School Finance - Week 2 Assignment, Part 5

Summary of Interview:

Central office administrators and staff work together to collect the necessary information to make projections for the next year’s revenue. They also guide the principals and directors in prioritizing expenditures.  Each principal, along with their site-based committee, assesses the needs of their campus. They develop a budget according to their needs assessment, which is then submitted to central office administrators for review. The district improvement committee, which includes representatives from all campuses and departments, as well as parents, community members, and other key stakeholders, discusses needs to be addressed across the district. The recommendations of the district improvement committee are submitted to central office administrators for review. After all proposals are submitted, the central office administrative team discusses all proposed expenditures with the pertinent personnel. Administrators collaborate and negotiate to prioritized district needs. The assistant superintendent, who is the financial manager of the district, recommends a budget to the superintendent. The superintendent reviews the proposed budget and may make some revisions before presenting it to the board of trustees. The role of the board is to approve (or reject) the proposed budget after they review it, determine whether it is viable, and will promote student success.

Reaction:

I enjoyed interviewing my assistant superintendent. He was very gracious with his time and information during a very busy point in the fiscal year. As I have mentioned before, I am fortunate to have been involved in different aspects of the budget process. Consequently, the timeline and personnel roles were familiar to me. However, it was wonderful hearing his point of view during this interview. The dynamic of our discussion was (of course) very different from when we are in a budget planning meeting with a committee of other individuals. I very much appreciated the opportunity to visit with him face to face about this very critical aspect of his job, which he obviously enjoys.