Section 281.98.70. Student activity fund.

The student activity fund must be established in any school district receiving moneys from student-related activities such as admissions, activity fees, student dues, student fund-raising events, or other student-related cocurricular or extracurricular activities. Moneys collected through school activities are public funds that are the property of the school district and are under the financial control of the school board. Upon dissolution of an activity, such as a graduating class or student club, the surplus must be used to support other student activities in the student activity fund. Prudent and proper accounting of all receipts and expenditures in these accounts is the responsibility of the board. School districts may maintain subsidiary records for student activities if those records are reconciled to the official records on a monthly basis; however, all official accounting records of the student activity fund shall be maintained within the school district’s chart of account pursuant to Uniform Financial Accounting for Iowa School Districts and Area Education Agencies.

         98.70(1) Sources of revenue in the student activity fund. Sources of revenue in the student activity fund include income derived from student activities such as gate receipts, ticket sales, admissions, student club dues, donations, fund-raising events, and any other receipts derived from student body cocurricular or extracurricular activities, contests, and exhibitions as well as interest on the investment of those moneys.

         98.70(2) Appropriate uses of the student activity fund. Appropriate expenditures in the student activity fund include ordinary and necessary expenses of operating school district-sponsored and district-supervised student cocurricular and extracurricular activities, including purchasing services from another school district to provide for the eligibility of enrolled students in interscholastic activities provided by the other school district when that school district does not provide an interscholastic activity for its students.

         98.70(3) Inappropriate uses of the student activity fund. Inappropriate expenditures in the student activity fund include the following:

            a.               Maintenance of funds raised by outside organizations.

            b.               The cost of bonds for employees having custody of funds derived from cocurricular and extracurricular activities in the conduct of their duties. These are costs to the general fund.

            c.               Expenditures that lack public purpose.

            d.               Payments to any private organization unless a fundraiser was held expressly for that purpose and the purpose of the fundraiser was specifically identified.

            e.               Transfers to any other fund of any surplus within the fund.

            f.                Payments more properly accounted for in another fund such as public tax funds, trust funds, state and federal grants, textbook/library book fines, fees, rents, purchases or sales, sales of school supplies, or curricular activities.

            g.               Use of the student activity fund as a clearing account for any other fund.

            h.               Cash payments to student members of activity groups.

            i.                The cost of optional equipment or customizing uniforms.

            j.                The cost of uniforms when the following two tests are not met:

             (1)             The activity is a part of the school’s educational program, and

             (2)             The wearing of the uniform or equipment is necessary in order to participate.

            k.               Hospital or medical claims for student injuries or procurement of student medical insurance.

            l.                Optional costs related to activities that are not necessary to the cocurricular and extracurricular program such as promotional costs.

            m.              Membership fees in student activity-related associations if the fees are optional, i.e., nonmember schools may participate in sponsored events.

            n.               Costs to participate in or to allow students to participate in any cocurricular and extracurricular interscholastic athletic contest or competition not sponsored or administered by either the Iowa High School Athletic Association or the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

[ARC 8054B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]