Cary D-26 financial woes

This morning's headline in the Northwest Herald was "How did D-26 get here?" The story describes the financial woes at the Cary (Ill.) School District 26.

How did it get (here) there? The answer is partially explained in the third paragraph, where Finance Director "T. Ferrier" (she doesn't have a first name?) says "she comes in to work each morning anxious about fund balances."

"Every day, I'm worried we're going to bounce payroll or bounce a check to a vendor."

Why? Why would she be worried about that? If you don't write against insufficient funds, you never have to worry about bouncing a check. I learned that when I was 16.

That was the one and only time I have ever had a NSF check. I had made a deposit at my bank and then wrote a check. At age 16, I didn't know that I couldn't write a check immediately against funds in my account. At that time one had to wait 3-4 days for a check to clear, no matter how small the amount. I don't even recall whether I got hit with a NSF fee; probably not. But I never forgot that experience!

So, I say to T. Ferrier, "Stop worrying." Keep a little cushion in your checking account, in case somebody gives you a bad check. Or arrange overdraft protection.

There must be many other financial challenges in D-26 about which to worry. If bouncing a check is the biggest one, then I think you don't have any worries at all.