New guidelines designed to help local school systems maintain fiscal responsibility fit well within what local systems are doing already.
The Comptroller’s Office offers 10 steps to plan responsibly, meet legal requirements, and build long-term financial stability. White County Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said as decreased enrollment numbers in public schools lead to less revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure sound financial planning.
“Just like any household, as things are increasing, as revenues continue to get scarce, and expenses continue to rise, it’s smart to have good fiscal practices and a good budget in place and schools are no different,” Dronebarger said.
Dronebarger said each student enrolled represents dollars coming into the school system, and things like school choice and home school and private school enrollment has led to less students in the public school district. As those dollars wane, the burden is on the school system to monitor those changes and budget accordingly.
“There’s a lot of strain on these tax dollars,” Dronebarger said. “There’s a lot of requirements on public schools, and there’s a lot of restrictions on how those monies come to the schools nowadays. So, it’s increasingly more important that every dollar goes as far as it possibly can,” Dronebarger said.
Dronebarger said while White County already utilizes most of these principles, including budget transparency and strong accounting practices. They are looking to implement new practices like multi-year budgeting to ensure a solid financial future for the district. He also said that staff salaries were one of the school district’s largest expenditures.
“As I go through those, I feel very secure and confident that White County is in good shape according to these principals,” Dronebarger said.
Since school funding comes from public tax dollars, Dronebarger said the people have a right to know where that money is going.
From open-door meetings to publicly-published audits, Dronebarger said White County works hard to be “responsible, good stewards of the tax dollars given to them.”