Final word on budget lies with administration
Last Updated on Thursday, 02 February 2012 13:23
Written by Editorial Staff
Thursday, 02 February 2012 01:00
During recent school budget discussions, a short debate arose regarding the Board of Education’s input into reductions to the school superintendent’s original proposal. A majority of the Democrats on the board suggested trimming expenses in three specific areas: transportation, consulting fees and athletic director stipends, and restoring funds to special education.
Former Chairman Republican Mark Stapleton said he opposes telling administrators where to make their cuts. He said he supports voting on a dollar amount and relying on the experts — the administrators — to determine the best way to spend the funds.
Democrats Tracy Casey, chairman, and Susan Glennon defended the move. Casey said the specific reductions were determined based on information raised at budget workshop meetings. Glennon said it isn’t unusual for board members to make such recommendations.
Both arguments hold merit. Stapleton’s points are well taken. Traditionally it is up to the school administrators to take their final budget figure and decide how best to spend those dollars. The same will hold true when the budget proposal moves to the Board of Finance and Board of Aldermen.
Those boards might make suggestions, but in the end their job will be to come up with a budget amount, not an itemized spending plan. That said, there isn’t anything wrong with the boards identifying areas they think could or should be cut.
There is nothing wrong with the boards making these views public. It shows that they put time and research into their decisions, and that they did not simply vote on a dollar figure willy-nilly.
In the end, however, it will be up to the school administrators to take that final budget figure and decide how to allocate it.
The school superintendent, if faced with additional reductions or even additions when the budget process wraps up in May, should be trusted to sit down with her top administrators, go through the books and details again, and decide how to best spend the money. It is likely they will take the comments made by the various boards into account as they make their final decisions.
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