Assessment #4: The Principals Duties, Part 1

Working through e-mail and verbal communication my principal and I were able to

converse about the responsibilities of a principal. Through her responses I was able to get an

understanding of how the role in finances is an important part of being a principal.

I was able to look through the school board documents and website to learn additional

information of the functions of the principal. The information I have learned is included in the

table below. I then later used the information learned from the countys website to generate

questions to ask my principal.

When writing checks the principal needs to get the superintendent or a designee to sign for

certain checks that the board of education has control over. When writing checks, they must

have two signatures. The principal also must demonstrate approval for all requests to spend the

Board of Education funds. (Board Policies: Section D. #DGA/DGB).

There is an employee dishonesty insurance coverage that covers the district employees that

spends the districts funds. (Board Policies: Section D. #DH).

Principals must report to the board what textbooks they have at the school and what textbooks

are used in the building. If they are not being used, they will be redistributed to others schools.

(Board Policies: Section D. #DID).

Every year the school is audited. The principal and the bookkeeper are present during the

audit. After the audit the principals will receive a written report and the information will be

sent to the superintendent of schools. (Board Policies: Section D. #DIE).

The financial responsibilities and the fiscal duties of the principal is very extensive and

frustrating at times. The board of education gives you your budget for the year but you are
unable to spend it in ways that would be beneficial to your building. You first must get the

superintendents approval for the schools spending. Sometimes what you would like to do as the

principal isnt possible because the school board will not write you a check for the money you

desire to spend. The district still has the final say in how you can spend the schools money.

Depending upon the principal is how much information is communicated to the

staff. Some principals choose to be more open about the budget and allow teachers to give

feedback and suggestions on how to spend the schools money. Other principals tend to keep the

budget information private or only share the information with a few privileged

individuals. What should be communicated with the staff is how to get the instructional

allocations for the year. Explain to teachers what they need to do to receive the reimbursement

from the school by turning in their receipts to get the determined amount that the principal has

allotted for each teacher.

When creating your schools budget and allocating money to your line items such as

supplies, materials, equipment, and postage it is important that you know how much money you

are going to place into each account. Once that money is in that line item it is incredible difficult

to move to other accounts. If you put too much into certain accounts, you are not able to use it

for your school for the necessary supplies that you may need. The principal I spoke with stated

to not put money into the equipment category because these are for large purchases and the

school doesnt really need to make these large purchases every year. The funding would be

better utilized in the instructional materials because you can make smaller purchases and for

items your school needs to sustain the school year. One very nice thing is that you do not need

to use your school allocations to pay for copier repair and services. That monies come from the

board of education funds.

 To get improvements to the building you must file a maintenance order and prioritize the

work that needs to be completed at the school. If it is an emergency than the school board would

fill the order much faster but if it is for smaller cosmetic demands, then the fixes would become

lower on the work order list. We recently had our cafeteria and stairwells painted. If there

would of been an emergency than our work order would have been put on hold until a later

time. Even if the principal wants to use the funding that they have for building repairs they still

need to go through the school board to finalize the request.

As the principal, you need to ensure that your funding will last the entire school year

from July to July. At times, you may get a call from the superintendent saying you have X

amount of money that needs to be spent by the end of the week. This is where a principal can

make an impulse buy because they are going to loose the money. It is important to make sure

you have a wish list so if you do get a call to spend your money you have some options on what

your building would need for the following school year. This situation can also happen with

grant money when the end of the year is nearing.

So balancing and spending the schools funding is a juggling act and knowing what you

can spend your money on and what funds you are allowed to pull from. My principal told me to

just treat the budget like your households and make the same smart money decision-making and

you will not have to worry about stretching your dollar.

ASBO article that related to our discussion

Throughout the interview with my principal, we discussed school funding and how to

stretch your money to last the entire school year. As a principal you know how much funding

you have and it is the expectation that you make it last and provide the necessary supplies for

your building. As a principal you have to know the educational mandates as well as be business
savvy to allow your school to operate. This is why I selected the article Financing Education:

An Overview of Public School Funding from the ASBO November 2015 magazine.

The article discussed how various school receives funding from the state, property taxes,

or other means of funding. The article highlights how the American education system has yet to

find an appropriate means to fund public schools. Many schools are having trouble ensuring that

their schools have equitable funding for all schools in the district. Some schools are receiving

more per pupil expenditures than others. This allows the more struggling and poverty areas to

have less funding and services available to these at-risk students.

Even though, my principal and I feel that Washington County does fairly share the

funding across all schools in the county it is very difficult to still provide for some students that

are struggling. Schools that are labeled as Title I schools receive additional federal funding that

allows more support staff and other programs that benefit the students. While other schools,

such as ours, that also has a high poverty rate does not receive additional funding. This poses

challenges within our school as all teachers work diligently to creatively meet the needs of all of

the learners in our building.

We discussed our schools demographic and how it becomes challenging to meet the needs of

all of the students without the additional support staff and other services such as free school

supplies and tutoring services. This year we have tried to stretch the funding and instructional

resources to try something new where we grouped the students together with like learning

abilities to allow the support staff to push-in or co-teach with the general education

teacher. Since we have regrouped the students the pacing of the struggling learners group may

now slow down to guarantee that the students are learning the materials. Modifications and
smaller class sizes allows the teachers to focus on what needs to be taught while enabling them

to differentiate and modify the instruction for the students.

Our building also created two Tier 3 rooms where third, fourth, and fifth grade students are

grouped together and are learning at their own level. These classes are reserved for the students

that are multiple years behind and need to attempt to quickly catch up with the rest of their

peers. Many students will push-in to the general education classroom for reading and/or

math. This school year we have seen great success with these students because in years passed

the pacing and instruction couldnt be modified to meet their educational needs. Now the special

education teachers, support staff, and general education teachers can tailor the instruction to their

needs and teach the common core standards at their instructional level.

This is why I believe, the education system needs to become creative with the funding they

do receive from the state and the federal government and make a plan that will work for their

building. As the principal you are tasked with stretching your dollar and trying to assist your

teachers through professional development and instructional assistance to help all learners thrive

in the classroom. It is important to try new things and allow your staff to provide suggestions to

help support the principal's vision.