District Receives 3rd Gold Leadership Award for Financial Transparency

Los Fresnos CISD has earned its third Gold Leadership Circle Award for the district’s website from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The report was presented to the Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday night.

The district earned 19 of 20 possible points on the ratings criteria, which is based on financial information found on the district’s website to ensure Los Fresnos CISD is “transparent” to its taxpayers.

The Leadership Circle award recognizes local governments across Texas that strive to meet a high standard for on-line financial transparency by opening their books to the public; by providing clear, consistent pictures of spending; and by sharing information in a user-friendly format that helps taxpayers understand how their tax dollars are spent.

The “Gold” designation is the highest award level and highlights those entities that are setting the bar with their transparency efforts.

“Our staff in the Business Office takes a lot of pride in this award,” said Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar. “The staff’s goal is to provide up-to-date information on the District’s financial status for our taxpayers and constituents in an easy to-read format.”

The Leadership Circle program began in 2009 to recognize local governments across Texas that are striving to meet a high standard for financial transparency online. Each level of the Leadership Circle has specific requirements for the major and minor criteria.

Los Fresnos CISD was one of only 72 school districts in the state have earned the gold award for three straight years. La Joya ISD was the only other school in the Rio Grande Valley to receive the distinction.