This bill expands the responsibilities of the executive county business official and establishes new processes for the fiscal review of school districts by the executive county superintendent and the Commissioner of Education. It allows for the appointment of multiple executive county business officials based on the number of municipalities in a county, requiring them to hold appropriate certification and have relevant experience in school finance and budgeting. The bill mandates these officials to conduct rolling fiscal reviews of each school district, which will include detailed analyses of budget expenditures, payroll systems, and cash flow assessments. The findings from these reviews must be reported to various stakeholders, including the school district's board of education and the Commissioner of Education.

Additionally, the bill introduces a Comprehensive Statewide Fiscal Early Warning System to monitor financial risk indicators across school districts. This system categorizes districts as low, moderate, or high fiscal risk and requires those at moderate or high risk to develop improvement plans to address identified fiscal concerns. The Commissioner of Education is granted authority to oversee the implementation of these plans and can take further action if a district fails to make necessary improvements. The bill also allows for the hiring of additional staff to support these initiatives and mandates training for school districts on the new fiscal monitoring system.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 18A:7-11