TEA Budgeting Guidlines

After reviewing the TEA Budgeting Guidelines, I better understand how the budget reflects the values of the school district. The school district sets goals based on their mission and vision, and the school district funds activities that will accomplish their goals. The budget should be the product of a planning process. One of the objectives of budgeting is accountability to the taxpayers. Since we in a since oversee taxpayers’ money, we should budget conservatively. The three major phases of the budget process are: planning, preparation, and evaluation. Funds must be used in a way that will help the district reach its goals that are aligned with its vision. The budget must be evaluated as to its effectiveness in accomplishing the district’s goals. There are several legal requirements for the development of the budget. Almost all of a school district’s revenue is a combination of local and state aid. Federal funds and grants supplement local and state funds but only make up a small fraction of the entire budget. It is important for superintendents to know how to forecast and plan for expenditures, revenue, and (ADA/WADA) student enrollment. The ability to manage the funds of a district effectively and efficiently is crucial to the success of your school district. This entire process cannot be done efficiently without the help and support of all stakeholders. The budget is the foundation for your district. It can make you or break you. 

Goal Driven Budget

Goal Driven Budgets

Goal driven budgets is one that assists in the attainment of a shared vision for the school district and every campus. Goal driven budgeting is implemented in all district in some form or fashion. The goal is for all stakeholders to share a vision in which funds are allocated towards these common goals. Input from all stakeholders should lead to a definite connection between the Board of Trustees and the district and campus goals stated in the improvement plans.  When this level of vision sharing occurs, the final produce will be a strong goal driven budget.    

In our district plan our curriculum needs were addressed with the intent to fully incorporate CSCOPE in all schools for the 2012-2013 school year. Also, the continued use of Eduphoria which aides in the effort to closely monitor student progress in regards to STAAR testing and unit test among other things. Student attendance plays a major factor in our district goals. We hired attendance clerks to monitor and address student attendance on a daily basis. The budget was drafted to include these expenditures and the Board of Trustees approved them. The remainders of the items in the campus improvement plans were also provided for in the allocations of the budget.

As stated in our lecture with Dr. Artebury, multiple stakeholders are involved in this total driven budget process. The Board of Trustees and the superintendent develop the district goals, and then our District Site Base Committee develops our district improvement plan. The each campus site base committee develops the Campus Improvement Plan. This process reflects the concept stated in the lecture of suggesting to the principals that the campus plan and goals should be a “version of the vision “.  It is important to have a Board that truly knows what the goals of the district should be. Therefore, those goals can be implemented for all students’ success utilizing the total budget driven process.