Reasonable, Allocable, and Necessary: A guide to informed fiscal decisions

“The work of improving schools is about thinking….and asking questions.”

-Andres Alonso, CEO

Baltimore City Public Schools

Use the following chart as a guide to determine whether or not an individual cost would be reasonable, allocable, and necessary. All boxes must indicate “Y” for the cost to be approved.
REASONABLE / Y/N / ALLOCABLE / Y/N / NECESSARY / Y/N
Is the project necessary for the operation and efficiency of the program? / Will this project directly advance the work or performance of the award? / Is this project reasonable to the performance of the program?
Is the project justifiable to a prudent reviewer? / Will denial of this project activity hinder the implementation and outcomes of the program? / Does the project conform to any limitations or exclusions of the program regarding type or cost?
Is this project tied to an identified need? / Will this project primarily benefit the intended group? / Will this project provide additional support or service?
  1. Our district is focusing on early learning, especially preschool. We want to add Title I-funded preschool at three Priority schools. We will hire teachers with early learning credentials, highly qualified paraprofessionals, plus materials and supplies that will include furniture, books, puppets, art supplies, and other early learning items.
  1. Our district wants to invest in a bookmobile to continue our current neighborhood books program. We have a volunteer who uses a personal vehicle to deliver books to neighborhoods over the summer months to our students, especially in housing projects in our community. We would like to use Title I school improvement funds to purchase a vehicle, pay for a teacher’s time to do activities, help select books, etc.
  1. It seems we have spent an extensive amount of money on due process over the last three years. We would like to set aside some of our Part B funding for the cost of hearing officers and some attorney fees should we ever go through mediation or a hearing again.
  1. Our district has seen an influx of students who speak English as a second language. Because of the language barrier, we need translators to interpret evaluations, case conferences, and manifestation conferences. We would like to pay for the interpreters using our 611 Part B funds.
  1. Our special education department will be hosting a parent workshop at the beginning of the school year to discuss parent rights, introduce special education teachers, and explain the programs available in our corporation for students with disabilities. The director would like to order cookies and cupcakes from a local bakery to serve to the families who attend. She would also like to serve coffee and soft drinks.
  1. The school district is looking into purchasing 10 new tables and 80 new chairs to replace current tables and chairs in the elementary school cafeteria. This will replace 8 tables needing immediate replacement and 64 chairs (8 chairs per table) and leave 2 tables and 16 chairs as backups. The district business manager determined the cost will be around $15,000 plus delivery and meets with the school foodservice director to talk about the available funds. It is determined that school foodservice has sufficient funds to cover the costs so they want to move forward getting quotes once they receive approval from the State for the purchase since it exceeds $5,000.
  1. A school foodservice director wants to purchase iPads, without data plans, for each school foodservice employee so they can access online trainings to meet the professional standard requirements. There are 30 school foodservice employees for a total cost of about $15,000.
  1. The School Food Authority (SFA) is up for review this year and the staff wants to make sure they are running the best program possible and meeting all the Federal requirements. The food service director is talking to a vendor that mentions they offer a service where they come onsite and perform a “mock” review to see how your program is doing and what you may need to correct before your review. She thinks this is a great idea to test the program’s readiness for the Administrative Review so she agrees to hire them for this service.

Revised 7.22.16 CH