I was only able to speak with our deputy superintendent briefly about this assignment. In our district the superintendent is primarily over things dealing with curriculum and instruction while our deputy superintendent serves as the chief financial officer for the district.
The first thing he wanted me to know was that our budget planning is primarily site-based; however there is no official site based team. The district is small with only three schools. Principals and program directors are asked for input into the budget. Some items are zero-based as well. Knowing your ADA and WADA is very important when planning the budget. These must be taken into account. ADA is basically how much money the school will get based on attendance. WADA takes into account that is cost more to educate some students than others. These numbers determine your funding. Out ADA last year was 738, but our WADA was 1149. We also get money from free and reduced lunch students of about 120,000 and title I money is about 119,000.
Requests for budget proposals go out in March to principals and program directors. They meet with faculty and staff to determine needs. These are returned by the end of April. The proposals are returned and discussed. A preliminary budget is drafted by mid June. The final budget is approved by the board in late August after 2-3 budget studies. Funds do not roll over from one year to the next. The budget is approved at the August board meeting.
With everything going on in our district right now, I appreciate his willingness to give me this information, especially with some actual numbers.
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