The ACSA Leadership Conference in November 2013 covered several topics related to school business and budgeting. The roles and responsibilities of the business department and principals in budgeting were discussed. The conference covered the budget process from the state level down to individual site budgets. Other areas of responsibility for business offices like attendance, ASB funds, and fundraising were also covered. Presenters emphasized the importance of principals understanding budgets and keeping accurate financial records at their sites.

1. ACSA Leadership Conference November 2013
Brett W. McFadden, CBO Pajaro Valley USD
Sandra J. Harrington, CBO Ukiah Unified School District
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2. The Big Picture: Areas of Responsibility
The Role of the Business Department
The Role of the Principal
The Budget Process: Macro-to-Micro
State Budget
District Budget
Site Budgets
Other Areas of Responsibility
Attendance
ASB
Fundraising
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3. Understanding our roles…
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4. 
It will depend on the size of the district
◦ Larger districts (6k ADA +) – more of a leadership and strategic role, with reliance on
department directors for technical expertise
◦ Smaller districts (3k ADA -)– more technical expertise and hands on, may rely more on
the county office of education for direct service

But the CBO is the one that’s in charge of the operational and fiscal aspects of the
district – the stuff that makes the wheels go round
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Their top priority – keeping the district fiscally solvent!
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5. 
Customer Service and Support – We are dedicated to helping you “Do It Right”

The responsibilities of the business office include:
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Accounting
Budgeting
Purchasing
Technology
Facilities
Maintenance, ops, grounds, and transportation
Food services
Risk management and safety
And any other operational, technical, administrative matter

Advice for a new principal – get to know the business office staff well, “always take care of the
gate keepers”

Keep in mind that they are not typically educators – they often will speak and think differently
than instructional folks
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6. 
Instructional and Site Leader
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Budget Management
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Recordkeeping

Legal Compliance

Safety
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7. 
School finance is complicated – even seasoned veterans make mistakes
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Keep your own records – it is the site leader’s responsibility
◦ District financial systems are often hard to understand – keep your own excel spreadsheets
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Don’t rely solely on the district office for record keeping

There will often be a delay from when a site encumbers or spends funds and when
that activity shows up on a district report and/or updated budget
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Distinguish between ongoing commitments and one-time expenditures – you may
look like you have the budget, but your ongoing commitments may limit your ability to
spend funds at the end of the year
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8. 
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Projects education plan for fiscal year
Shows sources of funds and expenditures
School Site Council
School Plan for Student Achievement
Informs the public
Guides evaluation of a year’s program
Guides comparison to prior years

9. It’s a brand new world…2012/13
Local Control Funding Formula…
Local Control Accountability Plan
(LCAP)…Common Core State
Standards…
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10. The old system:
Formula driven
A new system:
Local Control Funding Formula
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11. 11

12. 
The LCFF is the most sweeping change to school finance policy in 40 years

Policy and budget making via formulas is gone
LCFF/ LCAP
◦ Local control accountability plan and budget developed simultaneously = What you will do
and be held accountable for
◦ Under an 8-year phase in
The paradigm shift:
Spending directly accountable to educational outcomes
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13. Factors
K-3
4-6
7-8
9-12
$6,845
$6,947
$7,154
$8,289
Adjustment factors
10.4% CSR
--
--
2.6% CTE?
CSR, CTE amounts
$711.88
--
--
$215.51
Grade Span Base
Grant per ADA
Add the following amounts to the base grant and adjustments above:
• Supplemental grant - 20% of the grade span base grant multiplied by the
districtwide % eligible students
• Concentration grant - 50% of the grade span base grant multiplied by the
districtwide % eligible students that exceed 55% of total enrollment
Add on:
Home-to-School Transportation and Targeted Instructional Improvement Grant
Funded at 2012-13 levels
Add each column to get target grant and divide by 8 to get yearly increase

14. ◦
$1.25 billion for Common Core implementation –
one-time over two years
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CTE one-time grants - $250 million statewide
◦
Prop. 39 energy efficiency grants – dedicated
solely to schools via formula

15. 
Check your LCFF funding and 8-year target
◦ Figures could be inaccurate, do double check
◦ Double check F/R lunch count and EL student enrollment
◦ Check that your base year amount is correct
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Watch for updates and direction on Local Control Accountability Plan
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Start educating your board, employees, unions,
community now
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Integrate LCFF planning into Common Core
implementation and planning
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16. Core Includes (but not limited to)
Teachers/classroom
Adult Ed
Professional Dev.
Sports/Athletics
Facilities/Planning
Books/Supplies
Educational Services
Utilities
Maintenance
Health & Welfare
Operations
BTSA For New Teacher
Textbooks
Gate
IT
Board of Trustees
Business Services
Safety and Security
HR
Student Services
State categoricals
Child Care
Transportation
Healthy Start
Nutrition/Food
Migrant Ed (State)
Nurses
Speech/Hearing
State/Federal Accountability
New unrestricted funding is limited

17. Districts will need to develop a process for LCAP development and approval
This is like zerobased budgeting
• What do you do now?
• How much does that cost?
• What must you absolutely
do to stay operational?
• Where do you want to be?
• What do your students
need?
Internal planning w/
the LCFF model
Facilitating, selling,
communicating
• How much do you get
under LCFF?
• What is your yearly
revenue growth?
• What is the break down –
restricted vs. unrest.?
• What are your immediate
and long term needs?
• What does your board
look like and want?
• Where is your
community?
• Where are your unions?
• What is your
communications and
political game plan?
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18. 18

19. District revenues
Equates to
a 23%
drop in
state
revenues
Phased recovery over time
Return to 2007-08 per ADA
statutory funding levels
Eight year phase in of LCFF funding
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20. •
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•
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Projects education plan
Identifies sources of revenue &
expenditures
Informs the public
Guides evaluation of programs
Trend Analysis
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21. 
Developed and adopted each year
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Revised no less than two times per year
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Many forms and schedules
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Many factors contribute to change

22. 
Locally Controlled Funding Formula (LCFF) – A Paradigm shift
◦ Base funding
 Determined by ADA, Grade span target funding levels
◦ Supplemental and Concentration funding
 Determined by Unduplicated English learners, FRPM eligible and foster care
students
◦ Data Integrity
 CalPADS – Directly tied to funding
◦ Includes previously designated funding sources
 EIA, CSR (add on), ROP, Tier III Flex Categoricals
◦ Accountability Requirements – LCAP
 A work in process

23. 
Add-ons to LCFF
◦ Home-to-School Transportation
◦ Targeted Instructional Improvement Grant (TIIG)
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State Lottery

Common Core Standards Implementation
◦ One-time funding – Ongoing Need
 Spending authority over two years
◦ Technology, Professional Development, Instructional Materials

24. 
Revenue
◦ CBEDS
◦ ADA
◦ COLA
◦ New Programs
◦ Eliminated Programs
◦ Statewide ADA
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Expenditures
• New Programs
• Delivery of Programs
• Carry Over Balances
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Balance from prior year programs
Calculated when year-end closing completed
September 15th
Audited by external auditors
• Step & Column
• Salary Costs
• Unemployment Insurance
• Worker’s Compensation
• Cost of Doing Business

25. Budget action:
Adopted budget*
Unaudited actuals (fiscal activity through year end)
Annual independent audit of prior-year budget
1st Interim Report (activity through Oct 31)
2nd Interim Report (activity through January 31)
3rd Interim Report (activity through June 30)
Federal fiscal year
Adoption date:
July 1
By September 15
October each year
December 15
March 15
If required by COE
Oct 1 – Sept 30
•If no state budget by July 1, a revised budget must be adopted within 45 days after the state budget is adopted
•Federal expenditure reporting will follow the federal fiscal year
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26. Total
Revenue
Federal
State
Local

27. LEAs typically get their revenues from five sources:*
1.
State aid: state sales and income taxes – allocated via the Proposition 98 funding
formula
2.
Property taxes: Collected locally but allocated to schools based on a state-determined
formula (Prop. 98)
3.
Federal aid: Earmarked for special purposes, most notably Child Nutrition, Special
Education, and No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
4.
Local miscellaneous: Can include such sources as community contributions, interest
income, developer fees, and revenues from local parcel tax elections
5.
Lottery: Portions of the proceeds from the California State Lottery goes to school districts
on a per-pupil basis, providing a token per-pupil allocation to school districts and charter
schools
* EdSource and Legislative Analyst’s Office
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28. EdSource Jan. 2011
* Not all revenues go to instruction. For example, $2.5 billion pays for child care and adult ed.
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29. 
Unrestricted Income – Resource “0000”
◦ Not restricted or designated by the donor
 Not subject to specific constraints
 May be used for any purpose not prohibited by law
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Restricted Income – Resource “1000-9999”
◦ Legally restricted use
◦ Restricted use defined by owner
 For specific purposes

30. 
All school district budgeting is organized according to the Standardized
Accounting Code Structure (SACS)
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SACS provides a level of consistency for budget comparisons and reporting
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It provides:
◦ Ability to identify expenditures by type and amount
◦ Ability to make reasonable comparisons between districts and programs
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Districts are required to use SACS for state and federal reporting purposes
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31. The seven fields in SACS and the required minimum digits for each are:
Note: These are minimums, districts may require additional digits
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Fund - 2 digits
Resource - 4 digits
Project Year - 1 digit
Object - 4 digits
Goal - 4 digits
Function (Activity) - 4 digits
District Defined – 4 digits
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32. Fund:
A fund identifies specific activities or defines certain objectives of BHUSD in accordance with CDE.
Most activity occurs in Fund 01, our general fund.
Resource: The resource code is used to classify revenue and expenditures that have special accounting or reporting
requirements or that are legally restricted. This code explains what restricted/unrestricted funding source is
being used.
Object:
The object code classifies expenditures by type of commodity or service. (e.g. – certificated salaries, benefits,
instructional supplies, travel & conference)
Project Year: Identifies the reporting year for a project that has more than one reporting year during the LEA’s
fiscal year.
Location: The site code designates a specific, school or department structure or group of structures that form a campus or
department under an administrator’s responsibility.
Goal:
The goal identifies the instructional goals and objectives. It groups costs by population, setting, and/or
educational mode. Examples include regular education K-12, continuation schools, migrant education, and
special education. This code explains who is being served.
Function:
The function identifies activities or services performed to support or accomplish one or more goals
or objectives. Examples include instruction, school administration, and transportation. This code explains what
you are doing
with the funds.
District Defined: District specific code that ties to a specific function/project not identified within other codes.
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33. 1000’s - certificated employees
•Contract teachers/others
•Hourly teachers
•Substitute teachers (staff development)
2000’s - classified employees
•Contract employees
-Instructional assistants
-Clerical
-Technology/media
•Extra/overtime
•Substitutes
3000’s - benefits
•Health/welfare
•Mandatory (Social Security, Medi-Care, Workers’ Compensation)
•STRS/PERS

34. 4000’s – Books & Supplies
•Instructional materials, books, other materials
•Support materials/supplies, software
•Computers/furniture/equipment
5000’s – Services/Operating Expenses
•Travel/conference
•Memberships
•Leases, maintenance agreements
•Equipment repairs
6000’s – Capital Outlay
•Furniture/equipment
7000’s Indirect costs

35. •
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•
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Projects education plan
Identifies sources of revenue &
expenditures
Informs the public
Guides evaluation of programs
Trend Analysis
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36. 
Knowing what to do and when is key to success

Develop clear timelines on your site / program budgets over the course of the
fiscal year

Make sure your fiscal and instructional actions match up – if you change your
plan, change your budget to reflect the change (if needed)
◦ LCAP
◦ School Site Council
◦ School Plan for Student Achievement
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Memorialize your actions – text explanations should accompany your
budgets to explain what you did, why, and when you did it.

Keep your district office budget person up to speed – always!
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37. 
As principal / assistant principal, you will oversee several types of budgets
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The type of funds will depend on district protocols and fiscal practice
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Site discretionary funds
Site operations and administration
Books and supplies
Associated Student Body (ASB) funds
Federal grants – QEIA, Title I, SIG
Clubs, parent groups, site council
Special funds – facilities, recycling, after-school
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38. Unrestricted fund
•Usually recurring
•Supply and equipment budgets
•Typically less rules
Grants/Donations
•Usually one-time
•Variable rules/restrictions
•Provided for specific expenditures
Restricted fund
PTA/Booster Clubs
•Categorical programs
•Usually one-time
•Usually recurring
•Political context – keep it in mind
•SIP, EIA-LEP, Title 1
•Provided for specific expenditures
•Program-based with rules/restrictions
•Be careful / ask questions
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39. 
Spring
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Begin planning for FY and instructional year
Determine inefficiencies, deficiencies, and areas of improvement
Determine available funding and what you want to accomplish
Develop budget that coincides with program implementation and goals/objectives
Begin discussions with School Site Council
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Identify and align budgeted expenditures with Single Plan for Student Achievement
Start of the instructional year
◦ Resource allocation and match up
◦ Oversee program and evaluate program startup
◦ Review SPSA and budget for alignment
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During the year
◦ Periodically evaluate program and budget
◦ Compare any variances to prior year
◦ Monitor year-to-date spending and where you are to budget
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Monthly Budget Certification Reports – Review, transfer and certify
◦ Keep district office personnel up to date on status and progress
◦ Recommend taking these actions monthly
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40. 
You will likely have several different funding sources – ASB, yearbook,
PTO/A, site discretionary, campus supervision, etc. etc.
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Understand the rules of each – what you can, and what you can’t
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Work with your district office staff to develop one overall site / program
budget that includes all funds and spending
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Organize it in a way you can easily see the macro and micro
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You should be able to describe the basics of your site / program budget to
your staff, parents, board members, superintendent
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41. 
Personnel costs are often the top expenditure – especially for programs
◦ About 85 percent of your total budget is locked up in salaries and benefits
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Things to remember and factor into site/program budgeting:
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Total compensation – not just salary, but benefits too!
Length of position
Certification
Funding source – one-time vs. ongoing, categorical ?
Job description – especially if a new position
Management vs. labor position – is it subject to collective bargaining?
Reporting and accountability
Layoff notification, bumping, 39-month rehire list, and other seniority requirements
Remember to work closely with the Human Resources and Business Office when personnel changes are
necessary or clarification is required.
We are here to help!
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42. 
Remember – all revenues are “green”
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Spend most restricted dollars first
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Spend time sensitive funds first
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Consider multi-funding
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Good balances are prudent – but remember, the money is meant for students, so spend it
appropriately and timely
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Use the SMART goal approach to evaluate effectiveness – did your spending positively impact
learning and achievement?
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Budget Integrity in Purchasing –Budgets have to be sufficient or purchase orders should not
be processed.
◦ .
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43. 
Developing and implementing budgets is a critical skill for all site leaders

Knowing it and doing it well increases your chances for success in all areas –
student achievement, site management, instructional leadership
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It can be a career ender if you don’t pay attention and get sloppy

Always use the Business Office as a resource to help spend
today’s dollars on today’s students responsibly and
within the legal guidelines
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44. •
Know The Rules…
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45. 

Average Daily Attendance
◦ Legal Responsibility
 Accountability
◦ Recordkeeping
 Complete & Accurate
◦ Audit focus
 Errors can costs $$$$$$$
◦ Determines funding levels
 State, Federal
◦ Safety
 Where is my child?
Data Integrity
◦ CBEDS
 LCFF = Critical to get your data right!!!!
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46. 
California Basic Education Data System (CBEDS)
◦ A count of enrolled students
◦ Updated every year in October
◦ Statistical data drives various fund sources

Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
◦ Average student attendance on any given day
◦ Calculated three times a year for State Reporting
◦ Determines base LCFF funding, lottery funding, etc.

47. 
Establish monthly activity reports and closely track expenditures and income
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Identify a site-level staff member to act as bookkeeper – but monitor them, you are ultimately
responsible!
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Follow district and board-adopted procedures
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Distribute monthly reports to club members, staff, and business office
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Put in controls for cash management and collection
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See FCMAT manual – www.fcmat.org
WARNING – Don’t take this for granted. ASB funds can quickly get out of control!
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48. 
This is typically an account to deposit funds raised by and/or for students –
specifically mentioned in Education Code 48930-48938

Warning! – This is the most common account that is noted for audit exceptions and
mismanagement
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Site leaders are responsible management and reporting

It is critical that site leaders master the essentials of proper supervision and
management of ASB funds
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49. Allowable
Prohibited
Field trips and camps
Salaries for district employee
Science and nature trips
Supplies for district purposes
Library materials
Awards for students/staff
Playground equipment
Faculty professional development
Expenses for PTC/PTAs
Maintenance/repair of equipment
Magazine subscriptions
Student services
Items of personnel use by district
employees
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50. 
You don’t need to be a budget “whiz” to be a great instructional leader

Business office staff won’t expect you to be a budget expert – and they may not want
you to be
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You do, however, need to have a baseline competency and appreciation of budget
concepts and technical practices

More importantly, you need to respect timelines and administrative processes – they
are there because they are required to be and to protect you and the district as a
whole.
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51. 
A great site and program leader should be a passionate advocate for their school
and/or program

It is okay to have a bit of “push the envelope” mentality for your site/program – all
great leaders display an element of this trait

But respect the fiscal process – understand how far the envelope goes

Know the fiscal and HR process – understand it – and stay current on it

Respect fiscal and HR staff – give them proper heads up – give them the opportunity
to serve students too.
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52. As a leader, you are only going to be as “popular” as your last
“yes”. Strive to be trustworthy, consistent, fair, and set a positive
model of the work habits and interpersonal behaviors you value
in the organization. The popularity will eventually follow.
Dr. Jeff Baarstadt, Superintendent
Conejo Valley USD
Former CBO, Principal and Teacher
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