
own page, the only supe
I've found so far to do so in
the entire nation.   Second,
please keep in mind that like
the rosters this is fluid
information.  In addition to
changing their minds about
where to put their checks,
districts are also always in
the process of refining their
websites.  Third, if the
district is paying for TASB's
BoardBook software or for
BoardDocs, online check
registers are a free feature,
and can usually be found in
the agenda packet for the  
most recent regular board
meeting.  
WISCONSIN   (4)

Fort Atkinson SD -  Check Register
Germantown School District
Novi Community School District
Sun Prairie School District
UTAH (3)

Davis School District*
Grand County SD
Park City SD
Park City School District was among the first in the nation to
post its check register online -- at least as early as January
2004.  From the scenes at right, it's easy to see why Park
City has been long favored by Texans, superintendents and
non-superintendents alike, in both winter and summer.
Left, cowboy pauses on
Fremont Butte (Photo--Rusty
Gooch); Fremont CSD 24 is
located in the small town of
Shoshoni, Wyoming, near
the Boysen Reservoir and
the Wind River Indian
Reservation, home of the
Shoshone and Arapaho
tribes of Native Americans.
VIRGINIA (3)
Alleghany County Public Schools
        - Payment of Warrants
Page County Schools
Roanoke County Schools
N O T E S
Walk softly, and carry a big stick. --Teddy Roosevelt
More here:
http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/
and here:  
Burnt courthouse (Civil War)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bur
ntCourtChambersburgPA1864.jpg
Roanoke County Schools' Burton Academy
offers the following: Auto Service Technology;
Building Trades Computer Information Technology
(CIT); Cosmetology; Criminal Justice; Floral
Design; Digital Web Design; Game Design/
Programming; Graphic/Advertising Design;
Landscaping; Machining; Masonry, more here.
From left, Alleghany
superintendent Sarah
Campbell; stage for theatrical
Roanoke settlement play; (R)
replica of original Elizabeth II
thought to have brought first
settlers to Roanoke Island.
Fremont CSD24

Please copy
one of these
two URLs into
your browser to
view Fremont's
checks.

MAY 2008
http://boarddocs.c
om/wy/fcsd24/Boa
rd.nsf/b6d9f0d1f8
285b2c85256e740
0431d46/55c74ae
a04ad816b872574
6a005bef2d/Body/
M3/attach10508det
ail.pdf?OpenEleme
nt

AUGUST 2008
http://boarddocs.c
om/wy/fcsd24/Boa
rd.nsf/2e010f82a7
6b56d485256e740
0431d45/8e490a1
c8456b4ea872574
9b0055ffca/Body/
M3/Attach%204DC
R81808.pdf?Open
Element
WYOMING

Think your project
through.

What might be
its unintended
consequences?
SOUTH
DAKOTA
http://mit.midco.n
et/prairiestorm/Pr
airiestorm.html
TO PUT THE STATES' ROSTERS INTO PERSPECTIVE:  California officially has 1,050 school districts (2007-08); about 1,036 per the California DOE's Data &
Statistics department  as of January 7, 2009.  Texas has 1,031 school districts as of that same date.  Illinois has 879 districts, and Michigan has 551.
VIRGINIA

Roanoke

Auto Service
Technology I,
II, & III

Auto Service
Technology
provides theory
and hands-on
experience in the
repair of the
modern
automobile.
Preparation for the
ASE certification
exam will include
concentrated study
in brake systems,
electrical systems,
engine
performance, and
suspension and
steering systems.
NOTE:  There are no dollars listed with the above school districts for one reason:  Only Texas can tell us actual total expenditures for all funds, etc. spent in a school
year with a clearly defined formula.  Please see the NOTES section on the two Texas rosters (A - L) (M - Z) to understand this distinction.  Also, once you land on
those pages, you can compare the pink budget forecast sections (left side) to the blue actual financial sections (right side) yourself and see which is larger.

How we take back
our children's
education:
one person, one
question, one
school at a time.
Example:  to find
Dallas ISD's check
register:
On DISD's home
page, choose
Board of Trustees,
then Meeting
Agendas, then a
regular meeting,
then Consent
Agenda, then
"Ratification of List
of Bills, Claims
and Accounts."
WEST VIRGINIA   (1)

Summers County Public Schools -  Here
WYOMING (1)

Fremont CSD #24 - Here
VERMONT   (O)
WASHINGTON     (3)
La Center School District 101 -
       Board Agenda - AP Voucher Register
Ritzville SD -  School Board Packet - A/P Warrants
Raymond SD - Board Packet -  A/P Warrants
From left, downtown
Raymond. Ritzville
farmers market;
Church of Christ built
in Ritzville by German
immigrants was
completed in 1901 at a
cost of $6,000.
Hats off to our friends at
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
for their transparency efforts.
From left,
Hinton School
1897.  Country
scenes in
Summers
County today.
How to find
your school's
checks:  
What they might
be called & where
to find them
IS YOUR DISTRICT ONLINE?  CHECK HERE:               Alabama             Alaska-Louisiana                 Maine - Tennessee             Texas             Texas (spending data)
Friends, are you seeking transparency in your local public schools?  Good for you!   Now, let's use that energy as productively as possible with an approach that generates genuine
long-term change in our schools. Be sure to take a smile and the Golden Rule with you when you go. Proven successful field-tested strategies here.  
From left, Fort Atkinson superintendent James Fitzpatrick, downtown Fort
Atkinson, Fort Atkinson High School; Sun Prairie native Georgia O'Keefe.