1. Each school district selected for a review must be evaluated to determine whether the school district is successfully carrying out the following financial management principles:

(a) Establishes and carries out policies, procedures and internal controls to process business transactions efficiently;

(b) Uses cost-efficient measures to assess operations on a regular basis;

(c) Carries out measures to improve services and reduce costs;

(d) Maximizes the efficiency of money expended for public schools and ensures that resources are safeguarded;

(e) Structures its organization and staff in a manner that provides efficiency and excellence in the delivery of a public education;

(f) Establishes benchmarks for productivity and performance;

(g) Makes financial planning and budgeting decisions in a manner that is linked to the priorities of the school district, including, without limitation, the performance of pupils;

(h) Uses options for financing debt in a manner that provides for maximum efficiency;

(i) Invests proceeds from bonds and operating resources to earn an appropriate and comparable rate of return; and

(j) Uses debt management and investment policies in a manner that is representative of current market and risk profiles.

2. Each school district selected for a review must be evaluated based upon the management principles set forth in subsection 1 in each of the following areas:

(a) Financial management;

(b) Facilities management, including, without limitation, the plan for funding the rebuilding of older schools and the programs of preventative maintenance;

(c) Personnel management;

(d) District organization, including, without limitation, an evaluation of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the management structure of the school district to identify possible measures for cost-savings;

(e) Employee health plans and health plans for retired employees;

(f) Transportation, including, without limitation, an evaluation of whether the school district ensures the safe and efficient transportation of pupils;

(g) Alignment with the needs and expectations of the public, including, without limitation, surveys of the residents of the community;

(h) Effective delivery of educational services and programs; and

(i) Any other area that, in the professional judgment and expertise of the consultant, warrants a review based upon the management principles.

3. In addition to the areas required to be reviewed pursuant to subsection 2, if a particular school within a school district that is selected for a review receives a sum of money for the purpose of providing education to pupils and the specific use of that money is otherwise within the sole discretion of the school, the consultant may:

(a) Review the manner by which decisions were made concerning the use of that money;

(b) Review the use of that money by the school; and

(c) Track the expenditures made with that money.

The consultant shall limit the scope of his or her review pursuant to this subsection to that particular sum of money and is not authorized to review all accounts and funds at a particular school.

(Added to NRS by 2005, 2441)