During the November 15 Board of Trustees meeting, Bastrop ISD Chief Financial Officer Dina Edgar announced the district received a “Superior” rating under Texas’ School FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas). A Superior rating is the highest possible rating, demonstrating the quality of the District’s financial management and reporting system.
School FIRST was developed in 1999 by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature. The primary goal of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with the Texas school finance system.
“The School FIRST accountability rating ensures that Texas school districts are fiscally accountable in achieving academic goals in the most cost effective way,” said Edgar. “School FIRST indicators are guidelines to financial best practices in efforts to maximize each taxpayer dollar.”
The accountability rating system assigns one of four financial accountability ratings to Texas school districts, with the highest being “Superior Achievement,” followed by “Above-Standard Achievement,” “Standard Achievement” and “Substandard Achievement.”
Also during the meeting, Robert Belt of Belt, Harris, Pechacek, LLLP presented the annual financial audit report for the 2021-2022 school year. Belt reported an unmodified audit report, which is the highest possible level of assurance by an external auditor, in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Auditing Standards.
