ACTION ALAMEDA News

Dear Editor,

Alameda’s Nea Community Learning Center (NeaCLC) k-12 public school has an ending fund balance of almost $1,200,000. Unfortunately the Nea executive director, and financial representative who assists the school with budgeting reports was unaware the money was classified as “unrestricted.”

The money has accumulated in recent years like roll-over minutes for cell phone customers who do not use what they pay for. While roll-over minutes usually do not warrant a concern, this sizable ending fund balance does. Nea receives large cash funding from federal and state governments. Nea Community Learning Center also accepts donations from Alameda and neighboring community families, and the Nea after school program has collected nearly $60K this year alone.

Put simply, the school has money in the bank. $1.2 million dollars is a sizable stash of non-earmarked funds. The ending fund balance is unrestricted which means there is no donor stipulations on how the money can be spent. This leads some to wonder, what type of account the money is in? Who has authority to make withdrawals? Why was the cash not spent on education throughout the year?

If you have suggestions about how to spend Nea’s unrestricted ending fund balance contact the CLCS board, through their website. If you would like to see copies of emails and financial reports concerning the aforementioned monies please contact Daniel Davenport.

– Daniel Davenport, Alameda