I found the information in the TEA Budgeting Financial Accountability System Resource Guide, January 2010 very informative. This document is a valuable resource for everyone involved with school finances and school budgeting. The information provided emphasizes the importance of understanding the workings of the budgeting process. It is something that should be provided to all aspiring and new school administrators. I learned multiple points about the budget process. Several aspects of the budgeting process provided insight to the methods used in my district for developing our campuses and district budgets.
The budget process for a school district is an ongoing evolutionary aspect of school business. Sound planning is a continuous cycle of preparation and evaluation to achieve district goals. There are five basic budgetary approaches school districts utilize in their budget developments. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages and hybridized versions of these are developed to help the best approach for the school district based on each districts unique circumstance. The Port Neches-Groves ISD has a budget approach that resembles a combination of Site-Based Budgeting and Outcome-Focused Budgeting.
After reading over the budgeting guidelines, I learned that the superintendent is the budget officer of the school district. The superintendent may delegate the development of the budget to someone else such as the business manager but he/she is ultimately responsible for the budget and operation of the school district. The superintendent must make sure the budget is legally adopted before the adoption of the tax rate. The overall budget process and budgeting calendar must be followed to meet all state mandated deadlines and to remain in compliance with all state laws.
Maximizing the revenues of a school district requires financial forecasting which is an ongoing process. This should be used throughout the budget making process during each school year. This type of forecasting facilitates planning, helps to make trends, needs, and issues more clear, and enhances the decision making process for a district. In order to have valid financial forecasting several projections need to be examined. These include student enrollment projections, revenue projections and expenditure projections, which are all vital to developing a quality school district budget. My district does a good job of maximizing revenues but helping PN-G ISD review our budgeting process might help to increase the efficient use of our revenue.
The TEA Budgeting Financial Accountability System Resource Guide has many sample documents for school district personnel to reference during the budget making process. It is a valuable resource with many helpful sections for administrators. The function codes, projection methodology forecasting by analogy, Truth-in-Taxation Principles, and the list of acronyms I found particularly informative and useful.
There is a wealth of knowledge in the Resource Guide and much more time is needed to help fully digest all of the information in the document. Understanding more about the budget development process will be helpful during our school district’s budget development this spring. The campus and district budgets should be accessible all year long and changes to the budget for future years should be made and continue to be ongoing. I would recommend that school finance be included as one of the components for the principal program. With the problems facing school districts regarding finance and funding this information is extremely valuable to both new and veteran administrators.
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