Superintendent's Roles and Responsibilities in the Budgeting Process

Week 2: Part 4:
After reviewing the readings for this course and interviewing my superintendent, I learned that while the superintendent often has the starring role in the budget process, he or she is wise to consider and consult a variety of resources to attain a budget that will satisfy the needs of the children of the school community. According to Valenti in Learning from the Best, a superintendent should be transparent and fully disclosing in all expenditure transactions, should hire only the most competent business staff and should ensure the integrity of financial affairs for the entire school community. Along with this, he adds that proper planning and number crunching are vital to preparing and maintaining a balanced budget. My superintendent also mentiioned ethics, honesty and full disclosure as integral parts of the financial planning process.Our school is a small 1A district where Pre-Kindergarten students through High School Seniors are served on the same campus. In our situation, the superintendent is primarily the lone financial officer. He is totally responsible for working up the budget even though input is sought from other stakeholders. Our business manager enters the numbers that are provided to generate the report. Sixty-seven percent of our current budget is salaries and benefits. Once the salaries are worked up and provided to her, she has a very detailed process that determines additional costs based on salaries. Those include workers' comp., unemployment compensation,health insurance, statuatory minimums cost , Teacher Retirement System expenditures, etc. In addition to the salaries, the other expenditures from the previous years are reviewed and adjusted depending on the level spent. Other anticipated items are included. For example, two years ago, a roof had to be replaced, last year air conditioning for the gymnasium was replaced and this year we anticipate purchasing at least one additional bus. It is all put together and you hope for enough funding to balance, and the superintendent continues to monitor the budget throughout the year and recommends budget ammendments as needed.Reflection:The superintendent's role as a financial officer is one of his or her greatest responsibilities. It was suggested in the readings this week that a superintendent devote twenty percent of his time to budgetary needs. This daunting task requires knowledge of the school and students' needs as well as knowledge of budgetary rules and procedures. Ethics is also mentioned as a great portion of meeting the budgeting officer requirements. A trust among the Superintendent and other district stakeholders must be maintained in order for the budget process to go smoothly. Another aspect of the superintendent's role that I have learned is that it is an ongoing, year-long process.