“This is the first time that educators along with parents and the community have had a real voice in the budget planning and approval process,” says APS Program Director, Travis Norvell. “It’s an exciting time!”
Norvell has been working closely with GO Teams throughout the district to get them all through these first stages of governance. Principals agree, this is new territory for all involved.
“Principals have always had to deal with the budget process on their own,” Norvell says. “But now they have more people active in the decision making process and principals are really embracing that.”
The process has been especially challenging this time around as each school was forced to cut its budget to make up for a district wide shortfall. Unlike the Local School Councils, these newly formed GO Teams are tasked with making personnel decisions which has prompted some creative budgeting.
“When we know we only have so much left in the budget and we need to make a decision about whether to keep a media specialist or bring an orchestra teacher and we know both are important parts of our school’s mission, we have to think outside the box,” says Michael Forehand, principal of Sarah R. Smith Elementary School. “Having so many great minds at the table affords us so many new ideas!”
The budget process is now complete and GO Teams should be scheduling their final meeting(s) for the school year.
