§ 298A.15 — Entrepreneurial education funds

Iowa § 298A.15

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VII: EDUCATION, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
• Ch. 298A: SCHOOL DISTRICT FUND STRUCTURE

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1. Funds established — purposes. For the purposes of enhancing student learning by
encouraging students to develop and practice entrepreneurial skills at an early age and of
fostering a business-ready workforce in this state, a school corporation may establish an
entrepreneurial education fund at the request of a student organization or club and upon
approval by the school board. An entrepreneurial education fund is a special revenue fund
and shall consist only of moneys earned through entrepreneurial activities or returns on
investments made for entrepreneurial purposes by the student organization or club, private
donations and private contributions, and any interest earned on such moneys, that are
deposited in the fund. Moneys in the fund shall be used only for investments made, or
activities undertaken, for entrepreneurial purposes in accordance with this section. The
student organization or club may designate an entrepreneurial purpose for the use of moneys
in the fund in accordance with this section. A school corporation may expend moneys
5 SCHOOL DISTRICT FUND STRUCTURE, §298A.15
in the fund for use by the student organization or club in accordance with this section
upon approval of the designated entrepreneurial purpose by the school board. A school
organization or club shall deposit any return on an investment made with moneys from the
fund in the school corporation’s entrepreneurial education fund. The school corporation
shall not transfer or contribute to the fund any other moneys that are not moneys earned
through entrepreneurial activities or returns on investments made for entrepreneurial
purposes by the student organization or club.
2. Funds transferred. At the request of a student organization or club and upon approval
by the school board, a school corporation shall transfer moneys in a student activity fund
established under section 298A.8, for deposit by the student organization or club in an
entrepreneurial education fund. However, a school corporation shall not transfer such
moneys unless the moneys are attributable through appropriate documentation to the
specific student organization or club and unless the student organization or club shows
through appropriate documentation that the student organization or club earned the moneys
through entrepreneurial activities as defined in subsection 5, paragraph “a”.
3. Conflicts of interest prohibited. A student organization or club shall not invest moneys
from an entrepreneurial education fund for an entrepreneurial purpose in which a member of
the student organization or club, an advisor or supervisor of the student organization or club,
or an immediate family member of such persons, has a financial interest. Sections 279.7A
and 301.28 apply to this section.
4. Fund closure. A school corporation shall close an entrepreneurial education fund at
the request of the student organization or club for which the school corporation established
the fund. All moneys in the fund on the date of closure and any subsequent return on an
investment made with moneys from the fund shall be deposited in the school corporation’s
student activity fund established under section 298A.8.
5. Definitions. For purposes of this section:
a. “Entrepreneurial activities” means starting, maintaining, or expanding a business
venture, including a seasonal business venture, or rendering other labor or services in return
for compensation. “Entrepreneurial activities” does not include charitable contributions or
other donations or gifts received by the student organization or club for which no labor or
services are rendered.
b. “Entrepreneurial purpose” means establishing or investing in a start-up company,
early-stage company, or existing company developing a new product or new technology if
the investment is in keeping with the education program of the school corporation; if the
student organization or club or its members will, as a stated condition of the investment,
take an active role in the company which active role directly relates to and furthers the
educational purposes for which the student organization or club is established; and if a
reasonable return upon the investment is expected.
c. “Immediate family member” means a spouse; natural or adoptive parent, child, or
sibling; or stepparent, stepchild, or stepsibling.