Stakeholders input

Central Office Administrators and Staff

Superintendent

The superintendent in our district reviews the budget planning calendar, presents staffing plan to the board, conducts budget workshops, and interacts with administrators, the budget committee, the chief financial officer, and the board of trustees as budget making tasks are completed.  He also helps develop district goals, project revenues and expenditures, allocate resources, maintain buildings and facilities, sustain transportation, and conduct periodic monitoring of the budget. 

Chief Financial Officer

Our Chief Financial Officer is responsible for determining sources of funding including federal funding, taxes, and revenues.  She also completes the following tasks: submits preliminary estimates of upcoming year’s revenue, complete draft of proposed budget, and completes budget workshop.

Director of Federal Programs

Our Director of Federal Programs oversees all federal funding and programming.  Her duties deal with curriculum management and instructional materials.  She orders instructional materials for all subject areas and locates speakers and trainers for professional development to strengthen instruction.  The principal can request additional funds from the Director of Federal Programs from Title II and III funds, as needed. 

Principal

The principal oversees the campus budget, checks into various accounts for specific funding.  The principal makes campus deposits and determines where funds are placed.  As funding is added, the principal ensures that money is placed into the correct account.  Each account has a sub code and the principal verifies that the money is taken from the proper account.  In terms of general funds, the principal must specify which percentage of funds is used for additional programming i.e. bilingual students, special education students, etc.  In January, the principal reviews the budget planning calendar along with the superintendent and board of trustees. In May, the principal returns facility, furniture, and equipment needs to the business office.  The principal also submits revised campus budgets and preliminary departmental budgets to the business office at this time. 

Site Based Decision Making Team (SBDM)

SBDM serves as a brainstorming body for the campus.  This group makes suggestions that would benefit the campus, the staff, and the students.  They help determine funding for instruction, instructional materials, and professional development.  They assist the principal with ideas before he/she makes the final decision.  The SBDM team is driven by the goals of the district improvement committee.

District Improvement Committee 

The District Improvement Committee creates the goal driven budget.  This group focuses on aligning the curriculum for the entire district.  This group determines which curriculum should be chosen, which materials needed to be ordered, and what training staff needs to implement the new curriculum.  The DIC is also responsible for getting buy in from the SBDM.

Teacher Organizations

Teacher organizations have little or no input into a district’s budget, but teachers serve on the SBDM committee.  Representatives from each subject area and grade level are chosen to represent all teachers on campus.

Community members

Community members attend school board meetings to provide input during the administrative budget meeting.  The public at the time can provide comments and concerns on the school district’s upcoming budget.

Board of Trustees

The board of trustees has the following duties of reviewing the budget calendar, distributing planning process and budgeting handbook to budget committee and board members, conducting budget workshops, attending public hearing to adopt expenditure budget, adopting expenditure budget, approving compensation plans, approving stipend listings, approving final budget amendments, attending public hearings to adopt tax rate by resolution, and adopting resolutions for the upcoming years tax rate.  Our Board of Trustees, based on funding, approves, modifies, deletes, and reduces budget funds. 

Reflection

I spoke with my site supervisor about the roles of each stakeholder in our district.  I found the information to be very interesting.  This interview gave me key insight into how the budget is created and maintained.  I’m sure that each district has a different format, but the fundamental components are the same: to maintain fiscal responsibility and autonomy in order to effectively implement the district budget.  The stakeholders of the district set policies and goals, provide educational leadership for the community, and implement the district vision.  Each stakeholder plays a role and has specific responsibilities in developing the budget.  Each role is based on the role of others and through collaboration, teamwork, and support for student achievement, district goals are met.  Although, all stakeholders play a role in the budget making process, the four key roles seem to lie with central office, the superintendent, the board of trustees, and the principals.  First of all, central office staff is one of the main players in developing and administering the budget.  They help to manage business and financial matters, bids and contracts, facilities and transportation.  Next, the superintendent works with the board, central office, and administrators to develop a vision and set goals for the district.   He/she works with other stakeholders to effectively plan, prepare, and implement the budget.  In addition to this, the principal’s role is to allocate resources, use funds to support professional development, and most importantly, utilize funds to enhance student performance and direct instruction.  Finally, the board of trustees develops relationships and tailors the school budget to reflect district strengths and needs and work with other stakeholders to effectively and efficiently implement the budget. All of the stakeholders, through goal setting and budget planning, serve as advocates for the children of the district’s best interests.