(a) The board of education shall appoint a treasurer for each school within the local school administrative unit that handles special funds. The treasurer shall keep a complete record of all moneys in his charge in such form and detail as may be prescribed by the finance officer of the local school administrative unit, and shall make such reports to the superintendent and finance officer of the local school administrative unit as they or the board of education may prescribe. Special funds of individual schools shall be deposited in an official depository of the local school administrative unit in special accounts to the credit of the individual school, and shall be paid only on checks or drafts signed by the principal of the school and the treasurer. The board of education may, in its discretion, waive the requirements of this section for any school which handles less than three hundred dollars ($300.00) in any school year.

(b) Nothing in this section shall prevent the board of education from requiring that all funds of individual schools be deposited with and accounted for by the school finance officer. If this is done, these moneys shall be disbursed and accounted for in the same manner as other school funds except that the check or draft shall not bear the certificate of preaudit.

(c) For the purposes of this section, “special funds of individual schools” includes by way of illustration and not limitation funds realized from gate receipts of interscholastic athletic competition, sale of school annuals and newspapers, and dues of student organizations.

(d) Special funds of individual schools shall not be included as part of the local current expense fund of a local school administrative unit for the purposes of determining the per pupil share of the local current expense fund transferred to a charter school pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-218.105(c). (1975, c. 437, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 2013-355, s. 2(b); 2014-101, s. 7.)