Superintendent Roles and Responsibilites in Budget Process

    After talking with Dr. Ryan, I realize that the role of the Superintendent involves more political knowledge and business management than education and instruction knowledge.  We discussed how some districts have actually tried to use business executives to run school districts.  Overall, these business professionals have not been successful because the nature of a school district is vastly different than most business models.  It is not unusual for Dr. Ryan to be in Austin often, discussing legislative decisions with Senators and Representatives, especially during this legislative session.  These discussions are important because he can report to the School board and help guide them in their decisions about utilization of resources and possible changes to revenue sources. 

    The responsibility of the Superintendent is the budget officer of the district.  In large districts, there are other resources and other people that the Superintendent can depend upon to help.  In smaller districts, the Superintendent needs to be knowledgeable about not only the allocation of resources, but also the pending legislative decisions that could impact the district.  Since TEA is constantly amending their processes, Dr. Ryan strongly recommends that a superintendent should keep their own summary of finance that changes as predictions and actual patterns change.  The TEA template is a great guide, but a savy CFO with a veteran guide is invaluable!  Dr. Ryan also commented that the budget is never “done.”  The conversations about budget do not ever stop and are a topic on every agenda from central office, principal meeting, SBDM team meetings, and certainly Board meeting.  The budget process begins in March and does not stop until the budget is approved the end of June.  Even then, the discussions continue as the CAFR (comprehensive annual financial review) is released and audits commence in June and July.  Dr. Ryan strongly recommended that any new superintendent needed to review the CAFR as one of the first assignments on the job. 

     All stakeholders need to feel a part of the budget process.  In smaller districts, that input looks vastly different than it does in larger districts.  Regardless of the size, communication and transparency is key.  A superintendent is rarely fired for academic issues; most times the issues revolve around budget concerns.  The communication with the Board and strong confidence in the CFO are critical to success.  Since the budget process typically involves revenue sources and expenditures, teacher organizations do not really get involved in the budget process.  A wise Superintendent would keep communication lines open with the teacher groups, but they do not have direct input to the budget issues.  Most of the time, their issues are about staffing and personnel.  Just as the Superintendent needs to communicate with the Board and make sure the spending and resources align with Board goals, the campus principals and district office administrators need to make sure their goals and campus plans align with the district plan.  This includes allocations of resources.  This is another reason why the Superintendent needs to make sure the Board has the opportunity to review those campus plans with transparency and openness. 

     My reactions to the interview regarding the Superintendent's role and responsibilities in the budget process are mixed.  I have great respect for Dr. Ryan and his leadership.  After listening to his suggestions and comments about the budget process, I realize, once again, how important it is to develop strong ties to key stakeholders.  This truly is the people business.  I do not have enough experience in developing these types of relationships.  I am also sad that the business of education has so little to do with education and so much to do with business.  It seems that the higher you go up the ladder of education administration, the further away you get from the instructional leadership.  I also realize how important an understanding of budget, finance, and business becomes.  Again, I need more experience in this area and hope to develop that by continuing conversations with our CFO.