SPS Policy Manual - Saginaw Public Schools

Section 3000 – Fiscal Management
3025 Budget Objectives 3025
The Board views the budget as one of the keystones in the transformation of educational
aims and objectives into a program of instruction. The budget is not a mere listing of probable
expenditures and estimated receipts. It is, instead, intended by the Board that the budget:
Approved:
• Indicate to the people of the District what it costs in dollars and cents to offer a
particular type of educational program.
• Ensure the continuance of this educational program for the budgeted period of
time.
• Provide information on the educational activities for which public funds are
being expended, and as such are regarded as an important public relations
instrument.
• Indicate where and when changes in the current operation must be made to
realize specific objectives.
• Serve as a means of financial control.
• Provide the Board and administration with the authority to make expenditures
within a pattern established by a predetermined educational program.
• Serve as a basis for determining the amount of revenue that must be obtained.
• Serve as an instrument that will facilitate accurate estimates of future
expenditures.
• Serve as an instrument by which the Board may study the expenditures of the
District by budget categories thus enabling them to better evaluate individual
projects.
3050 Budget Planning 3050
It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent to prepare, prior to June 1 of each year,
a tentative budget for the following school year. This tentative budget shall include, by the state
accounting code, the anticipated expenditures and receipts for the forthcoming school year. It
shall contain as much supporting data as is available. These data shall include: (1) an analysis of
the last complete year of operation, (2) a projection of the current year’s fiscal position, (3)
essential information necessary for the Board to fully understand the District’s needs for the
forthcoming year.
The Board recognizes that the school budgetary process is ongoing, and further
recognizes that the budget is the financial forecast of the type of educational program that the
District can offer.
Upon receipt of this tentative budget, the Board shall establish a budget calendar which
shall include the dates for (1) continued review, (2) public review, and (3) final budget adoption.
Approved:
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF SAGINAW