Goal Driven Budget

As school finances have reached tough times, it is very important for a district to have a goal driven budget.  A goal driven budget takes into account the shared goals and vision of a district and applies the finances accordingly.  According to Dr. Arterbury “the purpose of a goal driven budget is to assist in the attainment of a shared vision for the school district and every campus.”  The board sets the goals for the district, the district improvement committee develops a district improvement plan, and the campus site based committees develop the campus improvement plans.  All of these plans should be based on the needs of the district and campuses from the data.  Data based decision making really becomes a factor in having a goal driven budget.  For instance if the data shows that the middle school science scores have fallen behind state average, the campuses and/or district should see this and research curriculum or programs that may assist the teachers in improving these scores.  Once a plan is researched and decided on, the district budget should reflect the necessary funds allocating toward improving the science scores. 

            To see a good example of a goal driven budget from Port Neches-Groves Independent school district, you can look at Goal #1: Objective 3:  Goal #1 is Improvement of Academic Performance, Objective 3: Students in each student group, as indicated in AEIS and AYP will meet the STAAR/TAKS passing standard for Math at or above the state and region average.  A recent purchase using local funds to help with vertical and horizontal curriculum alignment in math was the CSCOPE curriculum.  Also, one of our elementary schools was able to secure another math teaching position using Title funds.  Many campuses implemented an after school tutorials program that specifically focused on math objectives.  The proper funds were appropriated for this and along the same lines; we expanded our summer school program to include more students.  All of these additional resources or programs cost money out of our budget that was based on our goals.