Budgeting Guidelines Summary

Having had the opportunity to review the TEA Budgeting Guidelines I am much more informed of the huge requirements involved in preparing a budget. The budgeting process is very complex with so many different requirements and mandates. Many individual s do not realize the impact that the budget has on the citizens or stakeholders of a district. The budget is a clear reflection on district administrators and their accountability in preparing a budget that meets the needs of the district.
Most people, including myself at one time, thought that once a budget was set and approved it was set in stone. However, after reviewing the budget guidelines the budget process is still continual even after the board approval. There can be instances throughout the year where it is required to make budget amendments. However, the board still must approve the amendments to the budget before they can go into effect.
Before the review of the guidelines I was unaware of all of the different budgetary approaches. I always thought that the state just mandated a way in which districts were to allocate their monies in their budgets. However, after the review and questioning of our business manager, I learned a lot. We use a Site-Based Budgeting approach at our school district. The BM explained why she used this approach and the positives and negatives of this approach. She also discussed some positives and negatives concerning the other budgeting approaches. This discussion turned out to be very informative and will give me great insight when I begin to prepare a district budget.
There were several other areas that I learned a great deal of insight while reviewing the TEA Budgeting Guidelines. There were several laws and regulations I was unfamiliar with and will need to keep them close under arm when working with developing a budget. There were several things pertaining to calculating student funding that I was not aware of. Overall there is so many requirements and regulations that I will need to continually review throughout preparation of a budget.