The Role of the Superintendent

An Interview with Troy Parton, Superintendent Paducah ISD

What is the role of the superintendent in the budget process?  Anything that surprised you when you first started working on a budget?  Any helpful suggestions for those that are going to be doing it for the first time soon?

It depends on the district.  In some districts the superintendent does most of the work, inputting data into the template to determine the state aid, figuring the best estimate (guess) for numbers of total students, number of special populations, CTE etc.  In Paducah, my job mostly is to let our business manager know what areas I want to put money or remove depending on the amount spent the last year, or if I am anticipating an increase then we put money in that area. The biggest surprise for me was the complexity of the state funding template.  I don't think anything could be more complex.   As far as advice, go to a budget workshop that Omar Garcia is putting on.  In our region, Dr. Doug Karr is very good with the template and chapter 41 budgets.  Every superintendent should understand and be able to discuss logically the template, know your state dollars per WADA, be familiar with the Equity Center and TexasISD.com websites.  These two resources keep up with funding and trends very well.

My reaction to Troy’s answer was that I have already seen the name Omar Garcia a couple of times in trying to complete the assignments for this class.  We are fortunate that we have an experienced business manager who has helped reestablish the district financially and who is very active in the conversations about our district.  I found it funny that his opinion of the state funding formula is the same as the people taking the class.  I am not sure why we have a formula that everyone is left scratching their head and wondering why.  I have also bookmarked both sites that he recommended.

I also decided to look at local board policy and came up with the following from BJA (local).

e. Oversee a budget development process that results in recommendations based on District priorities, available resources, and anticipated changes to district finances.

The superintendent, in collaboration with the board president, should be setting the schedule for the development of the budget following the guidelines set forth by the state.  I believe our board needs to come up with a list of priorities for the district in order to provide goals for the budget.

f. Oversee budget implementation to ensure appropriate expenditure of budgeted funds, to provide for clear and timely budget reports, and to monitor for effectiveness of the process.

Our superintendent does provide budget reports on a monthly basis to the board.  This occurs at our school board meetings.  Our business manager is key in helping prepare those reports.

g. Ensure that District investment strategies, risk management activities, and purchasing practices are sound, cost-effective, and consistent with District policy and law.

The biggest part of that portion is the purchasing practices.  We have several steps in the approval for spending school funds that are watched over by different staff members but ultimately have to have both the superintendent and business manager signatures in order to move forward. 

h. Maintain a system of internal controls to deter and monitor for fraud or financial impropriety in the District.

Through the monthly budget reports and having a watchful eye of administrators, business manager, superintendent and board members, Paducah ISD is trying to insure that money is being spent as it was intended.

While the superintendent is ultimately responsible and accountable, the budget process is not a one man show.  It takes input from many different viewpoints.  It takes implementation on different levels.  There are several watchdogs.  It all boils down to the fact that while it takes a community to raise a child, it also takes a community to balance and maintain a budget!