“Like any organization, school districts must prudently manage their budgets. One aspect of school funding that frequently raises questions is district cash balances, with some critics suggesting that schools are holding too much of their funds in cash balances. The latest reports show that balances in unrestricted funds compared to expenditures have been stable and within an appropriate range for moderate economic risk as defined by government finance experts…”It is sometimes asked if school districts could use cash balances to increase education funding. First, as noted, the largest portion of cash balances cannot be used for general operations (such as capital outlay and bond expenditures raised from local mill levies restricted for those purposes). Second, a significant amount of funds on July 1 actually WILL be spent during the year to manage cash flow, when school expenditures exceed revenues.”It is also important to note that spending cash balances is a one-time revenue. If those funds are not replaced by the state or other revenues, the districts will have to cut that level of spending in the following year.”Finally, lower cash balances could result in higher risk for districts if revenues are reduced or expenditures increased, based on governmental finance standards.”https://kasb.org/…/school-district-cash-balances…/…