Effective and Efficient

Budgeting Practices

Dakisha Perry, Andrea Dagnalan, Sandra Byrd,

Magnus Hemans, and Robin Griffin
 The Budget Plan

1. The secret for successful budgeting is three-part:

visionary manefestation

constancy in planning

an interminable linkage to school goals and objectives.

2. The purpose of the budget plan is to support the schools action or

improvement plan and consolidate it inot dollar appropriations.
 Professional Stakeholder
Development Involvement
The Budgetary Process

Planning and Budget

Needs Monitoring &
Assessment Evaluation

Effective
and Efficient
Budgeting
Practices
Casual Budget
Barriers Development &
Identification Implementation

Prioritizing
Goal Setting
School
& Objective
Based
Development
Needs
 Adequate Funding

States and districts are continually attempting to evaluate how schools are
utilizing their funding resources to improve student outcomes, much work
remains to be done to adequately ensure that school expenditures equate to
student academic improvement.

Accountability focuses on aligning curriculum and assessments to rigorous

academic standards using high-stakes testing.

Current funding systems have yet to adequately link the availability of school
funding and the educational needs and academic achievement of students.
 Adequate Funding

Therefore,

As school leaders, we must continually contemplate and address the challenge of

making every budgeted dollar stretch to meet mandate instructional initiatives,
individual student needs, teacher requests, parent demands, district desires,
and state expectations.

(pages 112, 113)

 Analyzing the School Action and
Budget Plans
Keeping in mind that the budget plan serves to

1. Project all anticipated income,

2. Identify all needed programs, and

3. Project current and future average daily attendance to seek district allocation,

as instructional leaders, it is important to make sure our Budget Plan matches our
School Improvement Plan. So , whats a principal to do to analyze his/her budget and
school improvement plan?
 Performing an Informational
Analysis
This a thorough examination of the school improvement plan
and implications associated with the school budget-
development process. (Things to consider)
Review and analyse data - scrutinize the data and determine
the factors that are contributing to low students
performance.
Implement best practice strategies after analysing data.
Steps to performing an information
analysis
Qualitative data - Teams must examine soft outside data sources:

Review the research literature

Enlist support of district who understand the problem at hand

Determine best practice, when implemented will solve the problem

Provide teachers with time to attend professional development.

Provide teachers with opportunity to visit sites that are implementing the best
practices

Qualitative or soft inside data

Analyze survey results, interviews of teachers, parents and students, seek teacher
 Goal Setting and Objective
Development
Function/objective budgeting

correlates with administrative need of schools and districts to exercise the

maximum amount of fiscal control

allows for sensitivity in decision making

 Budget Monitoring and Evaluation

* Funds (the budget plan) should be allocated to support the action plan (based
on school achievement)

* Schools should have a protective process (Budgetary Systems) for school

district administrators and personnel.

* Accounting & Auditing (Internal & External) go hand-in-hand to safeguard

financial wrongdoing.

*Auditing ensures sound fiscal stewardship

 Fraudulent Practices

School leaders must exhibit discretion and accountability

Embezzlement
- defined as the fraudulent appropriation of property by an individual to whom it has
been entrusted.

Facts:

1. Female (64% of the time);

2. Employed as clerks in a business, finance, budgeting, bookkeeping, or

accounting office;

3. Acting alone (84% of the time)

4. Well-dressed; and

5. Hidden in a single office or cubicle (Worrell, 2011)

Common Schemes

Pocketing of cash received through activity fund-related dollars;

Cash received from a school activity or from a club sponsor

Note:

Principals should insist that all cash received be accompanied by a written receipt of
the calculated dollar amount.

Principals should do a spot-check process i.e. cash received is cash recorded; monitor
bookkeeping records;
10 Precautionary Practices
1. Ensure that the individuals who expend monies are not the custodians of
accounting for said monies.

2. Review all bank statement reconciliation procedures.

3. Keep two separate and independently maintained sets of bookkeeping records.

4. Provide for effective and appropriate reconciliation of receipts and accounts;

5. Never sign blank checks;

6. Develop and utilize bookkeeping policies and procedures;

7. Utilize bonded employees only.

8. Cross-train office personnel to perform bookkeeping responsibilities

 In Summary...
The budget development process is a legal mandate in most states.

Effective and efficient budgeting practices are dependent upon skillful school
leaders who know more than budgetary management.

Leaders need to understand:

fiscal accountability and control

collection and deposit structures

budgetary systems

accounting and auditing procedures.

Its an integral part of visioning and planning