Not unlike other districts throughout the country, the Middletown City School District will see a financial deficit in the next school year, (2012.) The district has been good stewards of its finances. However, the need to carefully continue to study options and strategies necessary to balance the budget is essential.
To that end, departmental budget committees, comprising community members, teachers, classified staff and administrators have already been formed to review each department’s purpose, objectives and performance indicators. The process below describes a workshop process to discuss school funding and to discover what stakeholders think makes a good school district. Stakeholder feedback along with the departmental budget committees will be used to determine district priorities that will impact the final budgeting process. “These forums will provide an opportunity for us to present a brief explanation of our current financial situation and get your feedback,” said Superintendent Greg Rasmussen.
THE PROCESS:
Staff Budget Priorities Workshops will be held in each building throughout the month of January.
Community Budget Priorities Workshops will be held at three different Middletown locations in January.
Each workshop will begin with a snapshot explanation of school funding: description of general fund, revenues, what the funds provide, and restricted and unrestricted funds.
In order to obtain the widest range of insights and comments and provide a methodology to prioritize data and identify themes and trends, an interactive Stop-Start-Continue (S-S-C) process will be implemented. The S-S-C process divides participants into small discussion groups, which affords extensive opportunities for participation and a useful exchange of ideas and opinions.
At the end of each session, participants will be provided an opportunity to prioritize issues and concerns.
GATHERING THE DATA
Discussion groups will be asked to consider three open-ended questions:
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What should we stopdoing because it is not useful or helpful in assisting MCS to be the best school district it can be?
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What should we startdoing because it is needed or required if we are to assist MCS to be the best school district it can be?
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What should we continueto do because it is contributing to making MCS the best school district it can be?
IDENTIFYING PRIORITIES
In order to establish equity and to identify high priority issues, each participant will receive three colored dots and will be asked to review the S-S-C material posted throughout the room. After careful consideration, participants will be asked to place their dots next to items that they feel will be the most important issues, concerns, strengths, and challenges within the district.
Final Budget Preperation and Presentation
A budget will be designed using a combination of stakeholder perspectives that identify their desires for our school district.
The goal is to have a plan ready to share with staff in February with a budget adoption in March.
Budget Priorities Workshops are scheduled for:
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January 6
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6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
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MHS Media Center
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January 13
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6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
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Rosa Parks Elementary
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January 27
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10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
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MUM Johnston Hall
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