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