The overview
The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, or FIRST, measures the quality of a school district’s reporting and management of finances to hold the district accountable for its financial management.
EISD received an “A” rating, scoring 90 out of 100 points. EISD has received the highest score since 2003, when the accountability system was implemented, Scott said.
The 2023 FIRST rating was based on fiscal year 2021-22.
The details
The FIRST scores a district’s compliance under 20 indicators with five considered critical. The 20 indicators measure a district’s compliance with audit reporting, the accuracy of student attendance estimates, healthy fund balance levels, the relationship of district revenues to expenditures, and timely debt and employee benefit-related payments, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Eanes failed to get the highest score on two indicators: Indicator 8 and Indicator 13.
Indicator 8 evaluates if a district has enough short-term assets to cover short-term debt. District documents emphasize that the score is not reflective of the district due to the fact EISD is a recapture district, meaning local revenue collected from property taxes is subject to be taken by the state and redistributed to districts that collect less from property taxes.
On June 30, the end of the district’s fiscal year, EISD had assets totaling over $203 million and liabilities of about $140 million. However, because about $106. million of the liabilities were recapture payments still owed, the district would have earned higher points on the indicator if this was reflected, according to district documents.
“I don't think that necessarily reflects on our business office or on our district,” Scott said. “That's just a quirk of the system that adversely impacts districts like us that pay a lot of recapture because we have a lot of that high liability sitting out there at the end of the fiscal year.”
Indicator 13 scores a district based on the percentage of a district’s budget that is spent on administration. The district received 8 points out of 10 on this indicator.
Some ratings are not based on a score, but rather a “yes” or “no.” Eanes ISD did not receive a “no” in any category, which would have resulted in an automatic failure. These categories include:
- Did the district submit its financial report to the Texas Education Agency on time?
- Did the district make timely payments to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Internal Revenue System, Texas Workforce Commission and other governmental agencies?
- Did the district pay all debt agreements on time?
