Superintendent's Role in the Budgeting Process

As we learned in a previous course, the superintendent is the CEO of the school district. In this role, it is ultimately his/her responsibility to ensure the district functions smoothly, and it cannot do this without an optimal district budget. Additionally, the superintendent is the primary instructional leader of the district and its biggest public relations officer, too.  Therefore, the superintendent is called upon to serve many roles in the budget development process.  My interview with the superintendent and observations of him throughout this process last spring confirmed the important and varied role he plays in the budget development process. As the primary instructional leader, the superintendent is responsible for setting a direction for the district.  My superintendent does this by gathering input from as many stakeholders as possible.  He attends community events, district advisory committee meetings, and principal meetings; visits campuses; communicates regularly with board members; meets with the executive leadership team; collaborates with other superintendents; works with school attorneys; and serves on legislative committees in order to make the best decisions he possibly can. Ultimately, he uses the information he gathers to work with the Board of Trustees to establish the district goals for the upcoming school year.  Achieving these goals will drive how district monies are spent. As the CEO, it is his responsibility to ensure that all of the necessary budget preparation tasks are taking place in a timely manner.  He works with the Deputy Superintendent for Business Administration to establish the budget calendar.  He also checks with key personnel to oversee that revenue projections are being made, that staffing guidelines are in place, that student projections for the upcoming school year are accurate, and that budget workshops are scheduled. As the district’s primary public relations officer, he takes steps to ensure the budget development process is as transparent as possible for all stakeholders.  My superintendent does this by sending employees emails updating them on the process, posting all steps of the process on the district’s Web site, holding community forums to address the budget process, publishing a column in the local newspaper, attending school and community events to explain the process, and ensuring that several budget workshops are planned for the board.  He is also constantly touching base with all board members to keep them posted throughout the process and answer any questions they may have.  The superintendent’s final task in the process is to bring a quality budget to the Board of Trustees for their approval and to set the tax rate. Nothing about the interview really surprised me as I worked closely with the superintendent last spring to establish a district budget for the 2011-2012 school year.  It seemed there were meetings to attend on a daily basis, with many of them scheduled at various locations in the evenings.  I guess the two things I didn’t realize before moving into my current role were how much the superintendent communicates with board members throughout the week, answering their questions and explaining things to them.  In addition, I didn’t realize that the budgeting process is really an on-going process with very little down time in between cycles.  Although this school year has barely gotten underway, we are already starting to talk about beginning the budget process for 2012-2013!