BENCHMARKBUDGET DEFENSE SAM DUFF EAD-510

BENCHMARKBUDGET DEFENSE SAM DUFF EAD-510

SCHOOL BUDGETING When completing a school budget, it is crucial the school leader has an established plan when visualizing expenditures for the school. Often times, school leaders will seek out opportunities to improve the school, rather than waiting for suggestions on improvement. School leaders must use data to support arguments explaining their reasoning for expenditures

SCHOOL BUDGET EXAMPLE:

THE BUDGETING PROCESS: Review data from previous year (expenditures, problems, etc.) Review current budget and visualize introducing new expenditures/costs Determine your costs Confirm the school’s priorities moving forward Implement plans into budget Confer with other faculty/schoolboard members Review, adjust, and finalize

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Understanding where the money is coming from is a massive part of school budgeting. School leaders must comprehend whose money they are spending and where the values of the community lie Visualizing a future for the school must reflect the priorities of the local community

THE PROBLEM: Suppose you are a principal who just learned that your school district’s override initiative failed. As a result, you have been notified that you must cut one teaching position and cut 10% from your site budget.

WHERE TO START? The first step in solving this problem is reviewing the last budget that was created. When dealing with unexpected budget reductions, school leaders must work quickly and efficiently to decide which staff member needs to be let go Consider intangibles when thinking about removing a specific faculty member (support from school/community, impact on students, etc.) Link to previous years budget: C:\Users\Sam\OneDrive\GCU Masters\Poudre ES Budget.xlsx

THE DECISION: Despite all the things the Orchestra teacher brings to our school, we decided it was in the best interest of the school to remove them from their position with immediate effect. This is because our school has many extracurricular activities for students to be involved in. Considering we already have a band and choir teacher; we believe this was the best decision we could make the most out of our ROI. We understand the impact this will have on students, including the inevitability of this being a deterrent from joining our musical ensembles. However, we simply could not afford to reduce staff in any other department without the department itself failing.

EFFECTS OF THE DECISION Despite the schools' best intentions, the removal of the orchestra teacher will have many effects in the future We anticipate student’s willingness to join Orchestra will drop We anticipate the community's general faith in the school will drop The school will offer more extracurricular groups for students to fill the void

SCHOOL RESOURCES With the removal of the Orchestra teacher, we must use our resources to cover the position The Band teacher will have to teach Orchestra until a new solution is found The usage of online resources to support the teachers will be offered for students who want extra help Students will maintain the same opportunity to take Band/Orchestra/Choir classes

COMMUNITY SUPPORT/RESPONSE Despite the potential backlash of the Orchestra teacher removal, we believe the school will maintain a strong relationship with the local community because of the support we offer them. Our decision allows us to keep: Our current bussing system Our current Free & Reduced program Many different extracurricular groups/activities for students to join Sports/Athletics COVID-19 Financial Support

COMMUNITY Our schools are a reflections of the local community, so it is crucial we consider their needs when planning for the future. For example, of the community has around 30% Spanish-speakers, it is crucial the school has a strong Spanish department as well as ESL programs.

ADDRESSING STUDENT NEEDS While our school no longer offers a fully-trained Orchestra teacher, we do still offer music classes in Band/Choir and offer many extracurricular groups for students to enjoy, such as: Sports/Athletics Student Council Student-led Band(s) Outdoor club Esports Programs Culture Groups Earth Group We believe our school continues to meet the needs of the students because of the many different extracurricular groups we offer. We truly prioritize student-choice and allowing them the freedom to choose what they want to do. This creates a deeper passion for their own learning, resulting in greater control over their own future.

SUMMARY While we never want to remove a staff member due to unexpected budget reductions, we believe we made the right decision to protect the school moving forward. The school needs to have a stable future in place. Stability isn’t an easy thing to maintain, so sometimes the decisions the school leaders must make are unpopular despite their best efforts. With this decision, we have maintained the integrity of the school while helping our students. As we offer many different extracurricular activities, we show our students that they are designated to one hobby. I am confident the decision I have made will result in a stable environment for the school, with primed future destined in its path.

SOURCES: Crowther, F., Ferguson, M., & Hann, L. (2009). Developing teacher leaders. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press. Deluga, R. & College, B. (2000). Relationship of Transformational and Transactional Leadership with Employee Influencing Strategies. In J. Pierce & J. Newstrom, (Eds.), Leaders and the leadership process readings, self-assessments & applications. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: from research to results. Heatherton, Victoria: Hawker Brownlow Education.