X. Facilities
"E lawe i ke a'o a malama, a e 'oi mau ka na'auao."
He who takes his teachings
and applies them increases his knowledge.
---'Olelo No'eau, Mary Kawena Pukui
Several options for both long-term and interim locations in the Volcano area are currently being
explored.
X. Financial Arrangements
The Volcano School budget will initially be made up of three components:
1. funds allocated through the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) based on the allocation
formulas described in the February 2000 State Auditor's Report (Report No. 00-04)
2. funds received from the federal Charter Schools Grant
3. funds received from other public or private sources through grants, donations, or partnership
contributions, obtained through a non-profit organization that will be set up to provide additional
support to the school
Core functions of the school (e.g., administration, teacher salaries, facilities management, fiscal
evaluation, and student performance evaluation) will be accomplished with the funds provided
from the DOE. The federal Charter School Planning Grant funds will primarily be used for
developing the school's start-up curriculum, as well as for establishing and implementing its
governance procedures and infrastructure. We plan to have an active fundraising program to
generate additional funds to augment school operations, particularly technological resources
support, expansion of music, arts, and cultural programs, and community involvement programs.
Budgeting
The school's annual operating budget will be developed by the supervising teacher-director in
cooperation with the managing director and the teaching and support staff. This proposal will be
reviewed and approved by the school board. Any modifications to the budget will be developed
through a collaboration between the board, the supervising teacher-director, the managing
director and other appropriate staff members. Budgeting efforts will include preparing,
implementing, and evaluating expenditures on an annual basis, as well as developing five- and
ten-year budget projections. The long-range financial planning efforts will be used anticipate
fiscal expenditures beyond the current year and to forecast needs for supplemental funding
through grants and contributions to be obtained above the DOE base funds.
Accounting
The Managing Director will maintain an accounting system that tracks all expenditures incurred
by the school, including both salaries and operating expenses. The accounting system will cover
all funds expended for the school (base DOE funds as well as grants and contributed funds), but
will allow for separate accounting summaries for each of the different fund sources. Status of
funds summaries and projected expenditures will be prepared for presentation at each school
board meeting.
Procurement
The school's Managing Director will be responsible for making purchases for the school and for
tracking all regular school operations expenditures (e.g., salaries, procurement of equipment and
supplies, contracts in support of basic school functions), following approval of the operating
budget by the school board. Major expenditures for design or implementation of capital
improvements (e.g., developing or expanding the school campus) will be under the oversight of
the school board in conjunction with the school administration.
Fiscal Auditing
The school board will conduct, either through committee or contract, an annual internal audit of
the school's financial management program. This audit will be completed one month following
the end of the state fiscal year. The information gained through this process will allow for an
internal evaluation of the school's fiscal management procedures and may be used by the board or
administration to modify parts of the program to increase its efficiency or accountability.
A formal audit of the school's fiscal management program will be performed by an independent
accounting contractor after the first three years of operation of the school. Subsequent formal
audits will be conducted at least every five years.
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