EDLD 5342 School Finance- Week 5 Refections

Week 5 Reflections

Week Five Assignment, Part 1 – Code of Ethics for School Leaders

1. Identify some examples of ethics’ violations based on the assigned standards (e.g., Standards 1.3, example: submitting false mileage reimbursement reports). Please provide 3 examples from Section 1, Standards 1.1 – 1.13 and 2 examples from Standards 2.1 – 2.7 – a total of 5 examples of unethical conduct. Be sure to try to identify ethical conflicts that focus on school funding or financial issues.

Standard 1.2. The educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or equipment committed to his or her charge for personal gain or advantage.

A teacher runs a catering business during the school hours that is to “help special need student to learn employability skills”, but at some period she is supposed to teach a functional science class. When walk throughs occur the special needs students are in the classroom section of the room while the student TAs and the Educational Aides are in the commercial kitchen working on the orders for the business. The business does not have hours of operation, it is open year round and all day. The monies made by this business were never deposited in any school related account.  

Standard 1.3. The educator shall not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursement, expenses, or pay.

A group of administrators from different campus but the same school district went to a conference. Two of the administrators are married to each other and both received funds for a hotel room. They chose to get one room and pocketed the money for the other room.

Standard 1.5. The educator shall neither accept nor offer gratuities, gifts, or favors that impair professional judgment or to obtain special advantage. This standard shall not restrict the acceptance of gifts or tokens offered and accepted openly from students, parents of students, or other persons or organizations in recognition or appreciation of service.

A school district was building and renovating many campuses in the district. After an investigation it was found that the superintendent had been gambling with the contactor of the renovations and the builder of the high school. It was reported that this is why that particular company was used instead of another company that was being considered.

Standard 2.3. The educator shall adhere to written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of personnel.

It was discovered that an educator had been having inappropriate interaction with eight male students. When the educator was called in about the situation they became sick and did not return to work to be confronted about the concern. The educator just disappeared. The administrator decided to just do knowing because she was no longer at the school. They did not report to violation to TEA. There were nude pictures of the educator on the student’s phones. In this case who is more wrong?

Standard 2.5. The educator shall not discriminate against or coerce a colleague on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, disability, family status, or sexual orientation.         

An assistant football coach was told by the head football coach that he would never advance due to him following strict religious guide lines of not drinking alcohol.  

2. What might happen to an administrator, teacher, student teacher or other educator who violates this standard – consider short and long-range consequences? Give short and long range consequences for 3 of the above ethical conflicts.

Short range consequences for some of the violations are administrative leave; ask to resign, or demotion

Long range consequence could be non-renewed, probated suspension, Restricted, Revoked or Suspended

3. What action might you take to make sure such a violation of ethical conduct does not occur – think of preventive action – how can you avoid such ethical conflicts? Provide preventive action plans for the 3 ethical conflicts identified in #2 above. Try to use some of the Quality Indicators found in SBEC Superintendent Competency 1 in each preventive action plan.

Standard 1.3. The educator shall not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursement, expenses, or pay.

A group of administrators from different campus but the same school district went to a conference. Two of the administrators are married to each other and both received funds for a hotel room. They chose to get one room and pocketed the money for the other room.

Preventive Action Plan

            Using the two sub competencies that state a superintendent should:

·         exhibit understanding and implement policies and procedures that promote district personnel compliance with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators.

·         monitor and address ethical issues impacting education.

A plan could be put into place for all receipts and documentation from conferences must be turn in after returning from travel.

Standard 1.5. The educator shall neither accept nor offer gratuities, gifts, or favors that impair professional judgment or to obtain special advantage. This standard shall not restrict the acceptance of gifts or tokens offered and accepted openly from students, parents of students, or other persons or organizations in recognition or appreciation of service.

A school district was building and renovating many campuses in the district. After an investigation it was found that the superintendent had been gambling with the contactor of the renovations and the builder of the high school. It was reported that this is why that particular company was used instead of another company that was being considered.

Preventive Action Plan

            Using the two sub competencies that state a superintendent should:

·         interact with district staff, students, school board, and community in a professional and ethical manner.

·         model and promote the highest standard of conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions, and behaviors.

Having a vender list already approved that have to meet certain requirements prior to do business any company.

Standard 2.3. The educator shall adhere to written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of personnel.

It was discovered that an educator had been having inappropriate interaction with eight male students. When the educator was called in about the situation they became sick and did not return to work to be confronted about the concern. The educator just disappeared. The administrator decided to just do knowing because the educator was no longer at the school. They did not report to violation to TEA. There were nude pictures of the educator on the student’s phones. In this case who is more wrong?

Preventive Action Plan

            Using the three sub competencies that state superintendent should:

·         serve as an advocate for all children.

·         model and promote the highest standard of conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions, and behaviors.

·         apply laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner.

All questionable behavior needs to be reported to HR as soon as campus administrator is made aware regardless of how big or small.

Week Five Assignment, Part 2 – Self-Assessment of Superintendent Competency 8

When completing the self-assessment it caused me to realize the amount of information that I have consumed over the course of 5 weeks. The amount of knowledge that was given to us in a short length of time will stay with me as I move forward in my personal career.  The area of working with the board is an area that needs improvement for me because I am a straight shooter and sweetness is something I work on every day. Rules, regulations and policies are strength for me; I am a rule follower and I always want to know the parameters in which I must work. The areas that I am competent in are those that I have gained confidence though completing the assignments and activities assigned though out this course.

Week 5 Assignment, Part 3: Final Reflections on Lessons Learned

The self-assessments in this course caused me to reflect on pass experiences and how these experiences will affect the decisions I make. As I read, watch and review the material made available for use during the course where meaningful, comprehensive and thought provoking.  The weekly assignments and activities were set up in such a way to cause us to have to rely on our group members to be successful.  The concept of making the first four assignments group work, allowed for us to group our personal network.

EDLD 5342 School Finance- Week 4 Refections

Week 4 reflections

Week 4 Assignment Part 1

The three most important components of FIRST me are the change in the amount of funds that needed to be available to in the general fund,  that districts are held accountable for their financial management and  the decision making process that impact the allocation of resources. “Texas Education Agency (TEA or agency) is beginning the process of modifying indicators in the 2010-2011 School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) that require school districts and charter schools to maintain approximately 60 days of operating expenses in their general fund account. The purpose of the financial accountability rating system (Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 19, § 109.1001) is to ensure that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and achieve improved performance in the management of their financial resources.  The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to manage their financial resources better in order to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes.  The system will also disclose the quality of local management and decision-making processes that impact the allocation of financial resources in Texas public schools.”

Week 4 Assignment Part 2

Week 4 Part 2 Data	District1	District2
Total # of Students	830	32,326
Total Revenue per pupil	$10,529	$10,316
Total Operational Expenditures per pupil	$8,611	$8,908
Average teacher salary	$39,771	$50,307

When looking at the total revenue per pupil, District 1 makes more money per student but District 2 has about 31,500 more students than District 1. District 2 spends about $300 more per student than District 1 according to the total operational expenditures per pupil.  This extra money spent could account for the higher average teacher salary in District 2. In the lecture this week Dr. Lu Stephens talk about how larger schools districts can pay higher salaries due to them having more students to divide to cost with. “Economy of scale is a concept that indicates that increasing the size of an organization can result in a lower per unit production cost. In other words, as an organization becomes larger, it develops the ability to reduce infrastructure costs for the product produced. Very often the result is more instructional program revenue per student, which enriches the academic programs of the district. Equally important, is the fact that the larger district can use some of the efficiency savings to improve teacher salaries. An improved salary schedule usually enables the district to attract and retain more excellent teachers.” These two district are equably matched there are some places where one district is doing more or getting more but for the most part they are equable based on the demographics of each district.  The biggest differences in the districts are there geographic locations.

Week 4 Assignment Part 3

According to Dr. Stephens differentiated staffing is the use of staff in a specialized way. “Differentiated staffing is a concept that proposes specialized use of personnel. We tend not to be that specialized as public school teachers or administrators. Differentiated staffing could create greater efficiency in a school district by assigning teachers and other educators different responsibilities based on carefully prepared definitions of many teaching functions. It would analyze essential tasks and create a means to implement new educational roles for teaching the students. The results could create significant operational cost savings for a school district.” When listening to the lecture this week it reminded me of seminar that I attend at the TASSP conference a couple of years ago it was call “The breakthrough coach”. It was about how as administrators we feel like we have to do every little thing like answer every phone call and email which caused us to miss walk throughs, observation and valuable time in the building, walk your campuses. The thought behind this was the more you are out of your office the more you see potential concerns before it gets to you and you can be proactive with matters. The seminar gave you only a piece of the 2 full day classes are about but it gave points about using your office staff more effectively and efficiently.  1 and ½ days were for the office staff without the administrator and a ½ day with you. For instance is there a need to speak to a parent that wants to know why her student’s class changed, when she has not spoken to the building principal. Or is it better to allow your secretary to call the parent and direct her to the building principal and email the building principal to be expecting that parent. This could potently give you 30 minutes to monitor and access other areas of the district. With all that said differentiated staffing with the right training and support could change the look of education. The questions are, are you ready for that change? And are you willing to lead that change?

Week 4 Assignment Part 4

As a look at the numbers eighty-three percent of the total expenditures are spent on payroll for the district. As a former mathematics teacher it is easy to look at the graph and figures and see that the only way to put a true and significant dent in a district’s budget is to cut staff. Either by going to a tiered bus system so the same drivers can drive all the routes or going to a 7 period day rather than an AB day schedule. Another idea is to have all teachers teach 7 out of 8 classes, instead of a planning block everyday teachers would only get one every other day.  When teachers teach 7 out of 8 it allows for smaller class size, more flexibility in the master schedule, more quality instructional time with teacher due to smaller class size, and fewer teachers.

                                                                                                                  

A five percent salary increase for all a personnel could have catastrophic positives and negatives.  The positives are it could increase moral, reduce teacher turnover and increase leadership likability. The negative aspects of a 5% increase is that there will be an increase with budget reductions coming from the state,  will have to use fund balance to make up the difference and insurance will increase so the raise is not seen in pocket. Can raise be justified if some school’s accountability rating has fallen each year over the past three? There are a lot of issues that go along with raises.

Week 4 Assignment Part 5

How is the external auditor selected?

Auditors are selected through an RFP (Request for Proposal) or RFQ (Request for Quote) process and presented to the Board for approval.

How does the auditor conduct the audit?

The auditors come to our district for approximately 2 days in August for a "pre-audit" and begin lining up the work for the fall.  The books are audited as of 8/31st.  They usually return in October or November with a team of accountants/auditors and stay in our Business offices approximately one week to complete field work.  They have us pull samples of payments, bid documents, and other financial transactions.  If they have findings or questions, they will ask for more and more samples, and could possibly stay longer until their work is complete.   Luckily, since I've been in Duncanville, they've been able to complete their work pretty quickly.

What does the audit conclude about district financial procedures and actions?

Last year’s audit conclude that the district has a rating of superior achievement with a score of 75, after look at 22 criteria.

How are the results communicated?

After the audit work is done, the auditors will put together a financial audit report and send to the district for review and management response.  Then the report is presented to the Board for acceptance/approval, and then it must be submitted to TEA.  This must be done within 150 days of the end of the fiscal year (August 31st for our district). 

I found this information very interesting that no matter what aspect of the district you work in the end of one year has us starting for the next. With all the charges in the central office at Ms. Harris has been very helpful. She is acting as the CFO and doing her job (Accounting Manager) as well.  She is awesome person to step up like this.