15-304. Warrants; limitations; definition

A. The county school superintendent, on the voucher of the governing board of a school district, shall draw the county school superintendent's warrant on the county treasurer for all necessary expenses against the school fund of the district. The warrants shall be drawn in the order in which the vouchers are filed in the county school superintendent's office. In lieu of drawing warrants, the county school superintendent may issue an electronic transfer pursuant to section 11-493 for expenditures authorized by this section.  Unless notified by the department of education pursuant to section 15-107, a warrant shall not be drawn for an expenditure from the maintenance and operation, capital outlay, adjacent ways and federal and state grant funds for a purpose not included in the budget of the school district or for an expenditure in excess of the amount budgeted and not previously expended, except for expenditures authorized by the board of supervisors as provided in section 15-907.  The county school superintendent shall not draw a warrant for an expenditure from any school district fund except the maintenance and operation, capital outlay or adjacent ways fund or federal and state grant funds unless sufficient cash is available in the fund according to the records of the county school superintendent. The county school superintendent may only draw a warrant for an expenditure from a federal or state grant fund when sufficient cash is not available in the grant fund if the county treasurer maintains the two accounts as provided in section 15-996, paragraph 1 and if the county school superintendent determines that the expenditures are included in the budget section of the approved grant application.  Warrants may be processed through an electronic payment system.

B. A county school superintendent, within two business days, shall provide written notice to the department of education, if, in the county school superintendent's judgment, a school district has committed an overexpenditure as defined in section 15-107.

C. The state board of education shall require a county school superintendent who fails to comply with the notification requirements of subsection B of this section to complete professional development training. The state board of education may also require the employees of a county school superintendent who are involved in school district finances and budgeting to complete professional development training. The professional development training shall be selected from a list approved by the state board of education, and the cost of the professional development training shall be paid by the county school superintendent. County school superintendents and employees of the county school superintendent who are involved in district finances and budgeting shall complete at least twelve hours of professional development training within one hundred twenty days after the decision of the state board of education to require professional development training of the county school superintendent and the employees of the county school superintendent who are involved in district finances and budgeting.

D. A county school superintendent who fails to complete the professional development training within the time prescribed in subsection C of this section is guilty of nonfeasance in office, and the state board of education shall forward a complaint to the attorney general.  The attorney general may bring an action in superior court against a county school superintendent for failure to comply with the professional development training requirements prescribed in subsection C of this section.  If a court determines that a county school superintendent failed to comply with the professional development training requirements prescribed in subsection C of this section, the court shall issue an order removing the county school superintendent from office.

E. A county school superintendent who fails to comply with the notification requirements of subsection B of this section more than once is guilty of unprofessional conduct. The attorney general may commence an action in superior court to enforce this subsection against any county school superintendent who violates the notification requirements of subsection B of this section more than once.  If the court determines that a county school superintendent is guilty of unprofessional conduct, the court shall issue an order directing the removal of the county school superintendent from office.

F. Any vacancy in the office of county school superintendent shall be filled in the manner prescribed by section 11-251.

G. For the purposes of this section, "voucher" means a summary cover sheet and either copies of the invoices of the expenditure or a listing of the invoice detail.