GUAM Department of Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez has put out a Fiscal Year 2014 budget call to the different divisions and schools under the department’s purview, requesting each to develop their budgets around five strategic priorities as well as the department’s current mandates.
These priority areas, according to Fernandez, consist of student achievement, strengthening teacher effectiveness, improving college and career readiness, integrating technology into the classroom, and helping remove the department from federal high-risk status.
For FY2013, GDOE experienced several budget pressures, such as the $1.8 million budget reduction in General Fund appropriation and other additional expenditures.
“Typically, we build our budget based on requirements set forth in the former board-union contract as well as on the requirements of the Every Child Deserves an Adequate Education Act,” Fernandez explained.
However, he said, the department does not get funded at the levels required to meet those mandates.
“It concerns me that, from day one, it becomes difficult to hold ourselves accountable because we know from the start that we do not have the funding that was needed to meet those specific requirements,” Fernandez said.
Realistic
For the FY2014 budget call, Fernandez is requesting the schools and central office divisions to build a more realistic and feasible budget based on the academic needs of students. Fernandez also wants the various divisions to consider prior mandates and incorporate the five strategic priorities.
The fifth priority, which addresses the department’s current high-risk status, is more of a focal point for central office divisions, Fernandez stressed.
To address this fifth strategic priority, Fernandez said key divisions will be required to demonstrate how resources will be utilized to advance GDOE’s goal of implementing better financial management practices.
Fernandez said the new process will be a major shift in how schools are developing their budget. However, he said it is important “for the department to recognize that the budget is a primary tool for demonstrating priorities and aligning resources so GDOE can be held accountable for the use of public dollars and for achieving its mission of helping students.”
“I will be building extra time in this process so that every school will be able to explain and defend its budget to me. It will be an opportunity to see which schools are using their funding responsibly, which schools are being innovative and resourceful, and which schools are truly driven by the needs of students,” Fernandez concluded.
