Introduction
To complete this activity, I met with a number of teachers, the school’s Chief Operating Officer and considered my own experiences as a teacher and department head. We are a religious private school and, while we are not managed by a district or subject to union policies, we have a Board of Governors and formal guidelines for issues related to human resources.
Evaluation of Budget-Management Practices
It seems to me that the budgeting process at my school is sound and effective, especially in terms of implementation. As a private school, we have fairly considerable resources -especially for exciting and innovative programs- and our development staff keeps the school on sound financial footing. This has not always been true but a recent professionalization of that department has resulted in the current state of affairs.
The school’s current COO is a remarkably capable and effective administrator. During our interview I told him that I feel one of his greatest strengths is his total lack of emotional investment in the school, and he laughed and thanked me. What I mean by this is that, since we are a religious school, many of our employees and administrators live in our school’s community and “eat, sleep and breathe it.” RQ, the COO, does not live in the community so his relationship to the school is purely professional. This perspective allows him a cool, detached view of the school’s affairs which allows him to be more effective than he might be otherwise.
RQ enjoys a professional relationship with the school’s Board of Governors and, during the past year (his first on campus) he has succeeded in professionalizing their relationship with the school’s budget and his oversight of it. When I asked him to tell me about the political aspects of the budget process, he explained that there really was no political dimension and that he had eliminated it by creating consensus through a solid focus on the school’s mission and a respect for the Board Members’ time. “I don’t meet with the Board unless I’m asking them to make a decision,” he said. “I present data, educate them if necessary, then ask them to make a decision. They appreciate that effeciency.”
As an example of this policy in action, he explained that he proposed a change recently to the school’s bylaws. Currently, the board must approve any expense greater than $10,000 which he feels is much too small to bother them with. His proposal was to raise that threshold to $50,000 and he expects them to approve it. His responsible application of the rules that exist has been a sea change and brought outdated rules like this one into the light.
RQ told me that his watchword was value; this is the sole criteria he considers when approaching budget oversight. If a proposed expense provides a value comensurate with the expense, he approves it. “It really is that simple,” he explained.