Family Inventories

School Property Tracking

The ES is responsible for tracking the educational materials checked out to a family.
As stated in the Materials Accountability Process, FRED tracks all materials ordered using Instructional Funds valued greater than $25 that are identified as school provided/owed materials (This policy begins with the date 9/15/2008, prior materials were only tracked in FRED if they were valued more then $350, other items were tracked with paper trails kept in student folders by the ES). The Surpass Library System tracks all bar-coded materials checked out at the CWCS Learning Centers.

Materials Delivery Procedure
Every time an item changes hands, the receiving party must sign and date a receipt for the items. This can be done using the Family Inventory/Materials Checkout form for both new POs and transferred items, or the PO print out receipt in FRED for new POs only. It is recommended that as much information as possible be included in the purchase order to make tracking the materials easier.
When the materials are given to the families, the ESes need to stress that they are items being loaned to them by the school. They do not belong to the families, and must be returned when the student leaves the school. It is expected that the entire product will be returned, not just a portion (i.e. items like books with cds included must be returned as a unit)
The ES then keeps a copy of this paper in the student’s file as proof that the items are now in the possession of and the responsibility of that family. When the family returns the items back to the ES, the ES should give the family a copy of the materials check-out sheet indicating the items were returned to the ES. The ES also puts the date the items were received on his/her own Family Inventory—Materials Checkout, and makes note in FRED indicating where the material now resides if it is an item on the FRED list. It is important to keep the family inventory updated both on paper and in FRED until the date comes that all materials are in FRED (this is a transition time as only materials dated from 9/15/2008 are inventoried in FRED). Although the "ordering" family name is included in the database, the items are considered to be the responsibility of the ES, since the ES is the school employee, so documentation as noted above is very important.

Materials Follow the Student/Family
Instructional Funds are managed by the ES for the instructional benefit of the individual student. ESs must not view Instructional Funds as "theirs" or the "parents". It should not matter which ES is assigned to that student. The funds and materials should follow him/her as long as he/she is in the school. Occasionally a transfer or drop takes place and the "losing" ES says, "Those are my materials", removes the items from the family's home before the transfer is complete which then leaves the family without adequate curriculum or, in some instances, without a computer. Such a practice is inappropriate since our school serves the educational needs of each student. The items follow the family, not the ES.

Student Drops and Transfers
When a student drops or transfers, the ES must print a materials list from FRED, check their family inventory paperwork in their student’s file, and obtain a list of items checked out from the Surpass Library (email learning center to obtain) and do a family inventory prior to the transfer/drop. This inventory is part of the transfer/drop policy and is included on the required transfer/drop checklist. See below for more information regarding Missing Materials, and for information regarding transfer of materials from ES to ES.

Missing Materials
ESes must collect all materials when a family leaves the school, even materials that have been damaged or broken. If a family refuses to return items or if the items are lost or willfully damaged, then the ES must mark the materials accordingly in FRED on the materials list, and click the "process button". This will cause a missing materials letter to be sent to the family. For Surpass Library materials checked out from the learning centers, the ES must collect and return the items within 10 days of the drop date, or the learning center will send a missing materials letter. (See Tracking Missing Materials for details on this procedure.) The missing materials letters request that the family pay the fine for the materials lost or damaged school property.
A public school may not sell materials other than at auction. If a family refuses to return an item, the missing materials fine will be the full price paid by CWCS to purchase the materials for the student's use. No percentage or scale of the original price will be applied.
For items that are accidentally damaged or broken (not including those items that become no longer usable due to normal wear and tear, these may just be marked “consumed” with proper notation in FRED), the ES must contact cwcs@connectingwaters.org to make arrangements for delivery of the accidentally damaged item to the School Office. Notation of this delivery should then be made by the ES on the materials list in FRED. Computers are considered "broken" if they are still under warranty and not able to be repaired/refreshed. If not under warranty, they will be classified as "obsolete" and can be recyled as indicated in the Computer Refresh/Repair policy. For all other materials not on the ES materials list in FRED, the ES must track in their own student files and dispose of the materials if no longer able to be used.)

Transferring materials from family to family, same ES
The ES has the freedom to reassign materials to another family once a family is done using the item. When materials are returned to the ES s/he can use them with other students assigned to her "class". See the Materials Accountability Process for directions. Occasionally, a family requests that certain educational materials be ordered and for some reason does not use the items. If a second family wants the materials, the ES could deliver the materials to the second family and "charge" the costs to the instructional funds set aside for the second family by using the process found in Materials Accountability Process in FRED .

Transferring materials from ES to ES
Items, and funding associated with the “sale” of the item if applicable (items may be transferred without funding transfers), can be transferred from ES to ES using the Materials Accountability Process. If the transfer involves funding, the parent’s permission must be obtained in writing or by email and filed in the student’s file.
When a family transfers from one ES to a different ES, materials should automatically follow the family in FRED.
For items not listed in FRED, the "losing" ES is required to inventory all items in the family’s possession before the transfer is complete, filling out missing materials forms for those items not accounted for. A printout of the materials list in FRED, a list of items checked out from the SURPASS Library, along with any paperwork in the student’s file that has items from prior to 9/15/2008, must be included in the inventory. In order for the "gaining" ES to actually take responsibility for the items, he/she would have to sign the inventory.
Any item not accounted for after the transfer takes place is still the responsibility of the "losing" ES. With a materials inventory sheet signed by the "gaining" ES, the "losing" ES could prove that he/she is no longer responsible for the items. (Use the FRED printout and the Family Inventory—Materials Checkout form for this procedure.)

Please see notes regarding returns to Learning Centers and the Surpass Library: