video for Dr. Blackmon 2

KL
by Kevin LaBar0 views·Updated Mar 31, 2021
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  1. Alaska is looking to slash its state budget.
  2. School funding is the bull's eye of the proposed cuts.
  3. This makes it essential that an administrator carefully controls the
  4. site budget for his or her school.
  5. What accounts is the principle of control over as administrator?
  6. How will I ensure that limited school resources are put
  7. to the best use?
  8. Reviewing the site budget with Ginger Crockett Principle of Brevig
  9. Mission? My biggest surprise was that half the sites budget
  10. was allocated for equipment and supplies.
  11. When the allocation for substitute teachers and Perez is added
  12. to that, over three quarters of the sites budgeted funds
  13. are accounted for.
  14. Ginger explained that principles have control overall discretionary spending at
  15. the site, but have to account for how every dollar
  16. is spent using the districts chart of accounts.
  17. She stated that correctly allocating expenses is an area where
  18. new principal struggle mhm.
  19. When I asked Ginger why only $300 was allocated to
  20. special education in the budget worksheet, she stated that most
  21. Gen. Ed needs are paid out of the general fund.
  22. This made me wonder what if consumable laboratory equipment was
  23. charged to textbooks?
  24. The unofficial explanation.
  25. I got was.
  26. If everything purchase serves an educational purpose and the total
  27. budget for the general fund is not exceeded, the mis
  28. categorized lab equipment would not be a major concern if
  29. uncovered by an audit.
  30. The state mandates that each school have an advisory education
  31. committee. Mhm.
  32. The one for Brevig mission has five members.
  33. It consists of parents, school employees and community members.
  34. The EC, the principal along with the schools planning team,
  35. work together to determine the school's budget priorities.
  36. Staffing levels are determined in November of the previous year
  37. based on student count student teacher ratio.
  38. Also, these higher class size.
  39. If it is necessary to hire an additional staff member,
  40. the process goes like this.
  41. Brevig mission makes a request to the EEC.
  42. Next, the district takes it to the personnel Committee of
  43. the district school board.
  44. If they approve the request, it is presented to the
  45. whole school board for their approval.
  46. After that, the new position is created.
  47. Ginger stated she is happy with the allocation process and
  48. that it rarely interferes with our shared vision or the
  49. best interests of Brevig mission.
  50. When asked what improvements she would make to the allocation
  51. process, She stated that new principles should have a handbook
  52. that covers the policies and procedures of requisitioning supplies.
  53. A guide to the different budget accounts, along with a
  54. detailed timeline of the allocation process.
  55. Mark Fink is the business manager for the Bering Strait
  56. school district.
  57. He explained that budgets for each site are set by
  58. the district office based on the student counts at each
  59. school. Then he echoed what Ginger had said.
  60. Principles have control over all discretionary spending at their school.
  61. What does the district office control?
  62. Everything else grants and there are a lot of them.
  63. Each grant has its own pot and funds spent from
  64. that pot must go to purpose is covered by the
  65. grant. Other sources of revenue.
  66. Our Title one Food Service, Special Ed Impact Aid for
  67. Children whose parents reside on Indian lands or live in
  68. federal low rent housing and foundational funding.
  69. Many revenues forces have a specific purpose.
  70. The General Fund should cover all other expenses earmarked.
  71. Sources of revenue and grants cannot supplement any general fund
  72. shortfalls. Yeah, right.
  73. Yeah. The district school board is actively involved in the
  74. budget. More specifically, the allocation of resources to of The
  75. current 10 members are residents of Brevig Mission.
  76. They set the budget for the district.
  77. Then they receive periodic reports that compare the budget to
  78. actual expenditures.
  79. They can make revisions when they are justified.
  80. Just when asked what funds are directly related to student
  81. learning, Mr Wink at first, said Teacherssalaries.
  82. Then he thought about it and said, All of them
  83. everything we do is to promote learning.
  84. A large part of the funding from the state is
  85. determined on a per pupil basis.
  86. Every school in Alaska is required to do a student
  87. count from September 28th through October 23rd.
  88. This count is one factor used to determine the foundational
  89. funding for the next year.
  90. For BSD, the funding has ranged from a high of
  91. 37. 2 million in 2017 to a low of 27.
  92. 2 million the next year.
  93. Because COVID 19 caused distant learning, this year's count was
  94. based on enrollment, not actual attendance.
  95. The district submitted its count last year.
  96. They received notice of funding levels for the 2021 22
  97. school year, the second week of March.
  98. The state foundational aid for next year will be $29,900,000
  99. as business manager.
  100. Mr Brinks job is to make sure the district budget
  101. remains balanced.
  102. As he put it, the buck stops up and down
  103. the line with me.
  104. When asked how he would ensure the district received funding
  105. if there was a disaster like the Earthquakes in Anchorage,
  106. his answer was, The district's top priority is to get
  107. the school's cleaned up safe to reopen and then get
  108. them up and running again.
  109. He would.
  110. He seemed confident that once that happened, the funding would
  111. be made available.
  112. Mr. Binks final comment made without hesitation was state funding
  113. for education will be cut, he went on to state.
  114. The current Alaskan legislature is using this issue to seize
  115. power they have never had before.
  116. He is convinced the state of Alaska will need a
  117. new broad based tax, such as a sales tax or
  118. an income tax, to avoid budgetary shortfalls.
  119. Mhm between the financial myths we discussed in class, the
  120. rules, regulations and restrictions on how even discretionary funds can
  121. be spent, the wise allocation of sight funds will be
  122. a key part of being an effective administrator