Week 3 Part 1

District 1:
93.3% Economically Disadvantaged
$3893.754 Total Refined ADA Adjusted for Decline
$5555.815 Weighted Average Daily Attendance
District 2:
20.7% Economically Disadvantaged
$4032.937 Total Refined ADA Adjusted for Decline
$4794.076 Weighted Average Daily Attendance

District 1 receives a higher WADA due to a larger number of students in special populations. An economically disadvantaged percentage of 93.3% for District 1 compared to 20.7% for District 2 would account for a higher WADA. In addition, District 1's 48% LEP compared to District 2's 2% and District 1's 41% bilingual and 24% CTE compared to 2% and 14% in District 2 would certainly account for the differences in WADA.

This was an eye-opening assignment for me. I had heard about WADA, and I knew that it affected funding, but I had never had any real experience looking at it in a particular district. Even though the purpose of WADA is to account for the increased cost in educating student in special populations, it does not actually make the districts equal. While District 1 received a higher WADA, they had so many more disadvantages to overcome that their funding was not equitable when compared to District 2.

School Finance Week 2 Assignment Part 5

At the suggestion of my superintendent, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, I interviewed our Assistant Superintendent and Business Manager, Mr. Greg Perry, for this portion of the assignment. I gained a great deal of insight from Mr. Perry as he walked me through the budgeting process. Mr. Perry explained the Texas Education Agency’s Summary of Finance Template and the importance of also using the school finance templates from Region XIII. Mr. Perry uses the Region XIII templates to determine the amount of money the school is eligible to receive from the state. Since the TEA Summary of Finance template is comprised of figures set for two years in each legislative session, the school may receive more money from the state than it is entitled to receive. Knowing the amount the school should receive prevents problems, since the excess amount must be returned to the state.

Mr. Perry then explained the budget calendar and the roles of several groups in developing the budget.

First, the Central Office Administrators and Staff are responsible for conducting research into staffing and facility needs. These staff members also play a part in developing budgets for their individual departments. Four departments reside in the Central Office: Business, including the Superintendent; Curriculum, Food Service, and Community Relations. Each of these departments must submit a proposed budget to the Assistant Superintendent/ Business Manager.

The campus principals are each given an allocation based on a per student amount. Each campus gets the same per student amount, and if cuts are made, those cuts are applied to the per student allocation. Each campus principal must develop a budget with input from the campus site based decision-making committee. This budget must fall within the allocated amount, be approved by the site based committee, and be submitted to the Assistant Superintendent.

Site Based Decision Making Committees have the responsibility for approving campus budgets. The campus budgets should reflect the goals set by the committee.

The District Improvement Committee receives an overview and explanation of the district budget. This committee has the option of looking at specific items in the budget and submitting additional items for possible review and inclusion in the budget. An example of one of these additional items would be a teacher benefit the committee wanted to investigate.

Teacher Organizations always have the opportunity to bring forth ideas and requests, but their main involvement in the budget has been to request information regarding salary schedules and the date of their release.

Key Stakeholders have the right to examine the budget and attend public hearings on the adoption of the budget. Required notices for budget and tax rate hearings are placed in the paper so that stakeholders have the opportunity to attend.

The Board of Trustees is given a copy of the budget to examine so that they may ask questions and be informed. The Board ultimately hears the presentation/ explanation and officially approves and adopts the budget.

The budget adoption process is a lengthy process that involves many people. It is important for people to have input and explanations throughout the process so that a fair and appropriate budget is adopted. I have learned so much more about the “big picture” of the budget process than what I previously knew from developing my department’s portion of the budget and from my service on district site based committees. I am grateful that I got the chance to interview Mr. Perry and learn so much.

School Finance Week 2 Assignment Part 4

The Superintendent is ultimately responsible for the district’s budget. My superintendent, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, takes a very “hands on” approach to budgeting. Although the district has very competent people working with the finances, Dr. Hargrove wants to know and be able to explain the budget to stakeholders.  Beginning in March, the Assistant Superintendent, who is the Business Manager, meets with the Dr. Hargrove to discuss the budgeting plan. Then, the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and Curriculum Directors meet with the campus principals to discuss staffing needs, and the Superintendent participates in facility walkthroughs with the maintenance director to determine facility needs.

Once salary and pay rate options are developed, the Assistant Superintendent meets with the Superintendent to present and discuss these options. Before salary and pay rate schedules are adopted, the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent meet with the Board to discuss the options and answer any questions. In May, the Superintendent reviews budget requests with the Assistant Superintendent.

Throughout the budget planning and adoption process, Dr. Hargrove is sure to remain informed about each step. I think it is important for the Superintendent to know her district’s budget. As the person who is chiefly responsible for the budget, she must make it her practice to ask questions, be informed, and be able to answer questions when asked by the public. I have learned many admirable qualities by observing Dr. Hargrove, and this one is no different. I understand and appreciate the importance of taking a “hands on” approach to budgeting.

School Finance Week 2 Assignment Part 3

The TEA Budgeting Guidelines document is a valuable tool that contains a wealth of information. This document outlines the different types of budgetary approaches: line item, performance, program and planning-programming, zero-base, and site-based. The document goes on to discuss the legal requirements for budgeting, annual responsibilities, revenue estimates, expenditure estimates, budget review, approval, and maintenance, and financial forecasting and planning. Budgeting for grant programs and multi-year construction projects are also included. Budgeting is such a complex endeavor, and I am glad that this type of document exists.

I learned through reading this document that there are several different approaches a school district can take for the budgeting process. A brief history and the pros and cons of each type of budget are detailed in the document. The portion on grant funds and indirect costs was helpful, as I deal with federal grant funds. Also, I learned a great deal from the sections on projecting enrollment and forecasting expenditures and revenue. The intricacies of calculating WADA and tax revenue projections can be daunting, and this document gives guidance and direction for those types of projections.

This is a document that I will keep for future reference. I know it is information that I will use not only if I become a superintendent, but also in my current position. Although I am not responsible for the district budget, I am responsible for the Career and Technical Education Budget, including federal Perkins funds. This valuable resource will be something I continue to use.

Week 2 Part 2

After reviewing the budget development calendar and the TASBO Power Point, here are my five most important dates with reasons:

1. September- Campus leveling analysis and review of staffing allocations. It is important to review the current needs before the budget development process begins.

2. November- Budget development planning takes place. The Executive Team identifies budget priorities and initiatives and collects and analyzes student projections. Setting priorities and planning gives direction to the process, and student projections help guide not only spending needs, but also predict expected revenue.

3. June 9- Proposed budget review, publish public notice in newspaper regarding adoption of budget, and post proposed budget summary on the district website. This is an important step in reviewing the budget and in providing for transparency in the financial matters of the district. The public is able to review the budget in light of the previous year's actual spending.

4. August 20- district budget must be prepared. This is a requirement set by the State Board of Education.

5. August 31-school board must adopt the budget by this date. This is a TEA legal requirement.

Reflection: It was difficult to pick only the top 5. Each item on the calendar seems vital to the budget development process. The two dates in August are obviously very important since they are legal requirements, but the others that involve preliminary planning, needs analysis, review, and public information are also necessary to successfully set a fiscally sound budget.

School Finance Week 2 Assignment Part 1

A goal driven budget is a financial plan that matches the expenditures of school district funds with the goals of the board of trustees. Funds should be utilized to achieve board goals. Dr. Elvis Arterbury stated that a goal driven budget should include district and campus goals, which should reflect board goals.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD district improvement plan reflects board goals and a goal driven budget. Five main goals are listed in the plan along with strategies for achieving these goals. The goals of the plan are: provide a quality instructional program that meets the needs of all students, provide students and staff with facilities that are conducive to an orderly, positive learning environment, provide a fiscally sound budget, and involve the community and enlist their support in the implementation of the board’s goals. As each of these goals and the strategies for implementing them are listed in the district improvement plan, the resources and budgeted funds needed are listed along with the sources of funding, persons responsible for implementation, timelines, activities, and evaluation. There are also detailed facilities and technology reports, including budget summaries for these programs. As campus and district budgets are developed, the site-based decision making teams are reminded to keep the improvement plan goals in mind so that the budget reflects these goals.

One goal in the district improvement plan is to provide a quality instructional program that meets the needs of all students. Strategy one for this goal is student accountability, and it addresses increase passing percentages on state tests to 90%, increasing commended performance percentages to 25%, improving scores of special populations, and a focus on improving the scores of economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, and African American students in math and science. In accordance with this strategy, the necessary resources are listed, such as specific instructional materials, staff requirements, professional development, co-enrolled courses, and other necessary staff or material expenses. With each of these needed resources, a source of funding and a budgeted amount is listed.

The district improvement plan for Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD clearly supports Board goals, and the corresponding resources and budgeted funds are evidence of a goal driven budget.

Meeting with Site Supervisor

I met with my superintendent, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, on Thursday, November 4, 2010, in my office to discuss my internship plan. Overall, she liked my plan and shared some experiences she had in doing her own internship. We had a great meeting, and she assured me of her desire to help me through my internship and to see me grow and develop as a leader. I am appreciative of her time and assistance with my plan.

On several of the items in my plan, she gave me ideas on where to get the information, and on a few of them, we were able to talk about the actual concept. She liked that I included activities involving the elementary level, especially in the area of Response to Intervention. For activity number 15, meet with a district leader involved in implementing district change, we talked about her role in implementing our new limited open enrollment policy. Also, this policy came up again on activity number 35, choose a current issue in the district and interview persons on each side of the issue. She suggested this as a possible issue for this activity. Another suggestion she gave was for activity number 33, attend as many school board meetings as possible and write reflections on outcomes. She told me about her experiences with this activity in her own internship, and she suggested that I visit board meetings at districts other than my own for a broader perspective.

One suggestion she gave me for change was changing the name of the resource person for the superintendent evaluation document. I had listed the school board president. While Dr. Hargrove felt that Ms. Mott would be happy to talk to me about the process of the evaluation, the actual document does not originate with the board. Dr. Hargrove has added to the basic document to include board goals and district progress toward those goals. Dr. Hargrove will take care of getting this document to me to review as part of my activity.

Another suggestion was not for a change, but for a possible addition. Dr. Hargrove suggested that I could include my work with the district administrators on implementing and providing exemplars to TASA’s New Vision for Public Education. I had included my work at the state level on the field guide for this document, but I had not included my work with campus level administrators in my own district.

I enjoyed my meeting with Dr. Hargrove, and I am looking forward to completing my internship with her.