Case Study Application #1: Shifting Paradigms With Changing Times The application of a case study or case studies is presented at the conclusion of each chapter to provide applicable and relevant workplace scenarios so the reader can apply, in a practical manner, the knowledge acquired through textual readings.

Note: This case study is designed to lead the reader through the Sorenson-Goldsmith Integrated Budget Model. In order to assist the reader in obtaining a global view of how this model functions, parts of the process are provided. The budget amounts are unrealistic but were kept small so the reader does not become bogged down in mathematics. Frequent references to Figure 3.1 can assist in observing the flow of the model through this case study. A continuation of this case study is found in Chapter 6.

Part 1: The Deal?Components 1 and 2 of the Integrated Budget Model The Situation Waterview is a prosperous suburb on Pecan Bay, just south of the thriving seaport of Indianola. With a population of 25,000, Waterview has grown in the last 25 years from a sleepy coastal village to a thriving community where new industries and businesses continue to locate. Waterview is the county seat of Fannin County. Fannin Consolidated School District (FCSD) has two high schools, four middle schools, and 10 elementary schools. While the county's population has continued to decline for the past 20 years, Waterview is an exception. As a result of the population growth, two new middle schools and four new elementary schools have been built in Waterview in the past decade.

Two years ago, Dr. Ronald Scotts was named superintendent of FCSD. Dr. Scotts, a 48-year-old father of 13-year-old twin girls, moved with his wife, Juanita, from the upstate town of River City. While serving as the associate superintendent for finance, Dr. Scotts earned a reputation in River City as a strong and competent leader. The FCSD board hired Dr. Scotts to bring about change to the school system. Academic performance for the last 10 years was consistently mediocre. Routines had become the norm. The last innovation in the district was 10 years ago, and it was an automated substitute teacher assignment system. The board with its three newly elected members wants FCSD to move from an attitude of mediocrity to one of excellence.

During his first year as superintendent, Dr. Scotts started a dialogue with the administrators about a decentralization plan for the school district. At the end of this year, before the principals started taking their vacations, Dr. Scotts announced that in the fall, he would provide an allocation of $25,000 to schools that wanted to receive training in a collaborative planning process. Principals would need to submit a plan outlining how the funding would be spent to train the faculty in the collaborative planning process. Dr. Scotts further told the principals that campuses with an operational campus planning committee would assume responsibility for the development, spending, and monitoring of the campus budget with the exception of salaries and maintenance and operations. With this newfound autonomy came accountability for the effective use of the budgeted funds. Dr. Hector Avila and Ms. Abigail Grayson are in their second year at Pecan Bay High School (PBHS). Dr. Avila had previously been a middle school principal in an urban district before being named principal at PBHS. He is the first Hispanic principal in the district. He has been well received by the community. Dr. Avila was hired to be a change agent at PBHS. Dr. Avila has the gift of being able to unite people behind a shared vision. Ms. Grayson had taught mathematics and served as the girls' basketball and softball coach at PBHS for the past five years. Ms. Grayson has a much-deserved reputation as an innovative classroom teacher who is willing to try new teaching strategies. Ms. Grayson attended mathematics training at a local university through a Teacher Quality Grant during the past two summers. Hector and Abigail like each other, and each one's talents complement the others. After Dr. Scotts concluded his $25,000 challenge, Hector and Abigail immediately and aggressively spent two weeks on campus writing a proposal that was well documented by research and contained a detailed implementation plan based on the Sorenson-Goldsmith Integrated Budget Model. The two delivered the plan in person to Dr. Scotts, demonstrating their enthusiasm for the project. Dr. Scotts inwardly smiled and thanked the two for the proposal. Two weeks later, PBHS became the first campus in FCSD to have its collaborative planning proposal approved. During the first day of staff development in late summer, Abigail and Hector excitedly explained to the faculty their proposal using a PowerPoint presentation with coordinated handouts. The faculty was quiet. The principals were picking up on the body language that they were bombing. Finally, Ed Feeney, a veteran teacher of 27 years at PBHS, broke the passive silence and asked, "Whose idea was this? Sounds like the superintendent wants us to do his work. I'm busy enough as it is." There was some applause. Latasha Jackson, a fourth-year drama teacher, asked, "Is this another one of those fads that goes through schools? I bet the state is up to this." Kelly Tyres, a paraprofessional, commented, "No one ever asks us what we want. They just keep shoving stuff down our throat like the 'highly qualified' stuff from No Child Left Behind." The two principals let the teachers go to lunch 30 minutes early (very popular) and went back to their offices, surprised and beaten. They kept repeatedly saying things to each other like, "Where did we go wrong?" and "I can't believe they are so negative" and "Where do we go from here?"

Thinking It Through Hector and Abigail desperately need your assistance. Where did they go wrong? Where do they go from here? Hector and Abigail have a great proposal and are very capable administrators; yet they encountered strong resistance from the faculty. As that other set of eyes, you need to stop at this point in the case study and write a step-by-step plan for these principals to win over the faculty. Some Handy Hints have been included to help you with this process. You will discover if you do this activity with several colleagues that your intervention plan will be stronger than if you complete it by yourself.

Handy Hints

Involve all stakeholders Talk mission and vision Communication Shared decision making Identify challenges Identify strengths Identify outside resources Part II: The Needs?Components 3 Through 5 of the Sorenson-Goldsmith Integrated Budget Model Checking It Out Thank you for your assistance in developing a step-by-step plan for assisting the PBHS faculty to reconsider and adopt the collaborative planning process! Your work is not done. Learning to use the collaborative process requires time and effort by all the school stakeholders. Read on and be prepared to provide assistance again as the process continues to unfold.

With the arrival of spring, the campus planning committee was established and the training completed. It is time to begin constructing PBHS's first-ever campus-based action plan with an integrated budget. The campus planning committee has been provided with a data packet courtesy of Dr. Avila and Ms. Grayson. Data were gathered from a variety of sources. The principals spent countless hours gathering these data but only did so as a way to assist and encourage the committee in its inaugural year. The committee is free to gather any other data as it deems necessary. The two principals Assign your priority numbers to the needs below using the column on the far left from 1 being the most important to 10 the least. Provide a written rationale to share with the faculty and administration to defend your needs prioritization. See unprioritized list below.

Next Year Your Priority Cos Identified Need Committee Rationale . Copier contract Used by all departments $20.000 Basis of many academic assignments Reading intervention plan Percentage of freshmen reading below grade level is twice the state rate $30,000 $12,000 for software . Percentage of Hispanics reading below grade level is three times the state rate $3,000 for training Teacher survey shows reading issues are the number one on teacher concerns $40.000 . General supplies . Meet basic office/classroom needs of paper, staplers, tape, and so on $6,000 . Special Olympics Add this program since these students are unable to participate in other extracurricular events Parent advocacy group has made an appeal to the SBDM committee . New band uniforms . Current uniforms are 23 years old $30.000 Uniforms were water damaged and now have a mold problem Needed in advanced science and math classes $12,000 . Vernier instruments, other digital equipment . Essential to meet state curriculum requirements Needed in Pre-AP, AP, and dual credit courses New category $17,000 . Professional travel Teachers need to be able to expand their knowledge by attending professional development events Number 4 need on the teacher survey Expanded technology in the library and computer center $45,000 tech services Students need access to internet and other technology for AP and dual-credit courses and for research $60,000 $5,000 printers Identified by teachers of AP courses as a number-one priority $10,000 supplies 9th-grade school-within-a-school $5,000 training High failure rate in freshmen classes $60,000 $35,000 facility upgrades High referral rate to office High absentee rate $20,000 curriculum materials Spring athletic banquet $7,000 $5,000 honorarium for speaker Boost enthusiasm for athletics $2,000 catered meals for 200 Increase school spirit