Grand Canyon University Budget Defense Evelyn Welch Grand Canyon University EAD-510 Dr. Kimberly Birds April 4th, 2018 Budget Defense in response to district budget cuts.

Budget Concerns To Be Addressed 10% cut from your site budget. One kindergarten position to be cut. As a result of the failing of the District Override Initiative, there have been some recent decisions made regarding cuts to the current budget. The first cut includes 10% of the current budget and the second cut is for a kindergarten teaching position. While these cuts have been designated by the district, it is the responsibility of the principal to ensure that the needs of the students are met. The following slides include information on the current budget and how it was created as well as possible solutions for addressing these cuts.

Creating the Budget Review/evaluate 3 previous budget plans. Review/evaluate current programs. Review ideas and concerns from stakeholders. Discuss the impact of each program and idea/both current and presented. Determine the loge term effects of the programs and ideas. Make projections for future budgets. The process of creating the current budget began with reviewing previous budgets and understanding how effective they were. Then an evaluation of the programs that have been implemented must be conducted. The idea of evaluating each program is to determine which programs are producing the expected benefits. Some programs do not live up to the expectations and do not do anything to advance student learning (Cooper, 2011). All stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and community members, need to have the opportunity to discuss their concerns as well as their ideas for the future.

Budget Revenue Federal Funds $ 1,604,524 State/Local Funds $ 9,612,556 Private Funds $3,366 School Improvements Funds (Allocated from previous School Year) $8,260.35   Total $ 11,228,706.35 The current revenue includes Federal, State, Local, and Private funds as well as funds specifically designated for school improvement.

Budget Expenditures TEACHERS/SUBSTITUTES/AIDES (SALARIES/BENEFITS) Current Expenditures Budget Expenditures TEACHERS/SUBSTITUTES/AIDES (SALARIES/BENEFITS) $ 6,250,000 OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL PERSONNEL $ 888,645 CONTRACTED INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES $65,081 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION $640,233 MATERIALS/SUPPLIES/OPERATING CAPITAL OUTLAY $196,753 FOOD SERVICE $657,161 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF PLANT $1,250,000 OTHER SCHOOL LEVEL SUPPORT SERVICES $200,500   Total $10,148,373 The budget expenditures include the current expenditures for the school budget as well as expected expenditures.

Justification of Expenditures Each area of the expenditures is evidence based. Data was used to ensure results are as expected. In order to create an effective budget, each of the current expenditures is based on evidence of comparable need to expense. Every decision that is made, when creating a budget, must be based on the most current and up to date data available (Barbour, 2012). Every teaching position is based on the number of students enrolled in the school and the number of teachers needed to cover these needs.

Data Student to teacher ratio is accurate and consistent with current need. All programs have proven effective based on data provided for each program. The needs of the students has been considered based on data received from testing scores. Each of the expenditures have been evaluated based on data and each has proven to be a necessary component to student success.

We Can’t Let Go According to the student teacher ratio, the number of teachers hired for the kindergarten grade level are necessary. The current school enrollment has exceeded the expected amount, including kindergarten and school enrollment has not closed. The current budget has plenty of funds to cover the position. The current budget has enough funds to cover the kindergarten teaching position that has been set to be cut. Even with a 10% cut in the overall budget, there is still room to maintain all teaching positions. There is evidence that shows a correlation between low student to teacher ratios and the success of the students (Nye, Hedges, & Konstantopoulos, 2001).

Mission and Vision Create a community within the school. Create productive members of society for tomorrow by being productive members today. The school’s mission and vision rely on building a community and teaching students what it means to be an productive member of society. In order to do this, the budget must be aligned with both the vision and the mission. The budget was created with the assistance of all stakeholders, including members of the community. As a result, the students are able to see how every role is valuable.

Resources The school improvement funds are being utilized in a way that promotes achievement with the use of data. Data is being used in every area of the school budget in order to ensure effectiveness of each program. Community resources are being utilized to ensure the effectiveness of programs. The resources that are available, including the data for each area of the budget, are being utilized in a way that promotes student achievement.

Community Resources The resources that have been presented by the community have been used to provide data that can be used to ensure the effectiveness of every area in the school’s budget. Since each area of the budget is backed by data from the community resources, this generates additional funding that the community is willing to provide.

District Plans and School Mission The school mission is to create productive members of society for tomorrow by being productive members today. The district plans for cutting the budget do not consider the needs of the students. How can a school leader teach students to be productive members of society when the district continues to make cuts that directly affect the needs of the students? According to Cooper (2011) the way to create a budget that is immune to budget cuts is through the use of data. The district’s plan to cut budgets will have a negative affect on the school’s mission.

Political Initiatives And Emerging Trends Site-Based budgets. Site-based budgets are becoming more and more common and is very effective. The use of a site-based budget improves student achievement by examining all areas of the budget with the assistance of all stakeholders (Sorenson & Goldsmith, 2013).

Monitoring and Evaluating the Plan The administration continuously monitors the budget. Staff, Parents, and community members evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. Along with all of the areas of the budget, the process must include all stakeholders in order to be effective and efficient. Once again, creating an environment that meets the needs of the students while teaching the importance of community.

References Cooper, K. L. (2011). Budgeting Based on Results. School Administrator, 68(1), 18-21. Barbour, C. (2012). Using Data to Realign Resources. Principal Leadership, 13(1), 24-28. Nye, B. A., Hedges, L. V., & Konstantopoulos, S. (2001). Are effects of small classes cumulative? Evidence from a Tennessee experiment. Journal Of Educational Research, 94(6), 336-345. Sorenson, R. D., & Goldsmith, L. M. (2013). The principal's guide to school budgeting (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. ISBN-13: 9781452255477 Above are the articles and books references within the presentation. -Evelyn Welch