FILE: D-6.3
INVENTORIES
CAPITAL ASSETS
The Central Community School Board directs the Superintendent to maintain a current itemized list of all land, buildings, improvements other than buildings, equipment, and any other capital assets which were purchased or otherwise acquired, for which the School Board is accountable.
The property control system shall include a list for reporting purposes of all fixed assets with a value of $5,000 or more in the district including all items purchased or donated to the school district. The list shall include information as to the date of purchase, the initial cost, and the disposition, if any, and the purpose of such disposition and the recipient of the property or equipment disposed of. In the case of theft, a police report should be obtained immediately when an asset has been stolen, and the property manager in the central office should also be immediately notified of the theft.
For accountability and internal control purposes, an inventory of equipment and other items costing less than $5,000 may also be inventoried, tagged, and tracked by the School Board. This may include items such as computers, cameras, projectors, televisions, band equipment, appliances (e.g. stoves or refrigerators), and furniture.
Physical Inventory
In order to maintain an accurate account of Central Community School Board possessions, a physical inventory of all possessions shall be taken at the building level at least annually, but may be more frequent as needed. Principals or their designees are the designated custodians of all possessions at the school level and shall be ultimately responsible for the safeguarding and record maintenance of all assets/equipment in their schools. However, any employee who has physical custody of School Board assets shall be personally responsible for safeguarding the assets, i.e., each teacher shall be responsible for his/her classroom, the librarian for the assets in the library, the band director for the assets in the band department, etc.
Building level administrators shall be responsible for ensuring that annual inventories are taken and that the property control officer is notified of any changes that need to be made to their respective inventory records or reported as required. The Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall maintain pertinent procedures for maintaining inventory and tracking records, including, identifying, appraising, tagging, and removing fixed assets from any inventory records.
GRANT ASSETS
Capital assets purchased by federal, state, or local grants should be placed in operation immediately. If there is a problem in getting the asset in operation, the Superintendent should be notified immediately.
INTANGIBLE ASSETS
An intangible asset shall be considered an asset with an initial life that extends beyond a single reporting period, lacks physical substance, and in nonfinancial in nature. Intangible assets shall include easements, water rights, timber rights, patents, trademarks, and computer software which can be purchased or licensed or internally generated.
An intangible asset should only be recognized if it is identifiable. An asset is identifiable if it is separable; i.e., the asset is capable of being separated and sold, transferred, licensed, etc., or if the asset arises from contractual or other legal rights, regardless of whether rights are separable.
Intangible assets shall be amortized over their useful lives. The useful life of an intangible asset that arises from contractual or legal rights should not exceed the legal term of the rights. Renewal periods should be considered in determining the useful life if there is evidence that renewal will be sought and achieved and the cost of the renewal is nominal in relation to the level of service capacity expected to be obtained through the renewal. An intangible asset is not amortized if the asset has an indefinite useful life. An intangible asset should be considered to have an indefinite useful life if there are no legal, contractual, regulatory, technological, or other factors that limit the useful life of the asset. For example, a permanent right-of-way easement would have an indefinite useful life.
Rules for accounting, calculating the initial value and depreciation of the asset shall be in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards.
For accountability and internal control purposes, an inventory of intangible assets shall be kept for any asset with a value of $5,000 or more.
TEXTBOOK INVENTORIES
The School Board and each school shall keep an inventory record of all textbooks on hand at the beginning of the session, as well as records of those textbooks added, worn out, and in need of replacement. Textbook records should be kept on file for a minimum of three (3) years. All lost or damaged books must be paid for by the student to which the books have been assigned. Money received by a principal for lost or damaged books must be recorded and deposited into the school account.
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 24:515
State Textbook Adoption Policy and Procedure Manual, Bulletin 1794, §515 and §525
Louisiana Accounting and Uniform Governmental Handbook, Bulletin 1929, Louisiana Department of Education
Central Community School Board