Maintenance and Operations Budget Paper

Budgeting a School

School Budget table

Maintenance and Operations Budget

Soft Capital Budget

Item

Estimated Percent of the Budget

Item

Estimated Percent of the Budget

Salaries

Athletic Equipment

Administrative Salaries

Text Book Adoptions

Support Staff Salaries

Technology Equipment

Core Teacher Salaries

Furniture and Desks

Elective Teacher Salaries

Instructional Equipment

PE Equipment

Extra Duty Stipends

Athletic Coaches Stipends

Instructional Supplies

Consumable Supplies

Professional Development

Purchased Services

Athletic Dues and Fees

The above cuts in are in line with the reductions from the school district. The revenue the school receives is divided between a combination of local, state and federal funding. The state provides greatest levels of assistance. While local taxes and federal support, make up for the rest (with the federal government paying the lowest amount). (“,” 2013)

All three are providing assistance in the following areas to include: maintenance / budget operations allocation, the capital budget and soft capital budget allocations. On the local level, funding is taking place through bonds, extracurricular activities, tax credits, and other sources. The state is providing support through: grants, title funding and tax credits. Federal assistance is provided from: grants and title 1 funding. (“Trenton Public Schools,” 2013)

The sources of each revenue stream are funded by the state on per student basis. This occurs, with the state providing assistance in: general formula assistance, special education programs and grants. Locally, the school receives support from property taxes, private donations, tuition / transportation fees, school lunches, district activity receipts, rents / royalties and interest. Property taxes are based upon a mill levy that is used to determine how much local property owners are paying. The fees are collected by the school throughout the course of the year. The federal government is providing assistance in the areas of: child nutrition, safe / drug free schools and title 1. These programs are from a grant that is provided to the school district. (“Trenton Public Schools,” 2013)

All three areas are used in conjunction with each other to support the maintenance / capital budget and the soft budget. The maintenance and capital budget is used to pay for salaries, consumable supplies, purchased services and athletic programs. The soft capital budget is utilized to cover materials the school will need throughout the year. These include: athletic equipment, technology, books / supplies, furniture / desks and . The primary limitations are that they must be used to help support the school (in areas such as: supplies and materials). While the maintenance and capital budget must pay for the larger expenses of the school (i.e. salaries). (“Trenton Public Schools,” 2013)

The areas that will fall under the priority one category for cuts include: salaries / stipends, professional development, purchased services and athletic dues / fees. Those areas that will be a part of priority two are: instructional / consumable supplies, furniture / desks, PE equipment and athletic equipment. Priority three areas include: technology equipment, textbook adaptions and instructional equipment. (“Trenton Public Schools,” 2013)

Part 2 Justification

The above information is highlighting the different areas where the proposed cuts will occur. At the same time, it is identifying the major sources of revenues for the school. This helps to determine how these transitions can take place and possible ways to account for the shortfalls.

Identify those in the school who might be included in and excluded from the budgetary decision making process. These persons would comprise a stakeholder team. Provide a rationale as to why you included / excluded each

The people who will be included in the budgetary process are administrators, parents, students and teachers. Those who are excluded would be: special interests and anyone who does not have children attending the school. The administrators were selected because they can provide insights about where cuts are needed and offer leadership. Parents are a part of the process, as their children and families will feel the effects of these reductions. Their insights can help to determine the longer term impact on them. Students were included because they can show how these cuts will affect them and offer ideas about ways to possibly offset them. Teachers can discuss how certain decreases will affect the quality of education and their ability to educate students. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

The people who are excluded from the budgetary process were selected because they can create more challenges in making the necessary reductions. Special interests will not be allowed to participate, based upon the fact that they will want to keep certain programs fully intact without considering the long-term effects of the school. Community members, who do not have children at the school, will not participate in the process. This is from their lack of understanding these challenges and bias in preserving certain programs (i.e. sports). Their loyalties are focused on maintaining these programs at any cost. Both groups will make it difficult to effectively reduce spending in areas where they are needed and will create added levels of emotionalism in the process. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

Discuss your justification for the items you choose to remove from the school budget and how you will meet the district requirements as you implement your plan of action.

The way that the plan of action will be occurring is to remove items that are not absolutely necessary for providing high levels of quality education. This means that areas (such as: extracurricular activities) will face dramatic reductions or will be eliminated completely. While those elements which are necessary for maintaining or improving student achievement, will receive fewer cuts. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

This means that stakeholders who can focus on achieving these objectives and the long-term viability of the school will be involved with making recommendations / decision making. They can show what these reductions will mean to them and how this will impact quality. The plan will be implemented in a series of stages. This will take place by having meetings to discuss these issues and make recommendations. It is at this point when decreases will occur in those seeing the largest decreases. Any areas which are impacting quality will see gradual cuts to lessen the impact on stakeholders. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

The way that programs will be preserved is based upon if it can help the school to maintain or increase state / federal accreditation standards. This means that anything which is not meeting these requirements (such as: sports) will face the most severe reductions. This will by focusing on programs that enhance student achievement. In the case of sports, it is considered to be high profile. Yet, they offer very little assistance in ensuring that students are learning more effectively and are better prepared for the challenges they will deal with in the real world. This will embrace the district’s high standards for learning by keeping programs in place that will achieve these objectives. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

The way that the plan will be communicated to staff, parents, students and community members is to show them why these cuts are necessary. This will be achieved by discussing how these changes will help everyone over the long-term (in the form of a public relations campaign). The effectiveness of these cuts will be determined from student achievement scores through different assessment tests. Alternative sources of funding will be located by seeking out various grants and support from private / nonprofit entities. They can help to offset the reductions in certain areas by providing additional amounts of financing to deal with the budgetary issues facing the school. To help offset decreases in textbooks, educational materials and it technology; the school can seek out assistance from nonprofits. They can help in addressing any kind of shortfalls and ensuring that these reductions are much smaller. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)

References

Trenton Public Schools. (2013). Teachade. Retrieved from: http://districts.teachade.com/l/6638/Trenton-Public-Schools

Lunnenburg, F. (2011). Educational Administration. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Olden, R. (2012). Improving Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.