WEEK 5 REFLECTIONS

As Superintendents we are the leaders of the educational organization and those we lead are a reflection of us.  It is our responsibility to lead in a manner that supports ethical and morally right behavior.  We are entrusted with leading the youth of today and building them into leaders of tomorrow.  Our actions should always be in aligned with modeling acceptable behavior.  Also, we must ensure our employees are properly educated regarding Texas educator ethics and when someone violates those standards we must act in a fast, firm and consistent manner.                

For me personally the assignment that I found the most helpful was week three involving revenues because as I mentioned our district has received less revenue the last two years and it has cause us to reassess what we are doing.  I did not realize how many formulas and calculations were used to determine how much money we get to accomplish our goals.  It is often not enough to meet the needs of our students and as leaders we must communicate the need to help students be successful even if it some from some local funds.  As my Superintendent told me communication is the key, keep the board informed so when an expense comes up they can see the justification in needing to correct the problem.  Also important is the number of students in attendance each day and what services they may need.  A decline of 1% attendance over a year can be costly for a district and we need to work together to keep kids coming to school so they can achieve success.  Although the finance system is a mess sometimes we do have a foundation to work on and if we can get legislators in Austin to see the plight we can fix it and generate revenue to build the leaders of tomorrow.

Finally, this course required a group wiki and blog component and I think these things are used or lost.  By returning to my blog I was able to look back at the progress I have made and how I viewed things months ago and how my perception has changed somewhat.  In addition, I became more familiar with a wiki and how to sue it for collaboration.  I am now able to better communicate and share with educators across the state in an effort to get productive feedback on my thoughts and feelings about education.  Working together and reaching a consensus on different topics and seeing that campuses in various locations of the state sometimes fight the same battles.  I am glad to have begun developing a network of classmates to bounce ideas off of and build relationships with.  All in all I have a solid foundation to continue learning about the ever changing world of school finance because of this course.        

 

Week 4 Reflections

Overall my impression and feelings are that FIRST is a great plan and approach to standardizing financial rating.  In the past few years budgets have continued to get tighter and people have become more inquisitive regarding the expenditures within the district.  Like with everything in education we must remember that students come first as they are those we serve and the reason we are in education.  There are so many districts who have been financially irresponsible and wasted money it is refreshing to work in a district who has made sound financial decisions by making a fund balance, transparency and consistency a priority in our purchasing department.

In my educational career I have been afforded the opportunity to work in a large district and a small district and have seen these financial differences first hand.  In the district I work in now we have four campuses and right around 2,000 students.  We have a significantly lower salary scale than the districts around us and it is seen in the high turnover rate we have amongst teachers each year.  Personally, I have to fill 3 job titles to get the salary I was getting in a large district doing one job.  The other large difference I would say involves professional development.  In the larger district we were able to train a larger number of teachers and impact the a larger student population than in a small district where we financially can’t afford the expense of a lot of outside professional development.  

 

Although it seems like an easy fix and a way to save money differentiated staffing isn’t easy to get people to buy into otherwise we would probably already see it across the state.  As mentioned in the lecture differentiated staffing will most likely be met by resistance from teachers who don’t want to take on additional roles, parents and community members who may view it is a means of eliminating jobs.  This is something that needs to be taken into consideration especially in a small district like mine who is the largest employer of people in the community.  I believe that if this approach was taken for non-essential personnel, especially after attrition I feel we can present this as an opportunity to be more financially responsible as a district with minimal impact, if any, on the instruction our students receive.

After considering all these things I was able to discuss the possibility of a pay raise with the CFO. This year they were only able to give a step raise and a $600 raise to administrators.  The goal is to have the portion of the budget committed to salaries and benefits under 80% and since we are already over that there was no way a larger raise could be considered.  In addition, we are currently operating under a sliding salary scale for administrators so many individuals within a pay grade are paid significantly different amounts.  The combination of these two things make a 5% pay raise virtually impossible in my district.  This is a difficult situation to be in because since we pay lower than surrounding districts leading to a high turnover rate we would like to give a significant pay raise in an effort to keep some consistency in our instructional staff.  However, if we were to give a pay raise of this magnitude it would mean having to let go of some teachers meaning larger class sizes.  They felt at this time the pros of a pay raise were outweighed by the cons of the impact it could have on instruction.  Moving forward we are hoping that our property values may rebound and we are able to see an increase in revenues to provide some financial flexibility next year to consider a pay raise.

Although I was able to meet with the CFO regarding the audit, this specific activity could not have come at a more perfect time for me as I have been required to attend the last 4 board meetings to make presentations.  At each of these board meetings the issue of the audit and auditors has been on the agenda and discussed.  The board had asked for bids from auditors as they wished to change from the current company because the previous auditor did not present the audit in a timely manner.  After receiving the bid they asked for a team of 8 meeting with the CFO to learn more about how to read an audit.  They wanted to be armed with this information as they asked each bidder to make a presentation to the board and they wanted to know what specific questions to ask the auditors before they ultimately chose one.  After choosing an auditor the auditor sent a list of requested documents for the business office to provide them by September 1 regarding the previous year’s budget.  The auditor then came to the business office last week and reviewed the documents in the business office.  Next, they will take the documents and their notes to their office and return in October with a preliminary report.  The main areas that were addressed in our audit were matters of internal control and consistency which led to the revision of the policy and procedure manual within the business department last year.  These additional controls over spending and the requisitioning of money are critical to improving the efficiency and consistency within our purchasing across the district.  Once the auditor has completed their work they will provide their findings to the CFO and Superintendent as well as make a presentation to the school board.  The findings of the auditor will then be discussed amongst the business department and leadership and determine what measures if any need to be taken to continue improving the efficiency of our budgeting and purchasing. 

Week 3 Budgetting

Reviewing this information allowed us to realize what a daunting task school finance is for districts across the state.  It is critical that the Superintendent be aware of how revenues are generated for school districts and how to justify expenses based on need.  Using the snapshot and summary of finance data we were able to determine the data required for this task.  Although district 1 has a smaller ADA they have a larger WADA.  This is because the WADA is calculated using additional funding percentages for special populations of students, providing districts with additional funds to meet the needs of those students.  Therefore, since District 1 had a much higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students they end up with more funding.


There seemed to be an agreement of confusion on how to calculate the total target revenue for the M&O fund using the information provided.  We worked tirelessly to research how this calculation is figured, but to this time have been unable to do so.  We were however, able to gather the revenue per WADA @ Compressed rate.  Finally, we were able to determine the number of teachers, nurses, librarians, and counselors for each district using the documents provided.  All members did a good job analyzing the data and determining what we could about M&O calculations and how those calculations can be effected by student attendance and their individual needs. 

In Venus ISD our M&O fund is $2,806,658 at the compressed rate.  We are located  south of the DFW area within region 11.  Our student population was comprised of 54% Caucasian, 40% Hispanic, 4% African American, and 2% other.  In addition, we are comprised of 68% economically disadvantaged, 15% LEP, and 48% at risk.  All these figures tie in to the money we are receiving from the state.  Currently our tax rate is 1.040 with an I&S fund rate of .20 with a Weighted ADA of 2582.045.  Since we are considered a medium sized district with over 1600 students we receive an adjustment for that as well.  Due to our large at risk and free and reduced lunch population and other special populations we receive a substantial amount of money from the state which in combination with the WADA funds the M&O budget.

After reviewing the data I was able to schedule a meeting with the CFO and determine that nearly 82% of our M&O funding is used to pay personnel and related expenses.  To this date we have done a good job of utilizing this money in the areas of greatest need within our special populations.  We have been able to hire personnel to keep class size low as well as offer support services and interventions to students in need.  One of the biggest things we have done to better use our money to meet the needs of our students in the past two years was to get out of a special education cooperative and have a standalone program as well as a standalone ESL program.  Through evaluation of the budget and open discussion it was determined that we could better utilize our money by ourselves.  This has led to an improvement in those programs and the services our students receive.  Moving forward I know they continue to evaluate our expenses in that manner and we continue to look for ways to be more financially responsible while meeting the needs of our students.   
 

Additional Stakeholders and Budget

• Central Office Administrators and Staff,
• They can provide assistance in developing a plan for meeting the goals set by the school board.
• They can interpret data on where our district, and its campuses are
• Help determine which programs or interventions are needed to lead to meaningful change and improvement in the district.
• Help develop the district improvement plan
• Recruit support from the community and businesses for district initiatives

 

• Principals,
• They need to meet with leaders on their campus to identify their greatest areas of need
• Identify areas of academic and instructional deficiencies that need to be addressed
• Identify capital purchase needs
• Identify major projects needed to maintain or improve facilities that need to be budgeted for
• Devise a campus improvement plan that supports the district plan and goals

 

 

• Site Based Decision Making Committees,
• Identify needs of the campus
• Work with principal to identify professional development needs
• Develop the campus improvement plan
• Have input into the campus budget proposal

 

• District Improvement Committee,
• Plan for the future (5-10 years)
• Assist in developing the District Improvement Plan
• Determine programs needed to address deficiencies

 

• Teacher Organizations
• Provide input on ways to improve staff retention

 

 

• Key Stakeholders
• Garner support for school board initiatives
• Provide financial support to the school district

 

• Board of Trustees
• Approval of the budget
• Represent their constituents and needs represented in the community
• Garner support for tax increase or bond issue needs of the school district

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     This whole process of learning how the budgeting process works has been a tremendous learning experience and has further reinforced that leading a school district effectively is not a one person job.  As a Superintendent we need to take a collaborative approach to those things we can, which includes the budgeting process. 

     We need all educational stakeholders to assist us in developing a budget that adequately meets the needs of our students.  Central office administrators and staff help us see the big picture of the district as a whole.   They work in conjunction with the Superintendent to devise a district plan that supports the goals set forth by the school board.  More than any other groups they can look at the achievement and staff retention data to determine our greatest areas of need district wide.  In addition, they plan and gather financial support for the programs that we will begin using to address the needs of the district.  Principals on the other hand need to consider the greatest needs on their campus.  They need to develop a campus improvement plan that addressed their deficiencies and plan for improvement while maintaining alignment with the district vision, mission and goals.  Also, principals need to keep us abreast of their building maintenance and capital purchase needs.  By allowing us to know these needs and attempt to budget for them we can try to avoid major expenses throughout the year that we have not budgeted for.  These principals will work in conjunction with their site based teams to identify their campuses greatest academic deficiencies and a plan to address them.  Also, they can work within their department and report back on their anticipated budgetary needs for the year.  The teachers on this committee have the best vantage point to what teachers need in order to properly implement any new district initiatives in the district plan.  This brings us to the district improvement committee which helps devise a long term plan for the school district.  One of the key roles of the Superintendent is to manage short term resources while maintaining a long range plan.  We must be visionaries and set a course for where we want to go in the future.  The next two groups of people we need to consider are outside the school district, teacher organizations and key stakeholders.  Teacher organizations are often viewed as thorns in the side of school districts bringing about grievance procedures.  By building a positive relationship with these types of organizations we can seek input on what it would require in our budget to be financially competitive with those districts around us.  In addition, teacher organizations can provide insight into what steps could be taken to improve teacher retention a key ingredient to continual improvement.   Next, we have other stakeholders such as community and business members.  We need to build positive relationships with these stakeholders as they can assist us in furthering district initiatives.  With budgets getting tighter and tighter we need to begin thinking outside the box which may require additional funding.  With this these stakeholders can also help spread the good things we are doing in the school district throughout the community.  Therefore, when we do need to approach the voters with things such as tax increases or bond elections we have built bridges that can help us be successful in securing funding.  The final group we need to consider in the budget process is the board of trustees.  They can be considered the most important group in this process as they are the ones who ultimately approve the budget presented to them by the Superintendent.  As elected officials they are supposed to represent their constituents with their voting power and thus can help gather support for tax increases or bond issues to support district need.  Thus, it is critical to build relationships with these seven individuals they need to be aware of what is happening in the district so when a need arises for budgetary changes they can make informed decisions.

     At the end of the day gathering information about the budget involves people and thus requires us to develop relationships with these people.  In addition, we need communication as a key to success.  If we can do these things we can gather input from various sources in order to develop and approve a budget that meets the needs of the all educational stakeholders. 

Superintendent Roles and Responsibilities in Budgeting

I feel I am extremely fortunate to work for a Superintendent who is approachable and willing to help me learn about all the responsibilities he has with open and frank discussion, and budget was no different.  He feels that he needs to be as transparent as possible with stakeholders on where we are, where we want to go and what it is going to take for us to get there.  He is a visionary for improvement and he spends a great deal of time educating the school board about what is going on in the school district.  One of the most important things he feels is having a relationship with the school board that is positive so that he can garner their support for initiatives that are needed.  He begins each school year with areas of concern from each campus and talks to the building principals to determine what it will take to improve the greatest weaknesses and areas of need.  Next, he discusses with the CFO the revenue projections to determine what a reasonable budget will look like.  He then is responsible for working with the CFO and district leaders that adequately meets the needs of our students.  This Superintendent in particular relies a lot on the CFO to crunch the numbers and he “sells” the budget to stakeholders.  He has a very good reputation in the community and is great at striking up conversation and letting people know what is going on.  This has served us well as a district as he has been able to educate people who thought they know how a budget is done to the reality of the difficulty in devising a budget.  As many small districts around us have been struggling we have been able to make improvements to our buildings, meet the needs of our students as well as grow our fund balance under his watch.  He says one of the best things he ever did was begin attending the county tax meetings.  When those people see he is the only Superintendent there he feels he can have a sense of what is going on or coming in the near future and we can plan accordingly.  I hope in my career as a Superintendent I can be as effective as he has been at improving the financial standing of our school district.

     Overall the biggest thing I took from this interview regarding the budget is that it, like many other things in leadership, is heavily based on building relationships.  The Superintendent needs to have an open communication with the board at all times.  They need to know what is going on in the district and the legislature that may affect what we are doing or will need to do in the future.  I now look at the TASA and TexasISD website every couple of days to have a better handle on what is going on in education.  In addition, I have gotten a list from him of all the areas we receive money from so I can begin building relationships with the companies and highest tax payers in the district.  These are the individuals who are providing the most financial support to our endeavors and we need to build relationships with them.  Also, I want to use my people skills to assist in recruiting additional businesses into the area.  I believe my ability to work well with others is going to help me be an effective Superintendent who can also be a financially responsible leader thanks to people like my Superintendent and CFO who allow me to be involve in the process.

TEA Budgeting guidelines

After reviewing the information I tried to put it in the context of my district to think how we operate now.  From this I would say that our CFO creates a line item budget to the board for approval after seeking input from the district level directors.  Although this works in a small district I definitely see how a larger district would definitely consider a site based budget process.  The next thing I learned is that there is a requirement for a public budget meeting as well as an evaluation of spending regarding the budget.  The evaluation piece I would like to investigate further to learn how budgets and expenses are evaluated so I can make good decisions as a Superintendent.  Next, I read that a district is required to maintain their budget summary on their website for three years from adoption which I believe helps with transparency a much needed thing in education right now as our budgets become heavily criticized in the media.  The final two things that stuck out with me were that a district can have a .04 base tax rate increase without an election and that there is aid and existing debt.  All these things will help improve my knowledge of the budget process to be a financially responsible educational leader. 

Armed with this information I have begun formulating ideas in my brain on how I will handle budgets in the future.  First, of all I would like to use a site-based approach to the budget with a small number of trusted individuals.  There is strength in collaboration and differing perspectives.  I think we owe it to our students to have their needs at the center of our spending plan and the way you do that is to have representation.  Secondly, I want to have a CFO I can trust to work on the budget with and ensure we are making decisions in line with the law.  In addition, I want to build a positive relationship with the board so that we can have meaningful discussions regarding district goals and the budget needed to support those goals.  I believe one of my strengths is that I am a big picture person and I can consider short term resources while having a long term plan which was mentioned in the guidelines.  Finally, I want to know we have an evaluation piece in place that is frank and honest about what we are doing.  I want to do what is right by people and what is best for kids and that requires that we evaluate ourselves and our decisions critically and on a regular basis.  Although I have a lot to learn I believe I have the characteristics and desire to perform the job well that will help me become a financially responsible Superintendent. 

Goal Driven Budgets

     I have always said it is important for people to have goals of where they want to get to.  How are we supposed to know how to get somewhere if we don’t know where we are going.  The same is true for a school district, as a Superintendent we are the leader and need to ensure that it is clear to everyone in our school district knows what our goals are, how we plan on accomplishing these goals, and what their role is helping achieve these goals.  More specifically surrounding the budget a goal driven budget is using our money in a way that helps achieve the goals of the district, and each campus within the district.  As Dr. Arterbury mentioned in the lecture if a goal is directed at effectively teaching math then we should spend money on teachers and materials to assist in the teaching and learning of math. 

     Once we have established a district belief in a goal driven budget then we have to put the plan in place to ensure we have procedures in place to ensure that happens.  As mentioned earlier goals are important and before beginning the budget preparation process we need to seek input from the school board, as they set the district goals, which I feel is extremely evident in my school district.  As a small district the board members are well aware of what is going on in the school district and no financial decisions are made without the information getting out to the public.  Since we recently had three new board members elected the Superintendent scheduled a team of 8 training aimed specifically at budgeting.  This training helped the new members, and remind the old members of the board understand how to look at the budget as well as their roles in the development process.  Shortly after this meeting the board came up with goals for the district.  Once this was completed we had a district leadership meeting in which the Superintendent shared with us the direction we were headed and we had a three day meeting to revise our district goals.  It was at this time that we settled on improving our professional development  program, and improving writing across the district.  Next, we returned to our individual campuses and revised our campus plans to ensure they were aligned with the district goals and improvement plans.  When all this was completed then we were able to provide the CFO with a list of budgetary needs for our campus to adequately meet the needs of our students and accomplish the district and campus goals. 
     Overall being able to be involved in this process has been a learning experience no textbook could have done for me.  As with anything else this only part of the process and there is always unforeseen events that cause changes in the budget.  Therefore, my Superintendent said he is always consulting with the school board of what is happening in the district and incidents that may require financial support to accomplish.   It was a coincidence that two days before I met with the Superintendent we had a pipe break in the high school library and a decision had to made as to fix it immediately or wait for the insurance company to offer a claim settlement.  This required a special called board meeting and discussion where it was evident the board respects the Superintendent as he was able to share his opinion and they were supportive of a plan to repair the damage allowing students to use the classrooms and not be displaced.  The budget is always a touchy subject and I am fortunate to have been involved in the development of the district budget.