Dexter Schools Accounts Payable Dilemma -- to publish or not?

Last year, I raised questions about publishing the Dexter Community Schools checkbook register aka accounts payable reports. These reports are published by other local schools including the largest school district in the county, Ann Arbor Public Schools. The business offices at the other school districts shared that it is as simple as running a report on the computer and hitting "upload" to the district website.

With it being that simple, one may wonder why Dexter does not choose to do the same thing. In this opinion piece, I would like to revisit that question. Last year, I made a motion that the district checkbook register be published on a monthly basis. The motion was seconded by Mara Greatorex. Daryl Kipke set the motion aside, and the minutes did not reflect the motion or the action taken to set it aside.

The topic was referred to the Finance Committee to discuss and make a recommendation back to the board. The committee came back and recommended not to release the checkbook register. It was posited that unless there was a compelling reason to do so, it would be better to release only generalities because community members might be confused or misunderstand something in the detailed records. It was also brought up that there might be confidentiality issues, though the other school districts navigate the publication of financial documents just fine. No vote was taken to withhold the information, but the board left off any further discussion.

When a vote is taken, no matter what the split is on the votes, the majority decision is taken to reflect the Board's final opinion, and individual board members should refrain from second guessing it or making further inquiries. If a topic is not put to a vote, board members may continue to discuss it and seek for answers as to what is best for the district and what best serves the students and the community, i.e., what is the best practice.

Because it has been almost a year since the Board set the topic aside and it made no formal determination, I would like to again suggest that the more noble course of action for the district, particularly as it looks at making deep cuts in the 2020-2021 budget due to anticipated decreased funding would be to throw open the door, invite community oversight, and change the current practice of quiet conversations with limited publication.

This opinion piece is my personal expression as an individual board member on a topic that has been sitting long enough that revisiting it would be warranted. I am not speaking on behalf of the board or the district. I believe the district should publish its accounts payable in good faith and for the best interests of the school community. If the board determines that they do not want to share this information with the community, they should put it to a vote so the public may see where each board member stands.

Here are the links to some of the Ann Arbor School District financial documents and their main financial disclosure page. It is helpful to see the examples of how to publish the documents.

Main Page

April 2020 Payment Register

April 2020 Purchasing Card Transactions

AA Purchasing Card Holders and Limits

The last Dexter Schools Finance Committee meeting that was open to the public can be watched on my school board trustee page. They discuss releasing the checkbook registers (32:20). The only two finance committee meetings to date in 2020 were closed to private citizens.

November 2019 Finance Committee Meeting

Some mention has been made at the board table and in private correspondence that board members must clear public statements with the board president before publication, but of course that is not true. Board members may express themselves on topics of interest as long as they do not claim to represent the school district or school board.

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I was elected to the Dexter Community Schools Board of Education in 2012. I have served as the chair of the Communications Committee and the Policy Committee. My husband David and I have five children. Amy (2012 DHS Grad) entered a Ph.D. program at Princeton last year, Charlotte (2015 Grad) competes on the BYU track team as a pole vaulter and majors in physics, in that order, Sarah (2018 Grad) recently returned from a nine-month mission trip to Vietnam and is heading to Anaheim, CA, for another six months of service before going back to BYU to study international relations and economics, Seth (2020 Grad) heads to BYU on an academic scholarship where he will study applied physics with a focus on business, and Matt (DHS sophomore) has been busy taking AP tests and riding his bike. In our spare time, David and I enjoy the company of our "his and hers" rescue dogs, Molly and Ruby. I would be honored to serve on the board for another term.