The school money trail should be easier to follow this school year.

A new state law requires school districts to post all expenses over $100 on their Web sites where the public can view the financial records. School districts must place their credit card statements online and show evidence districts are spending at least 65 percent of all school funds on instructional programs.

The state Comptroller General's Office is charged with providing school districts with the tools to make their financial records available online.

While the requirement is just for one year, state Department of Education spokesman Jim Foster said state lawmakers have the option to renew the new financial reporting requirement for school districts each year.

The state law is written this way so this is not an unfunded mandate for school districts.

This rule change was passed as part of a school funding flexibility law signed by Gov. Mark Sanford in June.

The law is meant to give school districts more options for dealing with state budget cuts, which removed $7 million in potential revenue from Cherokee County schools last year. These options included a month's extension on the deadline to offer teacher contracts, negotiate lower salaries for retired teachers, eliminate low enrollment classes and the flexibility to shift state funds between budgets to keep basic education programs intact.

Cherokee County School District Finance Director Ben Childs said he is unsure when the school district will have its financial information ready to be viewed on the district Web site.

"We are waiting on information from the state Comptroller General's Office on how to go about meeting these new financial requirements," Childs said. "At this point, it appears this could amount to another unfunded mandate for school districts. The state has indicated it does not have the money to help us meet the requirement to put our financial records online."