School Finance - Week 2 Assignment, Part 3

     I am excited to have been exposed to the TEA Budgeting Guidelines. It is an invaluable resource for learning how to develop a school budget and as a reference for state mandates. Prior to reading through this document, I was not aware of how many school budgetary approaches there are. I was aware of the practice of most of them, but I did not know all of the appropriate names. I liked the chronological organization of each approach and the brief summary of the motivating factors of their development – that provided an interesting historical perspective.

     I was particularly interested in the Legal Requirements for Budget subsection. Since I have not be in the position of the superintendent or business manager, I have not had a purpose for looking at legal requirements of many areas of the budget. I learned that this document provides a concise quick-reference to information that is very important in preparing the district budget – not only for the superintendent, but for any administrator who takes on a new position of responsibility.

     The subsection Annual Budget Responsibilities and Guidelines is very helpful for a new superintendent. Although I have taken part in the budget process in several capacities, there are many areas for which I have little experience. Consequently, I think I will find this section a wonderful tool to keep me “on track” when I am responsible for drafting a district budget.