Defining A Goal Driven Budget

A goal driven budget is a shared vision of the school district and each campus that is in alignment with the goals of the board of trustees, the district level improvement goals, and campus level improvement goals.  All stakeholders involved in the budgeting process must communicate and contribute input to ensure that all components of the budget align.   A process should also be put in place to make sure that all goals are being met.  As noted in the lecture this week, the campus plans and goals should be a "version of the vision." As Dr. Arterbury stated, every district and campus has a goal driven budget in the sense that effectively teaching math is a common goal and we expend funds for teachers and materials to address the teaching/learning process for math.

Our district’s goal driven budget fully utilizes our district improvement plan.  Our district improvement plan encompasses the mission and vision statement for the district.  Board goals and needs assessment data is listed.  Based on this information performance objectives are listed which are tied to the Board objectives.   

I worked very closely with activities that involve analyzing and developing a goal driven budget for my district over the past couple of weeks.  The Deputy Superintendent reviewed the EOC data for students that were freshman in the 2011-12 school year and determined that too many students were not meeting the expectations that the district has set forth as far as the percentage of students that would be meeting and exceeding the state standards on their End of Course exams.  A small district committee was formed that consisted of a representative for the secondary principals, a representative for the Deans of Instruction, the At-Risk Coordinator, and myself.  We found that our students would benefit from specialized instruction during the district’s summer STAAR Academy.  The students will receive instruction aligned to specific objectives missed on each assessment as well as software that will reinforce objectives.  Student success on standardized testing is a part of our district’s vision so the budget was drafted to include purchases of software such as Compass Learning and Learning Odyssey as well as adding additional support teachers to the summer program as well as the upcoming school year.  The remainder of the items in the campus improvement plans were also provided for in the allocations of the budget.