Roma ISD is pleased to announce that the district earned a rating of “A” for “Superior Achievement” for 2021-2022, under the Texas’ School FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas) financial accountability rating system. The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest recognition, demonstrating the high quality of Roma ISD’s financial management and reporting system. The district passed all critical indicators to earn a score of 98 out of a possible 100 points for the other indicators.
This is the 12th year of School FIRST, a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999. The primary goal of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system.
According to TEA, “the state's school financial accountability rating system, known as the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (F.I.R.S.T.), ensures that Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and that they improve those practices. The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes.”
Under these guidelines, a larger percentage of the district’s annual funding must be directed toward instructional budget items – teacher salaries and instruction materials.
“Roma ISD is proud of receiving a superior rating” said Pedro Alaniz, Roma ISD Executive Director of Business and Finance. “It demonstrates that we are accountable not only for student learning, but also for achieving results cost-effectively and efficiently, and it is one example of being good stewards of the funds our taxpayers have entrusted to us.”
The TEA F.I.R.S.T. ratings are based on 15 financial indicators, such as administrative cost expenditures; the accuracy of a district or charter’s financial information submitted to TEA; and any financial vulnerabilities or material weaknesses in internal controls as determined by an external auditor.
“I am very proud of the hard work of the Business Office Team led by Mr. Pedro Alaniz,” said Roma ISD Superintendent Carlos. M. Gonzalez Jr. “He does a terrific job, putting in place the most stringent processes to make sure we are not just meeting the standard for excellence, but going well beyond. Our district goes through our daily work, but then voluntarily goes through an extra audit by a group we hire to make sure we have the best practices in place. Mr. Alaniz is always learning new methods to do things better for the benefit of our students and community. Congratulations to the entire Business Office Team and all departmental financial managers for helping earn this outstanding rating!”
