Final Reflection

 Final Reflection

Well, let me start off by saying that this course was probably the most time consuming course that I have taken from Lamar to date. This has felt like the longest 5 weeks in Lamar history. It has been an interesting journey. I defiantly can say. Looking back at this class there are areas that I have learned a lot from and would have no trouble going out tomorrow and teaching it to someone else. Then there are other areas that I am still trying to wrap my head around. Through my interviews and readings I now have a better understanding and appreciation for why there is a Central Office and why it takes everyone there to run the district. If I take nothing else away from this class I do know one thing. You cannot do it alone. You must surround yourself with great people that all share the same vision. There is way too much for one person to handle affectively. The Summery of Finance” was a huge eye opener for me. The funding is an area that blew my mind. I understand that the state is trying to make education equal for everyone but I don’t know if that is really happening. The smaller school seem like they are always playing catch up with no chance of putting any money in the bank. Schools that are “property rich” seem to be doing well financially and have the money to attract very highly qualified teachers by paying very good salaries. Everyone else is just keeping their heads above water. I don’t have a good answer to the problem at this time but I hope to one day have the knowledge to make the necessary changes. As far as the wiki and blogs go, the jury is still out on them at this point. I understand the importance of them and how they can be used but I don’t think I have tapped into that yet. I have no problem with creating and posting to my blog or wiki but I find myself never really taking the time to use them as an effective communication tool. That is an area that I can get better in. Communication is so vital in our profession and it is up to us to exploit every way, shape and form of it to become an effective leader. 

Code of Ethics

CODE OF ETHICS

(C) Standard 1.3. The educator shall not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursement, expenses, or pay.

I saw this when I was coaching. Some coaches would write down an inaccurate mileage when using their personal vehicle for school related activities. These actions cost the district a few thousand dollars a year.

Short and Long Term Consequences

Short: Employee must repay any reimbursement that was received from falsified mileage logs.

Long: Employee may be terminated to his/her actions in regards to school funds.

Preventative Action Plan

Provide a school vehicle for employees to use instead of their personal vehicle when traveling to school related events or activities.

SBEC - Exhibit understanding and implement policies and procedures that promote district personnel compliance with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators.

(L) Standard 1.12. The educator shall refrain from the illegal use or distribution of controlled substances and/or abuse of prescription drugs and toxic inhalants.

I once work with a teacher that had a problem with prescription drugs due to many surgeries. His conduct and behavior what very dangerous and was a huge liability to the students and the district. He was able to go undetected for several years before the district was able to release him of his duties. He was a walking liability to the district. He was seen throwing himself down a flight stairs at school in hopes to collect disability from the district.

Short and Long Term Consequences

Short: Suspended from form work without pay.

Long: Mandatory drug test for a set period of time. This will be determined by the board. Termination of employment will be effected if the staff member fails to comply.

Preventative Action Plan

Teachers and staff should be eligible for random drug testing done through the district by an out sourced company.

SBEC - Serve as an advocate for all children.

 (M) Standard 1.13. The educator shall not consume alcoholic beverages on school property or during school activities when students are present.

We had an educator consuming alcohol while on a trip with students from a school organization. Some of the students’ parents were present as chaperones but the activity was school related. Then this individual posted pictures to Facebook. These types of actions can leave the district venerable to lawsuits. This can lead to an unnecessary finical issue for the district.

Short and Long Term Consequences

Short: Band for a period of time from going on any school related trips or activities.

Long: Termination of employment.

Preventative Action Plan

Every school group or club will have more than one sponsor/coach participate when the group or club is involved in any activity that is off campus.

SBEC - Apply laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner.

(B) Standard 2.2. The educator shall not harm others by knowingly making false statements about a colleague or the school system.

There was an issue last year where many of our staff members created and sent out an email that was very negative and demeaning to the school district. This email was based off of private and personal information. All of the people involved used their school email address to send or forward this letter. This in itself is a violation of school policy. These staff members could have cost some people their jobs due to the fact that they involved them unknowingly. This could have also lead to lawsuits over defamation of character.

   (G) Standard 2.7. The educator shall not retaliate against any individual who has filed a complaint with the SBEC or who provides information for a disciplinary investigation or proceeding under this chapter.

I don’t all of the details but this happen in a district I was at years ago. They had a huge mess on their hands. There was a lawsuit pending on an employee at the same time this employee was harassing the teacher that was called in as a witness. All I do know is that the school was shelling out some bucks to the attorneys that were handling the case. Like more of these examples there usually is an attorney in evolved.

Annual External Financial Audit

Week 4 Part 5 Comment

The Annual External Financial Audit is a way to involve all of the stakeholders in the district. It also keeps the financial side of the district very transparent. The auditors are used as a nonpartisan entity to make sure the school district is maintaining financial responsibility with the tax payers’ money. These audits can also help a district identify any areas of weakness or concern that may have been overlooked. With all of the laws and regulation that a school district is faced with it is nice to have an extra set of eyes looking over things. It provides a good check and balance system for a school district. I would hate to see school districts operate without an annual audit. 

Understanding FIRST

The most important features of “FIRST” are:

1) Ensures adequate and appropriate funding.

2) Connected to the AEIS accountability system.

3) Districts accountable for expenditures.

These three features all provide schools with guidance and vision for budgeting funds in such a way that best benefits students. The FIRST system serves as an accountability system to help guide the decision-making processes of administrators as they develop the district’s budget. “FIRST” is used to address instructional needs that ensure funding is being provided as an adequate and appropriate resource for instruction.

Included in instructional budgeting is appropriate funding for special populations, general education students, as well as CTE students, etc. If a district fails to do this it will be revealed in the external audit process, but perhaps more importantly, it could easily cause a drop in AEIS accountability ratings. Speaking from our current situation is not a good place to be. Being on the low end of the accountability rating is a deep hole to dig your way out of.

There is also a strong emphasis on meeting deadlines for filing audit reports and making certain there are no material weaknesses in the manner funds are budgeted and allocated within the district. These two items are more concrete than some of the others mentioned, but certainly important. We also discussed that FIRST assists districts to be more transparent in their financial practices. This allows the taxpayers to see how their money is being spent to educate the students that we serve.

Being held to a high standard for all expenditures should prevent districts from frivolous spending which is even more important in today’s funding crisis. Any money that a district does not use should be put toward the fund balance every chance they get.  This is something that must be taken into consideration because of the uncertainty of funding and shortfalls across the state. FIRST rewards districts for being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. It is sad to see students suffer because districts are unable to make good sound financial decisions.

Personnel Salaries in District Budgets

Week 4 Part 4 Comment

When discussing salaries with one of our districts administrator we talked about the truth behind a pay raises. The way my district does it in based off of a “Mid-Point”. So the pay raise will be more beneficial for those with few years than those with many years of service. It is not a true 4% pay raise based off of your current salary. That is what my district did this school year. The board approved a 4% pay increase in hopes to close the gap in regards to surrounding school districts’ salaries. We have been way behind them for a number of years. So the board felt that this would help bring in more qualified teachers and help keep the ones that we already have. The district was able to do this without raising taxes which was a good thing but it did very little in regards to closing the salary gap. I think if you are going to give a raise it should be done straight across the board. The 4 or 5 % should be based off of your current salary not a mid-point. This shows district loyalty to those who have been loyal to the district for their tenure. The problem lies in the zero year pay scale. To me, this districts sales pitch. The price has to be right in order to bring in highly qualified people. If the numbers are not there they will take their services elsewhere.

Week 3 Part 4 Reflection

This assignment has opened my eyes to an area of uncharted territory. There is so much to learn when it comes to school funding. At times this has been a little overwhelming but a welcome challenge. I have spoken to our finance director many times in the last few weeks in regards to question about funding and budgeting. She was the first one to say that you can’t do it all by yourself. It is a group effort and everyone lends a hand in the process. It is almost impossible for one person to be an expert in all areas of state and local funding and district budgeting.

As I reviewed my districts finance summery I tried to wrap my head around all the numbers so that it made since. I was shocked to see the amount of money it takes to operate a school district. I had to crunch the numbers several time because I thought that I was entering them in wrong. What a sticker shock. 

M & O Calculations

Revenue per WADA @Compressed Rate

District 1- $5,044
District 2- $ 7,206

Using the WADA figures from Part 1 above, calculate the total target revenue for the M & O – Maintenance & Operations Fund for each district (the figure is not included in the Snapshots),

District 1- $5,044 X 5,555.815= $28,023,530.86
District 2- $7,206 X $4794.076= $34,546,111.656

Identify the total number of teachers, librarians, nurses & counselors in each district.

District 1- 
Teachers- 265
Librarians, nurses and counselors-49 (618 total staff X .08 Professional Support Staff)
Total Teachers, nurses, librarians and counselors- 314

District 2- 
Teachers- 265
Librarians, nurses and counselors- 34 (560 total staff X .06 Professional Support Staff)
Total Teachers, nurses, librarians and counselors- 299

ADA Position Statement

1. Percentage of Economically Disadvantaged Students

              District 1 – 93.3%

              District 2 – 20.7%

2. Total Refined ADA Adjusted for Decline

              District 1 – 3,893.754

              District 2 – 4,032.937

3. Weighted ADA (WADA)

             District 1 -  5,555.815

             District 2 – 4,794.076

WADA was great for district 1 than it was for district 2 because of the number of economically disadvantaged students. District 1 had 93.3 and district 2 had 20.7 economically disadvantaged students. If i'm not mistaken, each economically disadvantaged student count as 1.2 students which helps determine a percentage of funding in the WADA calculation. 

Stakeholder Input

Stakeholder Input In The Budgeting Process

Central Office Administrators and Staff

          Central Office staff contributes valuable input into the budget process. Every director becomes a sounding board for each campus throughout the district. This is department specific, technology, finance, maintenance, curriculum etc. They gather information, concerns and wishes from each campus in regards to the follow school year.  Is information is analyzed to determine how each campus can be better served.

Principals

            Principals are responsible for working with their campus improvement planning teams in identify the needs of the campus and formulating these needs into aligned campus goals. The principals need to be an effective manager of the school funds while they are fulfilling the role of campus leader.

Campus Site Base Teams

            This team represents all employees. The teachers, custodians, cafeteria employees, business leaders, and parents all come together to discuss the needs of the students and what resources are required to accomplish those needs.  This information helps to form a shared vision and shared goals for the campus and the students.

District Site Base Teams

            District site base teams work together to offer support and advice to the board for creating the district goals, as well as offer advice to current concerns and or issues the district is faced with. This information is passed on to the Superintendent and board to identify funding resources to address the issues.

Teacher Organizations and Key Stakeholders

            These two groups can offer information to the Superintendent and the school board.  This is an effort to show that school district is willing to listen to all stakeholders within the district. The ideas can help aide in the creation of the board adopted goals for the following school year.

Board of Trustees

            The boards of trustees have the final say in the adoption of a school budget. It is very important that the Superintendent works alongside the school board, and keeps a good line of communication open with the board members at all times.  Every decision that is made by the board must be done with students of the district as top priority.

Role of a Superintendent in the Budget Process

For this assignment, I interviewed my site supervisor Jon Forsythe. Mr. Forsythe is the Director of Students Services for Brenham ISD and the former Superintendent for Fayetteville ISD. In discussing the superintendent’s roles and responsibilities in the budgeting process, Mr. Forsythe stated that “budgeting is the backbone of the district. With limited revenue available to fund programs designed to meet the needs of all students and fixed expenses needed for the operation of the district, creative budgeting plays an essential role to maximize student achievement.

The superintendent is responsible for ensuring that the financial operations of the district. The superintendent is also responsible for overseeing that the financial decisions being made align with the vision of the district. The financial template was created by Region XIII, for the use of the superintendent to use in collaboration with the finance director. The content of the template relates to M&O tax rates, WADA information, student counts, property value information, and tax collection data.

This information can help a superintendent see patterns within the district which can be very useful information.  These patters can show a superintendent areas of weakness or concerns as well as areas of strengths and highlights for a district. The superintendent has many responsibilities but it take a team to run a school district. It is very important for the superintendent to utilize his or her team in any way that can be beneficial to the school districts success. The template can provide data to help you better and more efficiently use your staff and their knowledge when analyzing these trends and patterns.