Business & Finance

Texas Transparency Stars

The Texas Comptroller’s Office has developed a program to recognize local governments for going above and beyond in their transparency efforts. A star can be awarded in the areas of Traditional Finances, Contracts and Procurement, Economic Development, Public Pensions, and Debt Obligations.  Once a star has been earned, the Comptroller’s office continues to monitor the entity to ensure continued compliance with the requirements to keep the stars.

Traditional Finance Star

Waxahachie ISD earned the Traditional Finances transparency star on May 2, 2017, and continues to maintain this information on our website.

Debt Obligations Star

Waxahachie ISD earned the Debt Obligations transparency star on December 20, 2022, and continues to maintain this information on our website.

For additional information on the Transparency Stars program and requirements to obtain a transparency star for specific areas, please visit the Transparency Stars website.

FIRST Rating

Each year, the Texas Education Agency holds Districts accountable for their financial decisions through the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) rating. The rating is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes.

For Additional Information

For more information on the FIRST rating, please visit our First Financial Integrity Rating webpage

Enterprise funds are used to account for resources that are used to operate activities without subsidies from the general fund. Enterprise funds have usage fees associated with the activity to offset the cost of providing the activity.

The District currently has three enterprise-type funds:

• 701 → Child Nutrition Program
  • Provides breakfast and lunch meals to all students every school day in conjunction with the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program.  The meal service charge is based on meal prices set by the Board of Trustees and Federal guidelines.
• 711 → Day Care Center
  • Open daily during the school year, the child care center serves staff and students of Waxahachie ISD. Monthly tuition is charged to cover the center’s operating costs.
• 720 → Lighthouse for Learning
  • Provides adult learning opportunities for the community members of Waxahachie. Topics vary each semester, and tuition charged to participants covers the cost of the program.

Fiduciary funds are assets the District holds in trust for external parties. These funds do not legally belong to the District, and the District is not authorized to determine how they are used.

There are two fiduciary funds that the District maintains:

• 829 → Private Purpose Trust Fund
  • The District holds these funds on behalf of the awarding committees for each scholarship, releasing them when the committees select the scholarship recipients.
  865 → Student Activity Funds
  • This account is used to account for the resources of various student groups within the District. Groups raise funds to be used at their discretion, and the District is simply the custodian of these funds until they are approved for payment by the leadership of the club.

Waxahachie ISD operates on a fiscal year calendar beginning September 1 through the subsequent August 31.

All transactions are recorded using the fund method of accounting. Waxahachie ISD uses three types of funds to account for all transactions – governmental funds, enterprise funds, and fiduciary funds.

• For additional information on fund types or account structure requirements, please see the Financial Account System Resource Guide published by the Texas Education Agency.
• For historical financial information on each fund, please refer to the Financial Audits page.
• For current budget information on each budgeted fund, please see the Adopted Budgets page.
• For additional financial information and disclosures, please refer to the Financial Transparency page.

Governmental funds are used to account for the resources of the District, from local revenue sources, state revenue sources, and federal revenue sources, for the basic daily operations of the District.

The two most significant governmental funds used by the District are:

• 199 → General Fund
  • Records all resources and uses of resources, not specifically required to be recorded in another fund. This fund provides resources for the daily operations (salaries, utilities, insurance, supplies, transportation, and administration) of the District.
• 511 → Debt Service Fund
  • Used to collect property taxes levied specifically to service the debt principal, interest, and fee obligations of the District.