Friendswood ISD Board of Trustees adopted the 2008-2009 General Operating budget that included awarding a 3 percent salary increase for all employees of the District on Tuesday, August 26, 2008. They also adopted the Debt Service and Food Service Fund budgets.
Revenues for the board adopted funds totaled $46,893,996. General fund revenues of $38,068,598 represented an increase of 2.8 percent from the 2007-2008 adopted budget.
The budgeting process is comprised of four major phases: planning, preparation, evaluation, and adoption.
PLANNING:
The planning phase began in January for the 2008-2009 budget adoption process and is the foundation for creating a sound budget. During this phase, budget process materials were created, enrollment and revenue projections were made, and salary data was compiled. The planning phase was completed in March with the publication of the Budget Preparation Package. This publication can be found on the FISD website.
PREPARATION:
Friendswood ISD uses site-based budgeting to enhance the ability of principals and department administrators to serve as effective instructional leaders. Site based budgeting places the responsible budget manager at the center of the budget preparation process. During the preparation phase, campus and department planning teams were formed. These teams worked with Principals and Department Leaders to ensure campus and department goals were addressed and to verify the submitted budgets met the needs of the students, faculty and staff for their responsible area. The preparation phase concluded in June as Principals and department leaders submitted their proposed budgets to the Business Office.
EVALUATION:
The evaluation phase allows central administration to compile all of the budget pieces into one District document. During this phase individual budgets are reviewed for accuracy and efficiency, it is determined whether there are adequate resources to support the expenditures, and any modifications are made. The Board of Trustees held a budget workshop to review the proposed revenues and preliminary budgets in detail. In August, the budget was presented to the Trustees in a separate District Budget publication. This publication can also be found on the FISD website.
ADOPTION:
The final phase in the budget process is the adoption. During this phase the public hearing is held and the budget is formally adopted by the Board of Trustees. School district budget preparation is part of a continuous cycle of planning, preparation, evaluation, and adoption to achieve the District’s goals and objectives.
Next in this series: School Finance 101: Where DOES that money come from?
FISD Website: www.fisdk12.net |
