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.