School Board Announces New Budget Development Process

BRADENTON – Superintendent Dr. Tim McGonegal will employ a new budget development process to formulate a district budget for the 2012-2013 school year. 

The decision to move to a new budget development process was made to ensure School Board members have all the critical information they need from district staff, teachers, administrators and the community at large to make fully informed decisions. The new process was initiated following reviews of budget development methods used by the Manatee County Government, Sarasota County Schools and the University of South Florida’s Board of Trustees.

Under the new process, the School Board will act as the primary information gathering body and will hold an extensive series of workshops to discuss budget-related issues, interview district staff, analyze district departments and discuss input from the community at large. In the past, including the current school year, the district gathered information using a Budget Review Committee consisting of a limited number of community members and district employees.

”I believe this new process will allow all of our board members to hear first-hand all of the important budgetary issues confronting our district,“ said Superintendent McGonegal. ”This new process will give the entire community a chance to provide input along the way so that many, many voices can share in these decisions.“
    
In addition to providing direct input to individual board members, Superintendent McGonegal said district technology including the school district’s website and social media including Facebook and Twitter will be used to help gather input from the public.

”We want this to be a process where everyone can have a say,“ McGonegal said. ”We’re going to actively solicit input from our parents through School Advisory Councils as well as the business community and the public at large.“

The first Budget Workshop regarding the 2012-2013 Budget will be held on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 4 p.m. in Room 203 of the School Support Center. The initial workshop is scheduled to address the district’s web page, defining the budget process and student enrollment trends.