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Clinical Field Experience B: Schoolwide Budgetary Needs

John D. Watkins

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD 510: Education Finance

Dr. Rice

March 9, 2022
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Clinical Field Experience B: Schoolwide Budgetary Needs

Schoolwide Budgets, schoolwide improvement plans, and a schoolwide needs assessment

survey should all intertwine when educational leaders plan and develop where they would like to

see their school go. The schoolwide improvement plan should be the road map in which the

school budget is built. Using information from a needs assessment survey should guide the

schoolwide improvement plan. Using these tools should give educational leaders a glimpse of

what they need to do for their school to meet the needs of all students.

Collaborate: Current Budget

The school budget allotted to Robert B. Grove Elementary took a 6% pay cut this school

year from the previous school year. With this cut we still we need to give our students the best

curriculum, resources, materials, and teachers this district has to offer. Robert B. Grove

Elementary needs to purchase evidence-based, high-interest materials for students that support

academic growth and achievement as well as social-emotional support. The support of school

personnel such as a behavior technician, a counselor, and a parent liaison as well as social-

emotional training for school staff is needed to help reduce behavior incidents. The support of an

instructional coach to provide assistance in classroom management techniques as well as

instructional strategies is needed to help support student and teacher needs in order to decrease

behavior incidents that disrupt the learning environment.

For the upcoming school year, I was given the opportunity to join the budget

development meeting. This meeting consisted of my principal mentor, her secretary, the

community school’s coordinator, parent liaison, and myself. During this meeting we looked at

the amount of funds we will receive for the upcoming school year. We discussed the times we
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could fundraise throughout the year and ideas for fundraising that would allow us to bring in

more revenue.

When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, schools learned quickly that we desperately need to

invest in our technology. A device for each student as well as a learning platform to deliver

instruction will be needed when and if schools and/or individual students should need to shift to

distance learning during the school year. Training for both school personnel, students and

families is needed so that the technology is not only utilized, but also done in such a way as to

drive student learning forward.

Collaborate: Analysis of Current Budget, Previous Budget, and CIP

When comparing the 2021 Budget to the 2022 Budget, one area that stands out to me is

the 6% decrease in funds between both this school year and the previous one. The site budget for

Robert B. Grove Elementary was $22,386.00 less this year than the previous year, yet we only

lost one teaching position except in one due to another site desperately needing another teacher

and we had one to spare. If we could have held on to that one Pre-K teacher, we would have been

able to keep our Pre-K class sizes smaller, or opened the enrollment to more students in Pre-K.

An area of the Robert B. Grove Elementary school wide plan of improvement suggested that a

community schools coordinator/parent liaison needs to be hired. The Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders Standard 8j (2015), states educational leaders build and sustain productive

partnerships with public and private sectors to promote school improvement and student learning

(National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015). Both the 2021 Budget and the

2022 Budget have accommodated for this crucial and desperate need. This person leads our

afterschool programs, sets up community events to improve parental involvement and

communication.
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Summary: Background, Expenditures, and Revenue

Robert B. Grove Elementary is community school. Now more than ever since the Covid-

19 Pandemic students are coming to school with more stress, anxiety, and trauma. Educators will

do everything they can to meet their student’s needs. According to the October 1, 2021, child

count, there were 567 students enrolled from prekindergarten to fifth grade at Robert B. Grove

Elementary. Our population includes a diversity of Federal Race/Ethnicity and socio-economic

groups. Our student population was comprised of 35.8% Hispanic, 20% Black/African

American, 19.4% White, 11.3% Multi-racial, 7.2% Asian, and 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific

Islander. 90% of our population received free or reduced lunch. One of the four apartment

complexes within our school boundaries houses families using an income-based formula. Social-

emotional support, as well as financial support, is a need many of our family’s face. In addition

to our own efforts within the building to support these needs, we partner with CREOKS

Behavioral Health Services to provide comprehensive mental health services to students

experiencing behavioral concerns or in need of care coordination. CREOKS works with 14% of

our students during the school year.

A massive majority of every school’s budget is designated to pay for the salaries and

benefits of the teachers, instructional coaches, and a parent liaison. Curriculum and technology

follow right along after that. Robert B. Grove was forced to find ways in the budget to purchase

enough electronic devices for each student to have their own device. If the budget would have

allowed my principal mentor said that she would have bought every student an iPad if it was

possible. For students Prekindergarten to second grade the school purchased iPads. Grade levels

three through five all received a laptop. Software used to communicate and reach families as well
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as new curriculum for Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies played a large role in the

expenditures in the budget.

Title 1 Funds, The General Fund, and Child Nutrition Fund helps us reach our students

needs in the school building. Fundraising plays another major role in our school budget. Candy

sales makes a huge amount of cash flow in how building. Candy sales helps raise the most

revenue not from a federal program or grant. Grants help us higher and host tones of afterschool

programs and clubs, like tutoring, STEM Club, Changer Makers, and Broadcast club.

Summary: Key Findings

As it is the goal of most schools, Robert B. Grove Elementary would like to see students

raise their math and reading scores each year. Allocating funds to pay for certified and

noncertified tutors can help us reach this goal. Through these funds we can target students who

we call our bubble kids. They are the ones that show up every year just a little below grade level

benchmarks that are really close to proficiency. They are the ones that do not qualify for Special

Education Services but make significant growth each year with a little extra support. Allocating

funds for these tutors can help us get these students over the proficiency bar improving the

schoolwide math and reading scores.

Another area the school needs to allocate funds is curriculum, strategies, and professional

development for teachers to better meet students’ social emotional needs. Each year it feels like

we are seeing more and more extreme student behaviors. Equipping teachers with strategies to

lookout for and identify triggers, as well as ways to help deescalate situations can help build

stronger student/teacher relationships and the overall climate of the school. Through the needs

assessment survey given to selected teachers at Robert B. Grove Elementary two-thirds of the
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teachers believe their students respect them but would like more strategies and interventions to

help with extreme student behavior.

Summary

Following the needs assessment created from topic three I was able to get the help from

nine different school staff and faculty members to complete the survey. At least one teacher from

each grade level from Pre-K through Fifth Grade and one Administrator. The needs assessment

survey did shed some light on how teachers feel towards the support of lack of support from

families. 88% of the teachers surveyed feel that are unsure or do not agree that parents support

the teachers at Robert B. Grove Elementary. According to the data from this question there needs

to be more of an emphasis on building better relationships between parents and the school. A

strategy that could help this become better is opportunities for parents and teachers to come

together more rather than just conference time. This way parents can have a different experience

with teachers rather than just the formal parent/teacher conference setting. Some parents come to

conferences already on edge and defensive because they fear they are going to hear nothing but

the negativity of what their student is capable of. According to PSEL Standard 8b (2015),

effective educational leaders create and sustain positive, collaborative, and productive

relationships with families and the community for the benefit of students (NPBEA, 2015).

Curriculum nights with an emphasis on a desired subject like math or reading could help parents

realize what their student is required to do that school year, semester, or quarter, and give them a

chance to interact or become familiar with the curriculum their student needs to know. This will

give parents the opportunity tools they could be doing at home to support their student so they

can become more successful at school.

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Another area that stood out to me is that 33% of the educators involved in this survey

believe that they have the resources they need to help meet their students’ needs to reach their

full potential. 11% out of that 33% strongly disagreed that the school provides them with the

resources to meet their students’ needs. Educators suggested that if they had access to more

resources to handle extreme student behaviors, more of a focus on Love & Logic, information

about interventions more easily accessible, continuity of procedures and expectations across all

grade levels, and the most suggested, parent involvement, would help benefit the students of

Robert B. Grove Elementary reach their full potential.

Reflection: Continuous and Sustainable School Improvement

When an educational leader wants to see where their school needs to go, a needs

assessment survey is the tool to help guide them when developing a schoolwide improvement

plan. The needs assessment survey will give insight from stakeholders the areas that leader can

pinpoint and focus in on that can help create the continuous and sustainable improvement the

school needs to have. This insight can help educational leaders see where they need to focus the

money allotted to operate the school. This will allow them to develop a plan to improve the

overall climate of a school. Now more than ever educational leaders are seeking to find strategies

and interventions not only to help the academic needs of all students but their social emotional

capacity.

Reflection: Implications for Future Practice

Something that I can take away from this field experience is how diligent educational

leaders must be with the resources they are given. Each year it feels like school districts and

educators must do the impossible, provide a high-quality education for the success of all students

with less money to do that with. PSEL Standard 9c (2015) states, effective educational leaders
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seek, acquire, and manage fiscal, physical, and other resources to support curriculum, instruction,

and assessment; student learning community; professional capacity and community; and family

and community engagement (NPBEA, 2015). It will be my job to be a good steward with the

funds allotted to the school and wise in the decisions that need to be made when developing a

school budget. I will rely on stakeholders and a strong needs assessment survey to help find the

needs that will promote significant growth and continuous improvement for all students and the

school.
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References

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.