EDLD 5342
Importance of a Goal-Driven Budget
In the beginning of the district budget process, working together with the board of trustees in identifying goals that spring from PEIMS coding and WADA is essential. As a young administrator, the district and campus leaders constantly talked about how important coding was in reporting to the state. Now, as we look carefully at the budget process, another aspect of the importance of coding comes to light, as emphasized by Dr. Artebury when he spoke about looking at the state reports that come out in July with PEIMS codes indicating the needs of certain students such as economically disadvantaged. WADA also helps the process to begin setting goals since it indicates funds that will be available for the district for their programs. In this critical part of the budget process, the board of trustees take on one of their most important functions since this lays the groundwork for a goal-driven budget developed through the building of the district improvement plan and the campus improvements plans that coordinate with it.
The way that the Socorro ISD District Improvement Plan is put together demonstrates a clear alignment between district vision, mission and goals with campus goals and objectives. This is an example of what Dr. Artebury means when he talks about principals being encouraged to develop a campus plan that is, “a version of the vision”. Every campus goal stems from a district goal, and then it is broken down by objective and sub-objectives. Campus improvement teams participate in a process that makes sure the objective is measurable, as well how to tell when the activity corresponding to the objective is implemented and how to tell when it is accomplished. One of the most important components that is constantly stressed is what funds will be used to drive the activity’s objective and who will be responsible for making it happen. The campus improvement team, made up of teachers, students, parents and community business owners review the plan when it completed gathering input from different stakeholders.
It is reviewed by directors of different central office departments to assure it correlates with district goals and that the funding cited is correct for the type of activity. At the district level, committees meet comprised of a combination of district personnel, campus personnel and community members to review campus plans and department plans to align them with the district improvement plan. Our superintendent, from the very beginning of his tenure, has insisted on transparency in how the district conducts business. The budget process is no exception to this as several community meetings in each high school feeder pattern are held throughout the year to inform the public of progress on the budget and other issues of concern. This is the embodiment of what Dr. Nicks calls the importance of,”communicate, communicate, communicate”. As future superintendents, it is necessary to keep in mind excellent communication not only means imparting information to people, but to be good listeners. Another fine example of making sure communication is as open as possible is to make sure board of trustees members are updated on a continual basis throughout the process so the superintendent can gain important insights of other community feeling and ideas about the budget. Dr. Artebury emphasizes working with the board is critical to getting community feedback and understanding political undercurrents that effect budget considerations.
I thought this was an interesting process because we had to review the entire process to choose our top five. What became clear was all the steps in the process are important; none can or should be left out. It was tough to choose five because leaving something out would be disastrous. I think that was the point of doing this. Our groups’ points are strong, but hinge on other steps being done before or after.
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