Smarter School Spending - 1: Plan and Prepare
The planning and budgeting process begins with mobilizing key stakeholders, gathering information on academic performance and cost structure, and establishing principles and policies to guide the budget process.
Objectives
- Foster collaboration between the academic and finance staff in the budget process
- Set expectations for the budget process and analyze the district's current state
- Effectively communicate the process and corresponding decisions to stakeholders
Steps
A. Establish a partnership between the finance and instructional leaders.
A collaborative process increases the likelihood that the decisions made will be supported after the budget process is over.
B. Develop principles and policies to guide the budget process.
Budget principles and policies formalize standards and fundamental values that should govern the budgeting process.
C. Analyze current levels of student learning.
The current state of academic performance must be assessed to determine what course of action to take.
D. Identify communications strategy.
The budget process should include a plan to inform participants, stakeholders, and the general public about how the budget process works, why each decision was made and how to provide input in the process.
