Proposed Budget: Comparison and Justification

BRITTANY PRESTON UNE 709 DECEMBER 16, 2011

District Wide Justification Increase

Alternative program now included in reg. ed. budget

3% wage increase
Computer replacement, technology integrationist,

director of technology hired Assessment increased due to the expected billing from the Supervisory Union from moving the SLP, OT and Psych services to the SU ECP cut in grant programming

District Wide Justification-Decrease

Psychical Education- Small decrease from actual

expenditures from the previous year Sped- Moved the SLP to the SU and hired a paraprofessional ECP instruction moved to SU C0-curricular academics- adjusted based on actual expenditures from previous year OT moved to SU but will be billed back in sped assessment Board of Education- Steady budget from previous years Pupil transportation- decrease in student enrollment

District Wide Comparison

Retirement incentive- I included a 3% increase

resulting in +$7,000 Music Education- I kept a steady increase while the district increased by $3,000 due to music licensure Co-Curricular Academics- I feel this is a potential area for cuts but the district increased this area Physical Therapy- I kept a steady budget but the district increased to account for an unknown student need Board of Education- District added a wage contingency of $13,000

Elementary K-6 Justification- Increase

Reading Instruction- support new reading program
Special Education- Decrease in full time sped

position to part time sped, added a paraprofessional, increase in student tuition for high need students Sped Transportation- High needs student moved into the district

Elementary K-6 Justification- Decrease

Decrease a full time Special Educator to part time

New Guidance councilor hired at lower salary rate

Elementary K-6 Comparison

I overestimated on most items, except for regular

education, in this category while the district under estimated My estimates were a total of $69,000 over $59,000 of that difference was due to an eliminated Title I teacher whose position was moved to the regular education fund. The district figured +$4,000 on sped transportation due to an increased number of high need students

Middle School Justification

Increase Decrease

Bi-annual School Field

Regular Education

Trip Technology increase to represent a push for technology integration 3% increase in Guidance

retirement Cuts made to decrease wasteful spending Decrease in Sped to .5

Middle School 7-8 Comparison

$6000 increase in the districts budget proposal in

this area I made cuts in most academic areas for textbooks and materials to eliminate wasteful spending Many cuts were based on previous years actual expenditures The district increased funding in many of these areas except for in math

High School Justification

Increase Decrease

None

Decrease in tuition Decrease in enrollment

High School Comparison

In this area I was +$11,000 which primarily came

from the areas of Special Education and Psychological services For me to anticipate these expenditures more closely to the actual budget, I would need more information regarding expected enrollment and tuition rates.

Overall Comparison
My proposed budget= $8,277,687

District proposed budget= $7,507,238

Difference of $770,449

Though this seems like a significant difference, many of these cuts can be found in transportation for unknown high need students, materials and supplies (wasteful spending), and insurance expenditures for fulltime employees. Spreadsheets configuring this information would need to be obtained to make these numbers more representative of actual budgeting needs.

Personal Learning
Collaboration This is a crucial element in developing a budget. With little collaboration with some of the key players in the budget develop process, inaccuracies were found.

Key players- principals, school board, community, teachers, superintendent

A little bit goes a long way Budget cuts can come in many forms: a little bit from a lot of places, a lot from one place, or shifts in budgeting for programs

Personal Learning Cont.

BAC- Budget Advisory Committee One way to get input from the community is by developing a budget advisory committee to review the budget, gain an understanding of the budget process, and provide their input prior to the budget presentation to the board.

Budget drafts The budget must be edited and revised several times throughout the process to ensure the most accurate and efficient budget is presented to the community and board.