What was thought to be a negative balance in a Kalispell Public Schools student activities cash fund is not the case, according to administrators.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle said the student activities fund showed up as a negative balance of $19,788 when presented as part of a proposed budget to trustees at a July 17 board meeting. It was later discovered that a routine fund transfer had not yet been made from Glacier and Flathead high school activity funds to cover the amount.

Money from this account is used for paying athletic game workers and coach stipends during the months of May and June.

“It’s used as a payroll clearing account,” Schottle said.

Money is then designated to be transferred from the high schools to balance the student activities fund usually by the start of the new fiscal year, which is July 1.

“The former finance director did designate that there would be a transfer, but because of the timing and personnel changes, we didn’t realize the designation was still sitting on the books,” Schottle said.

Although this is how the fund has been repaid historically, Schottle said the district is planning to add it to the annual general fund budget and balance it at the end of the fiscal year on June 30 so that it does not show up in the negative.

“We want to ensure this kind of situation doesn’t arise in the future,” Schottle said.

The student activities cash fund is part of the district’s larger cash fund that currently holds about $3.6 million in district revenue. It is not tax-based.