POLICY: DAB
POLICY
STATEMENT:
The Board believes that all budget and funding allocation decisions must be guided by the Board’s mission, mandate, and belief statements. Central to this is the belief that the best educational interests of students shall be the primary focus of all budget decisions.
GUIDELINES
AND PROCEDURES:
The principles of fairness and equity shall be a prime
consideration in funding schools and other operational centres
given the diverse circumstances within the Division. The following principles further define the
Board’s philosophy:
1. Authority to approve the system budget
and allocate funds rests with the Board.
2. Funding to
schools shall accommodate the learning needs of students of all ability levels
assigned to each school.
3. Small schools shall be funded at a
level sufficient to provide a quality education.
For the purposes of this policy a quality education is defined as one that provides students the opportunities to access the basic education programs, appropriately delivered, that will enable them to reach their potential and/or meet graduation requirements with the necessary prerequisites for successful entry into the work force or post-secondary programs.
4. Schools with demonstrable disadvantages
to their educational programs due to geographical location shall be funded at
levels sufficient to provide a quality education.
5. The different costs of elementary,
junior high and senior high programs shall be recognized.
6. Conditional funding shall be allocated
to the general purpose and operational centre (if applicable) for which it is
intended.
7. In the spirit of site-based management, authority and responsibility for decision making and spending shall be delegated to operational centres. However, funds
from the instructional envelope shall be expended for instructional purposes as defined by Alberta Learning from time to time.
8. When the Board authorizes system-wide
initiatives, authority for such allocations shall remain the Board’s.
9. Costs directly attributable to an
operational centre are best charged to that operational centre.
10. All budgets shall be balanced and shall
include surpluses and deficits from the previous year.
11. Surpluses and deficits shall remain
within their respective operational centres.
12. Budgets shall be developed in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles and within standards established
by the Board to allow for comparability among operational centres.
13. At each operational centre the amount
budgeted for contingencies, reserves or surplus shall not exceed 2% of the
overall budget at that operational centre.
14. A minimum amount equivalent to 8% of the
total Core Funding shall be used for supplies, textbooks, services, equipment,
repairs, etc. It is permissible to use
more than 8% for these purposes.
15. Block budgets shall be self-contained
with transfers between blocks authorized only to meet the long-range goals of
the Division.
16. Staffing costs are based on system
average costs per teacher and include costs of benefits, etc.
17. Where practical, all stakeholders in
local and system budgets shall be consulted in the budget development process.
18. This policy shall be reviewed annually by
the Board, prior to the commencement of the budgeting process.
Date of Adoption:
Date of Amendment:
Review Date: November 2004
Legal Reference:
Cross-Reference: