Upcoming Events
Tuesday, 1/6 Students Return to School
Wednesday, 1/7 School Tour, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, 1/8 School Spelling Bee, 8:15 a.m.
Friday, 1/9 PTO Meeting, 8:10 a.m.; Kinder Field Trip; NTB Book Talk, 11:30-12:30
Monday, 1/12
Tuesday, 1/13 NTB Qualifier Test, 7:15 a.m. (NEW DATE)
Wednesday, 1/14
Thursday, 1/15 SDMC Meeting, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, 1/16
Wednesday, 1/28 Early Dismissal, 12:30 p.m.
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break filled with family and friends, and lots of time to reconnect. The Spring semester is always a busy time around campus. There are so many ways to connect as a community, and if you haven't gotten involved already, you will have several great events to choose from this semester.
The teachers worked today to prepare for the upcoming semester. They are rested and recharged to take on the important work ahead. Please remember they are your best connection to how your child is performing in school. Make sure you are staying connected with the classroom blog, where you can find information about what your child is learning each week.
School Funding, Part II
Decentralized Budgeting
In the first part of this series I shared information about how schools are funded by the state. Most school districts across the state use a centralized funding system in which the school district decides on the types of positions and programs at every school, leaving the individual campus with little say in how the money is spent. HISD has operated under a decentralized funding system for many years, allowing each campus to make decisions about staffing, programs and professional development at the campus level. This is easily thought of as people and stuff.
The campus budgeting process begins with the initial per unit (student) allocation. Last year, elementary campuses received approximately $3378 for each student. The largest expense in the campus level budget is for "people". It takes the full allocation for approximately 16 students to cover the cost of the assigned classroom teacher. With the funding for 16 students already allocated for the classroom teacher, the allocation for approximately 4 students in each class covers the cost of other personnel. Every campus must have an administrative staff (principal, registrar, secretary) and because we are a large elementary school, our administrative staff includes an assistant principal and instructional coordinator. Because of our proximity to the medical center, and because we often have children with critical illnesses, we need a full time nurse.
After budgeting for administrative staff, we begin considering our other needs. We are required by state law to offer special education services, reading intervention and physical education, and as an IB school we are required to offer a foreign language and technology. That covers our staffing expenses, and most of our ancillary rotation. We will talk more about fine arts in Part III.
With staffing funded, we generally have about $200,000 left to budget for all other expenses, or the equivalent of the allocation for 2 students per class. We must consider the cost of substitutes for when teachers are out sick, professional development, academic programs such as Everyday Math and Wordly Wise, as well as classroom materials such as classroom libraries and Target Math daily practice. We budget annually to maintain our leveled library for daily small group reading instruction, and for the past three years have made large investments in our school library to ensure children have up-to-date print resources and access to e-books. Each year funds are earmarked for replacing furniture and classroom rugs, and for the cost of updating technology (something we have been able to share with PTO).
In early spring of each year we project enrollment for the upcoming year and prepare a preliminary budget based on the emerging needs of the campus. Those needs are identified with the use of student performance data from the prior year, as well as with data from the annual parent and student surveys. The SDMC reviews that data and are asked to provide feedback on any areas of the budget that may need adjustment.
Each year, the Texas Education Agency reports on campus, district and state level expenditures per student. Roberts spends less on school leadership and more on classrooms than the District or the State average. It is my commitment to ensure every available dollar reaches the student at the classroom level, and is not squandered with administrative costs.
Tuesday, 1/6 Students Return to School
Wednesday, 1/7 School Tour, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, 1/8 School Spelling Bee, 8:15 a.m.
Friday, 1/9 PTO Meeting, 8:10 a.m.; Kinder Field Trip; NTB Book Talk, 11:30-12:30
Monday, 1/12
Tuesday, 1/13 NTB Qualifier Test, 7:15 a.m. (NEW DATE)
Wednesday, 1/14
Thursday, 1/15 SDMC Meeting, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, 1/16
Wednesday, 1/28 Early Dismissal, 12:30 p.m.
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break filled with family and friends, and lots of time to reconnect. The Spring semester is always a busy time around campus. There are so many ways to connect as a community, and if you haven't gotten involved already, you will have several great events to choose from this semester.
The teachers worked today to prepare for the upcoming semester. They are rested and recharged to take on the important work ahead. Please remember they are your best connection to how your child is performing in school. Make sure you are staying connected with the classroom blog, where you can find information about what your child is learning each week.
School Funding, Part II
Decentralized Budgeting
In the first part of this series I shared information about how schools are funded by the state. Most school districts across the state use a centralized funding system in which the school district decides on the types of positions and programs at every school, leaving the individual campus with little say in how the money is spent. HISD has operated under a decentralized funding system for many years, allowing each campus to make decisions about staffing, programs and professional development at the campus level. This is easily thought of as people and stuff.
The campus budgeting process begins with the initial per unit (student) allocation. Last year, elementary campuses received approximately $3378 for each student. The largest expense in the campus level budget is for "people". It takes the full allocation for approximately 16 students to cover the cost of the assigned classroom teacher. With the funding for 16 students already allocated for the classroom teacher, the allocation for approximately 4 students in each class covers the cost of other personnel. Every campus must have an administrative staff (principal, registrar, secretary) and because we are a large elementary school, our administrative staff includes an assistant principal and instructional coordinator. Because of our proximity to the medical center, and because we often have children with critical illnesses, we need a full time nurse.
After budgeting for administrative staff, we begin considering our other needs. We are required by state law to offer special education services, reading intervention and physical education, and as an IB school we are required to offer a foreign language and technology. That covers our staffing expenses, and most of our ancillary rotation. We will talk more about fine arts in Part III.
With staffing funded, we generally have about $200,000 left to budget for all other expenses, or the equivalent of the allocation for 2 students per class. We must consider the cost of substitutes for when teachers are out sick, professional development, academic programs such as Everyday Math and Wordly Wise, as well as classroom materials such as classroom libraries and Target Math daily practice. We budget annually to maintain our leveled library for daily small group reading instruction, and for the past three years have made large investments in our school library to ensure children have up-to-date print resources and access to e-books. Each year funds are earmarked for replacing furniture and classroom rugs, and for the cost of updating technology (something we have been able to share with PTO).
In early spring of each year we project enrollment for the upcoming year and prepare a preliminary budget based on the emerging needs of the campus. Those needs are identified with the use of student performance data from the prior year, as well as with data from the annual parent and student surveys. The SDMC reviews that data and are asked to provide feedback on any areas of the budget that may need adjustment.
Each year, the Texas Education Agency reports on campus, district and state level expenditures per student. Roberts spends less on school leadership and more on classrooms than the District or the State average. It is my commitment to ensure every available dollar reaches the student at the classroom level, and is not squandered with administrative costs.
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