3.01 “Annual Financial Budget (AFB)” means the annual budget of expenditures and receipts required by Ark. Const. Art. 14, § 3, and Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-11-128, 6-13-620 and 6-20-2202.

3.02 “Annual Financial Report (AFR)” means the fiscal year annual report of financial information as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 6-20-2202.

3.03 “Approved Budget” means an AFB that has received the required written notification from the Division that the AFB presented was not identified as deficient as of February 15 of the current year.

3.04 “Arkansas Financial Accounting Handbook” means the uniform chart of accounts and related codes which are established by the Division and incorporated into these rules as the “Arkansas Handbook”, and used for accounting and financial reporting of all public schools, school districts, open enrollment charter schools, and education service cooperatives as referenced in Ark. Code Ann. § 6-20-2203.

3.05 “Athletic Expenditures” means all direct and indirect expenses related to interschool athletic programs, prorated if necessary.

3.06 “Authorized Entity” means an entity recognized by the Division to accept data with an executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA), or both, and that meets all applicable federal and state laws and rules of the Division.

3.07 “Cycle Reports” are mandatory reports that summarize financial and student information and that are certified and submitted to the state. The purpose of these reports is to ensure that every school district has access to comparable administrative computing systems and services with which to meet all local and state requirements, to promote increased compatibility of the administrative records and data maintained by each school district, to reduce the paperwork and reporting burden of school sites and districts, and to increase the accuracy and timeliness of data submitted by school districts. These reports are used for reporting to state and federal agencies, as well as legislative committees. These reports are also used for purposes of calculating funding for school districts.

3.08 “Deficient” or “Deficiency” means:

3.08.1 A finding by the Division auditors that budget or financial accountability reports do not meet the mandated expenditure requirements in effect for the appropriate year;

3.08.2 The budget or financial accountability reports contain one or more material misstatements of financial information; or

3.08.3 Budgeted revenue, expenditures, and fund balances are not in compliance with law or Division rules.

3.09 “Electronic Transcripts” means a student transcript that is formatted and transmitted electronically in the uniform method prescribed by the Division of Higher Education and the Division for use by public schools and institutions of higher education in this state.

3.10 “Financial Management Systems Applications” means the computer software used primarily to process and record financial transactions.

3.11 “Full-time Equivalent (FTE)” means the amount of time an employee works during a school year (July 1 through June 30 of the following calendar year) as a percentage of the amount of time a full-time employee in the same position would work during a school year.

3.12 “Local Educational Agency (LEA)” means all Arkansas public school districts, open-enrollment public charter schools, and education service cooperatives.

3.13 “Special Needs Categories” means the state funding categories of Alternative Learning Environments (ALE), English Language Learners (ELL), Enhanced Student Achievement Funding (ESA funding), and Professional Development (PD).

3.14 “State Board of Education (SBE)” means the Arkansas State Board of Education.

3.15 “State Funds” means all money derived from state revenues, specifically including but not limited to, distributions from the Department of Education Public School Fund Account and uniform rate of tax ad valorem property taxes distributed to a public school or school district.

3.16 “Student Management Systems Applications” means the computer software used primarily to process and maintain student records.