Metairie Park Country Day School

“When the organization's cpa firm has completed preparation of the form 990, a draft of the form is provided to the chief financial officer and the finance committee, representing the governing body of the school, for review and discussion. Following this review and revisions, if any, the finance committee approves the form and authorizes the cpa firm to finalize the return for signature and filing.”

“Prior to the beginning of each new fiscal year board meetings, the board members are presented with the school's conflict of interest policy to review and sign. All board members are required to sign the conflict of interest policy, acknowledging that they are are unaware of any potential conflict. Trustees are expected to reveal any personal, family, or business interests that they have that, by creating a divided loyalty, could influence their judgment and hence the wisdom of decisions. Trustees have a duty to disclose any personal, family, or business interests that may, in the eyes of another person, influence their judgment. The board as a whole has a duty to disclose specific conflicts of interests to the board where that interest may, in their judgment, affect the reputation or credibility of the school, and to disclose the board's procedure for operating in the presence of such conflicts. Trustees have a duty to recuse themselves from participating in any discussion and voting on matters where they have, or may be perceived as having, a conflict of interest. Such exemptions will be recorded in minutes of meetings. Any business relationship between an individual (or company where the individual is an owner or in the position of authority) and the school, outside of the relationship as a trustee must be formalized in writing and approved by the board.”

“The board compensation committee, consisting of the board chair, vice-chair, and treasurer, determines the compensation and benefits of the head of school. A formalized compensation policy has been implemented. The committee will use comparability data to determine the head of the school's salary. The committee will provide ample documentation to justify compensation levels. All committee documentation is saved in a file. For other officers or key employees of the organization, the head uses comparability data, and personal interviews and observations, to determine the compensation of each person. The board approves the total compensation amount of the organization each year in the budget process, but not each individual's compensation.”

“The school's financial statements are available to the public via the guidestar website, which gets its information from the form 990 filed with the irs. Members of the school's parent body, alumni, and certain other individuals receive a printed copy, via mail, of selected, summarized balance sheet and income statement data, in the school's annual printed state of the school report. Donors, or other individuals, at their request, receive a copy of the latest available audited financial statements and/or form 990 tax return. We currently do not make the school's governing documents or conflict of interest policy available to the public.”

“The audit committee assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant. The committee reviews the audited financial statements and recommends its approval to the board.”