Cornerstone School Budget - Research Paper Example

Cornerstone School Budget Corner school is located in Detroit city. It is the only school in that area which offers the entire pre-K through 12th grade program. The main objective of the school is to take children past the education perception. The other guiding ideology in the school is to develop an influential meaning to the students that will aid them in making precise decision when the appropriate time comes. In general, cornerstone school is for the culture of knowledge, a culture of what it means to be a profound person, and a culture of bringing back to the community. The school also works in partnership with other higher learning institution for the sake of their students’ future career development. It has collaborates with Northwood College to assist the children in acquiring the college compliments in high school. The cornerstone students carry out frequent visits in Northwood College to get incite of the college life. The profound understanding of music among the cornerstone school’s children is facilitated by the collaboration between the school and Michigan state university1. The children in cornerstone school are trained both informal and formal education. They are taught and trained both formal education curriculum as well as the technical skills2. The president/CEO of cornerstone is called Ernestine sander. He is assisted by principals who are in charge of schools, elementary, middle, and high school. Sanders have been in charge of the school since 1997. The cornerstone school was established in 1990. The school is paving way for the next 30 thirty to fifty years. Over the years, the school has remained focused to its mission. With the jam-packed prop up from the community members and friends, the school has been reported to offer quality education to the students. The school systems have a total number of 1,400 students. In the last few years, the school has opened another two charter schools. The school has employed a total number of 85 full time employee and other numerous volunteers. The motive behind opening the two charter school was to honor its independent school and to generate more opportunities for more city students. In reference to the schools documentation, in the last twenty years, 95% of the school graduates have completed their university education. Teachers in the school have also attained immense knowledge and experiences. In 2010/2011 academic year the school strategizes on opening a high school to train leadership and business. The intended high school was expected to partner with local business for work experience. The partnership was also intended to generate a four workplace association which could lead to expansion of all kind commitment and potentials3. The school has very competent management. The school’s president has a very reputable background. He has a very rich understanding of how schools are managed. It has very well structured and coordinated organization systems. The school organizations systems are the one responsible for preparing and implementing the schools budget. They decide collectives on the sources of their revenues and how the revenues will be utilized. Proper management of the school has facilitated its superb performance in terms of development and in the academic field. The board of director is the highest organ in the school. It has helped the school to forge ahead for the last more than twenty. Their material and non-material contribution to the school has greatly assisted the schools in development4. The school has made tremendous improvement in the last decade. The school has opened a new high school. The school offers leadership and development to the students. The school is called “New beginnings”. The chief executive officer reiterated on the significant of the fundraisers contribution in opening of the new school. According to him (the schools president), the high school project could not be achievable with devoid of the fundraisers contribution in the initiative. Within the last eight years the school has been hosting yearly turning point invitational golf tournament at Oakland hill5. The activities conducted by the cornerstone school are the primary means of raising money to the school. The funds collected from these activities are used to offer scholarship aid to the schools children. They also serve as an avenue for attracting new sponsors in the school. The school undertakes a range of activities throughout the year. These include the summer months when the schools are legitimately closed. Other community activities hosted by the school includes; Vinnie Johnson invitational, BSP cornerstone golf, The Henkel golf for a cause, Be a tiger for kids, The ford purchasing Golf outing and the pistons yes I forgot and the cornerstone women for scholarship Golf invitational. The president also admitted to have come across several financial crises of his tenure as the school’s president. As he observed, the school had encountered an economic crises in the roughly four years ago. This was overcome through donations from friends. The school also obtained a loan of $ 1.5 million dollars which are expected to be recovered within the next five years. The school has encountered very limited competition. It is the only school which offers k-12th grade in Detroit. The school enjoys the acclaim of improved quality of education in the city. Out of its location, the school population mainly constitutes Africa American. Current board members Michael D. Warren, Jr. Judge, Oakland County Circuit Court Clark Durant, Founding Chair, Cornerstone Schools David Baker Lewis & Munday, PC KC Crain VP-Publisher, Auto week Media Group Mark T. Pulte Owner, Pulte Holdings, Inc. Tonya Allen Chief Operating Officer and VP of Program, Skillman Foundation Budget process The school values the budgeting and management of the resources in the school. The school fiscal year starts at Septembers to July. Annual operating process starts in January each year. The core purpose of constituting the budget is to develop a financial plan that will help in allocating resources in a way to meet the critical and new activities in the school. It is the responsibility of chief financial officer to prepare a budgetary document. The budget preparation process is subject to change to reflect improvement in the process. Annual operating budget process At the end of every semester, the vice president for business affairs is expected submit a proposed increment tuition, room, and board rate for the coming financial year. The school is expected to present its proposal for schooling level for the next financial year to the board of trustees in January meetings. The recommendations should be in line with the schools five year strategic planning model. The broad- based financial plan is also supposed to be presented to the trustee finance committee in January meeting sessions. In the beginning of February, the chief financial officer informs the other school’s department through the email on the necessary materials for preparing the new budget. Some of the most important material in the budgeting process includes: budgeting instructions, departmental budget spreadsheet file, an incremental operating expenditure request file and expenditure line justification file. At this level, the department conducts frequent meetings for sharing and orientations. The school has adopted the incremental operating expenditure. The group which is responsible of approving the school budget is the board of director. The budget department is the one mandated with the responsibility of coordinating and developing the annual budget process. The school’s annual budget process constitutes of three major steps: the planning, preparation and evaluation phases. The school budgeting preparation is a constant process of planning and evaluating to attain the school’s goal. The budgeting managers prepare the budget and return it to the principals for perusal and approval. Afterward, they forward it back to the financial manager’s office by the late February. Meetings are then set up among all chief financial officers to converse and elucidate issues concerning their proposed budgets. By the mid March, the chief finance officer prepares a budget report for cabinet assessment. The financial committee evaluates the proposed budget in April. In their review, they pay particular attention to the increment in expenditure in the proposed budget. The finance committee review is followed by May meeting where the board of trustee is asked to assess and approve summaries of the proposed operating and capital budget. The budget is then loaded in the banner GL module. In mid June, the chief finance office notifies all departments that online reports are accessible for the upcoming fiscal year. As per the chief executive officer, the 2010/ 2011 was a transition year for cornerstone schools. The school intended to institute leadership and business high school. In this year, the school collected total revenue of 6,970,298. During that year, the school incurred expenses of $6,349,637.This resulted to an operational surplus of $620, 661. The cornerstone financial overview Budget 2011/ 2012 Total revenue $7,284,947 expenses administrative $1,996,326 Academic program/instruction $4,011,810 Development, events, communication $1,351,649 Total expenses $7,357,785 Surplus/ deficit -$74,838 Forecasting The future development of cornerstone school depends on the implementation of the projected financial budget. To achieve the set aside goals, the school is aggressively working for the planned programs. It is also increasing the fundraisers contribution. The school relies on the community in the implementation of their budget. The school is working tirelessly in achieving its endowment. It also plans to increase the facilities of the new high school. The school is also expected for have the first graduating class by 2015. To facilitate effective future budget, the school administration have the mandate of conducting an audit of the school resources and utilizing its recommendation for future budget. The school has a good reputation in both academic arena and the management of their resources. This has attracted substantial number of donor to their budget. To preserve and attract more donors in their projects, the school has the liability of making apposite use of the budgeted resources. If properly utilized, the cornerstone schools 2010/2011 financial budget can provide a very comprehensive avenue for future development. The present popularity of the school was brought about by the outstanding academic record of the school. The school management has fully incorporated the community in the school daily activities. The coherent incorporation of the public has led to increase in the people willingness to assist the school6. If the current school expectation is properly effected, the school will have achieved tremendous improvement within the next five years. The projected high school will be in place and effective with the projected time. The school will also be in a position to attain its core objective of producing an all rounded graduates. The resources in the school jurisdiction are adequate enough to help the school to achieve it intended goal. The time to time planned community activities advance the school resources outcome. The school management is also very productive and competent. The members of boards of director are very educated and intelligent. They are long term assets in the school. The board members are also very committed in ensuring the school achieves its future objective. Conclusion Proper budgeting is very essential for the success of any country or any organization. Budgeting determines the sources of the organizations revenues and how the revenue will be utilized for the benefit of the organization. It also proposes the future development expectation of an organization. Proper implementation of organization resources attracts more investors and donors in the organization. The cornerstone school has attracted many donors due to its outstanding performance in the academic field and also in the management of the organization resources. Governments have the responsibility of ensuring the budgeting process is fully adhered to by all involved players. On the other hand, the universal budgeting process is very transparent and devoid of misappropriation loopholes. The performance of any organization is determined by the manner in which the organization manages its resources. Poor resources management is equivalent to poor performance of an organization. Politic have a very significant role in the budgeting process of any country. Financial estimate are scrutinized and evaluate by political organs in many country. This explains the important of electing competent people in representative positions. On the other hand, the complexity and technicality of the budgetary procedure regulate politician from exercising their political will in the entire budgeting process. There are also involvements of numerous players in the budget preparation and implementation process. The different players in the budgetary process have different distinct role to play. The devoid of one entity in the process can reduce the meaning of the entire budget. On the other hand, it is clear that, immediate reveal of the auditing report is very important. It helps in planning for the future budget in an organization or state. It also serves as a test to assess the weak areas in the planning and implementation of the budget7. In their 2010/ 2011 budget, the cornerstone school administrators portrayed their understanding in the universal budget preparing procedure. There were distinct step in the preparation process. The people who were involved in the process were competent and most qualified people in the school. The budget also projected the expected future development in the school. It addressed a five year development project. The budget also involved community members. They had a contribution to their revenues. The community activities were rated as one of the core sources of the school’s revenues. The school outstanding performance attracted more contributors in the school budget. Bibliography Cornerstone School. The cornerstone 2010-2011 annual report (The Institutional Advancement Office, 2010). 3 The budget process: A guide for South Africa legislators. Retrieved on the 3rd April 2012. From: http://www.hst.org.za/hlink/budget/default.asp. 6 Read More