Superintendent's Roles and Responsibilities in the Budgeting Process

The successful operation of a local school district is largely dependent upon effective planning and preparation of the system budget, successful administration of the budget, and optimizing funding. This responsibility falls on the superintendent as he/she is the chief budget officer for the district and must prepare or cause the budget to be prepared. To begin the budget preparation phase, the superintendent must lead the board in developing a vision and goals for the district.  Once these goals are developed, the budget process can begin with the focus on allocating funds to support these goals.  The superintendent and his staff must work together to project expenditures and revenues. To do this they must first consider the previous year’s budget and expenditures, and review the coming year’s revenue which are the Certified Taxable Values of the district and the WADA from the PEIMS report from the previous year. One of the most challenging parts for the superintendent and his staff of budget preparation is financial forecasting.  Their predictions must be as accurate as possible, especially pertaining to staffing projections as personnel is the primary cost in education.  Projecting enrollments, property tax base and revenues, new construction, grants, and fund balance forecasting are also important factors the superintendent must consider. The superintendent should develop a framework that creates opportunities for school board discussion and stakeholder involvement and input. A strong partnership of school board trustees, school administration, staff, parents and community members will create support for the budget, its process and success. It is important that a time-line be established to ensure all state deadlines are met.  In Ronald D. Valenti’s article from the Harris book, he suggests that to build a sound budget that will withstand unexpected situations, superintendents should pay attention to what he calls the “Budget Trinity” of revenues, expenditures and fund balances. He says the superintendent should underestimate revenue and estimate expenditures liberally.

In my opinion, the keys for a superintendent to developing a sound and supported budget are:

·         Unified district vision and goals

·         Alignment of budget with the vision and goals

·         A framework for discussions with the board, administration, staff, and community members

·         Clearly defined time-line and responsibilities

·         Accurate forecasting

·         Shared understanding of state laws and requirements

·         Transparency and full disclosure

In reflecting on the things I have learned as I study the role of the superintendent in budget preparation…this is a huge job and the superintendent must hire exceptionally qualified staff to support him/her throughout the process. Creating a strong unification in the school board and a trusting relationship is valuable first step. It is important to develop a plan to work through the process one step at a time otherwise it would be extremely overwhelming.  The amount of time that must be put into the development of a supported budget is remarkable.  Communication, education, and transparency throughout the process is vital. Studying this has also spurred a curiosity about small district and large district superintendencies and their differences.