EDLD 5342 School Finance Week 2 - Part 1 Goal Driven Budget

According to the EDLD 5342, Week 2 Lecture notes, page 1, a goal driven budget is the tool that assists in the “attainment of a shared vision for the school district and each campus.”  The goal driven budget process is one where the Board of Trustees develops district goals, the District Improvement plan articulates those goals, the Campus Improvement Plans reflect those Board of Trustee goals in order to become a “version of the vision.”(EDLD 5342, Week 2 Lecture notes, page 1)   The goal driven budget process is effective when the goals developed by the Board of Trustees, outlined in the District Improvement Plan and differentiated in the Campus Improvement Plans are displayed in the assignment of expenditures of time, money and resources.

In the Huntsville District Improvement Plan development process four goals have been developed by the Board of Trustees from the district mission statement.  Both the mission statement and goals are listed on the first page of the District Improvement Plan (Huntsville ISD 2010 – 2011 District Improvement Plan, page 1).  From these goals the District Improvement Plan is developed through meetings  with the Central Office team  (consisting of the superintendent, assistant superintendents, all directors, and district coordinators), the District Advisory Council (representative district stakeholders), the campus principals,  the Professional Advisory Committee (consisting of representative teachers, campus administrators and central office staff), and the Student Advisory Committee (representative students from the secondary campuses) to implement goals for the District Improvement Plan.  The central office team works to identify persons responsible, resources, timeline, and the monitoring process, and to develop the final document that is approved by all the representative committees and finalized by the Board of Trustees.  Examples of the financial resources listed in the Huntsville District Improvement Plan that ensure the implementation of the goals are funding sources such as Title I, Title II, Title III, Local budget funds, IDEA , State Compensatory Education,  and ARRA Stimulus.  This plan guides the use of all district resources including personnel units, materials, and technology.   Because the District Improvement Plan is a “living” document, it is adjusted and amended based on the availability of the district resources.

In my interview with Dr. Steve Johnson,  HISD Superintendent, he reiterated that the most important part of the entire goal driven budget process is communication (Interview, Dr. Steve Johnson, HISD Superintendent, April 19, 2011, 1:30 P.M.).  His thoughts and examples aligned with the statement Dr. Jenkins made in the Week 2 lecture that just as location was the primary focus of real estate, communication is the identifying characteristic  when communicating the budget to district stakeholders (EDLD 5342, Week 2 Lecture video, 7:40 – 7:47).  Dr. Johnson has only been superintendent in HISD since the beginning of January.  First, as the interim superintendent and then, as the superintendent.  In this time he has worked diligently to develop the budget goals for the 2011 – 2012 school year as mandated by the current budget shortfall. In that time he has met with all district stakeholders according to the following timeline:

Establishing the Understanding	17 presentations and meetings with stakeholders	February 7 – March 10
Defining the Problem	Meetings to describe the legislative information and projection target ($4.2M)	March 10 – March 21
Seeking Solutions	Input from the HISD Directors, Professional Advisory Council, and Assistant Principals	March 21 – 25
	Principals Meetings to determine final goals	April 12 – April 15
Communication of the Plan	Principal Meetings to review the final plan and communications	April 18
	Directors Meeting to review the final plan and communications	April 19
	Campus Staff Meetings	April 19
	Board of Trustees Workshop	April 19
	Board of Trustees Meeting	April 21

From his actions it is obvious that he is doing a thorough job of communicating in order to develop a goal driven budget for 2011-2012.