California State University--Bakersfield
Advanced Educational Studies Department
School of Education
9001 Stockdale Highway
Bakersfield, California 93311-1022
(661) 654-3047
FAX (661) 654-2479
Dear Colleagues:
Over the past six years, California State University--Bakersfield, in cooperation with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, has offered a School Business Manager Certificate Program. This program has been recognized by CASBO, and approximately 60 people have completed our program.
CSUB has now been approved as a state-qualified provider to offer the following expanded Chief Business Officer Training Program in accord with SB 352.
Here is our program faculty:
Dr. Russ Bigler, Chief Administrative Officer, Division of Insurance Services, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Bud Burrow, Assistant Superintendent, Division of Administration and Finance Services, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, and Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, CSU–Bakersfield
Mr. Maxx Garris, District Fiscal Services Assistant, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Chris Hall, Assistant Director, Maintenance and Operations, Kern High School District
Mr. Robert Harte, Director, Division of Administration and Finance, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Daniel Knapp, Former Superintendent, Richland-Lerdo School District, Shafter, California, and Adjunct Professor of Educational Administration, CSU–Bakersfield.
Mr. Phil Lancaster, Bargaining Specialist, Division of Schools Legal Service, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Mr. John Lindsey, Assistant Superintendent, Student Programs, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Gene Martinez, Associate Professor of Counseling and Chair, Advanced Studies Department, California State University--Bakersfield
Mr. Steve Mattern, Director of District Financial Services, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Pat Mellon, Athletic Director, North High School, Kern High School District.
Dr. Steve Moyer, Director, Special Education, Kern High School District, and Adjunct Professor of Educational Administration, CSU–Bakersfield.
Ms. Shirley Oesch, Director, Valley Oaks Charter School
Mr. Andy Paulden, Accountant, Brown Armstrong Certified Public Accountants, Bakersfield.
Ms. Brenda Robinson, Manager, Food Services, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Tom Ross, Director of Purchasing, Bakersfield City School District
Ms. Teri Schallock, Director of Fiscal Services, Bakersfield City School District
Dr. Dennis Scott, Associate Superintendent, Business Division, Kern High School District
Dr. Penny Swenson, Associate Professor of Educational Administration, California State University--Bakersfield
Dr. Ken Taylor, Administrator, Student Programs, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Ms. Sylvia Treanor, Administrator, Personnel Services, Division of Internal Operations, Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Louis Wildman, Professor and Coordinator of the Educational Administration Program, CSU–Bakersfield.
Dr. Milton Woolsey, Former Superintendent, Delano Elementary School District, and Assistant Professor, CSU--Bakersfield.
All participants will be assigned a mentor from the above faculty list. Mentors will be responsible for coaching the participant as they complete a significant culminating field work project, approved by the cooperating school district.
All participants will also be required to demonstrate their developing competence during the program, by completing the following assignments:
Assignment #1, due Session #6:
Participants will obtain a school district's mission statement, and devise a plan for the use of that district's resources in support of it's mission.
Assignment #2, due Session #12:
Each participant will develop the budget for a district of 1000 ADA. The revenue limit, general fund, and multi-year analysis will be presented. Basic budget assumptions will be provided. The budget will be presented in class to the "school board" via a powerpoint presentation.
Assignment #3, due Session #18:
Participants will compare the budgets of a "rich" and a financially "poor" district, examining issues of equity and adequacy in the distribution of public school resources.
Assignment #4, due Session #24:
Participants (partitioned into small work groups) will examine a charter school's expenditures from the perspective of what the group believes would be in the best interest of students.
Assignment #5, due Session #34:
Participants will develop specifications and evaluate formal bids for educational supplies, equipment, and furniture.
As current and former school business officials and superintendents, we have seen what happens when a chief business officer is hired who does not understand the educational context. Technical expertise without an understanding of the culture is often detrimental to public education. Many of these individuals are accountants and bookkeepers with little previous background in education. Hence, an essential portion of our program has been to introduce school business officials to the context of public education, while mainly providing them with the technical knowledge of educational finance.
To conform with the Senate Bill 352 plan, we have lengthened our program and added "charter school" and "leadership" content. Here is an outline of our curriculum:
1. School Finance, Accounting, and Auditing [Total = 72 hours]
The Conflicting Purposes of American Public Education (1 hour)
* A democracy requires an educated citizenry.
* Cultural assimilation
* Rugged individualism v. needed interdependence
* Tyranny of the majority
* Education for citizenship
* Classical education
* Pragmatism
Introduction to Education Finance (5 hours)
* The history of education finance in California
* Proposition 98
* Responsibilities of the CBO and the business division
* Structural/functional differences in business divisions
* Understanding the role of CBO in the educational organization
* How California ranks with other states
Education and Representative Democracy (1 hour)
* Cultural pluralism
* Limited-English proficient students in California
* Respect for the dignity of the individual
* The welfare of the individual is a democratic society's primary concern, whereas in non-democratic cultures, the welfare of the state or the welfare of the monarchy or the welfare of the party is the primary concern.
* Civil liberties
* Separation of church and state
* Majority Rule -- Minority Rights
* Duty and Privilege (The Decline in Social Capital)
* Freedom of enterprise
* Peaceful change
* Social mobility
* Free public education
The Organization of American Education (1 hour)
* The federal government plays a limited role.
* Responsibility for education rests largely with the states.
* Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann
* Compulsory school attendance laws
* County offices of education
* Local school districts and the school board
* The superintendent
* Administrative hierarchy
* Teachers
* School oriented groups
Education and Economics (1 hour)
* Education in the economic and political sectors
* Economic competitiveness and human-capital investment
* Education and productivity
* The market model and health care
* The market model and the environment
* Deregulation and children's television
* Milton Friedman on free enterprise and schooling
* Chubb and Moe on "politics, markets and schools"
* For-profit schooling
* Thomas Friedman on global competitiveness
* Regressive and progressive taxation
* Economic return on investment in learning
* The relationship between school funding, child poverty, and student achievement
School Revenues and Taxation (5 hours)
* Components of the revenue limit
* Constructing a revenue limit
* Forms of taxation
* Gann limitation
State School Funding Methods and Cash Management (4 hours)
* Apportionment schedules
* Tax schedules
* Cash vs. budget
* Preparing and monitoring cash flow projections
* Managing cash and cash deposits
* Revolving cash accounts
* TRANS
* Debt issuance and management
Student Characteristics (1 hour)
* Socio-economic diversity
* The conditions of children in California
* Ethnic diversity
* Student perspectives of home, school, and peer worlds
* Relationships between students
* Family support and involvement
* Consistent and inconsistent learners
* Students and their multiple worlds
* Motivational support for learning
* Check and connect mentors
* Student attendance and absenteeism
* Student career choices
Federal and State Aid to Education (5 hours)
* Federal and state categorical programs
* Supplanting issues
* Block grants--recent reforms
* Maximizing program transfers
* Consolidated application
* Unique reporting requirements and indirect cost rate limitations
* Time accounting for federal programs
Government Accounting Procedures (5 hours)
* Foundations of governmental accounting
* Components of an integrated accounting system
* SACS
* Accrual vs. modified accrual accounting
* Relevant GASB statements
* Software systems
* Essential reports for the business administrator
* Allocated costs
Spread Sheets, Financial Software (3 hours)
* Proprietary software systems
* Integrated financial systems
* Position control
* Essential reports for the CBO
School Budgeting and Resource Allocation (5 hours)
* Budget development calendars
* Base line vs. zero base budgeting
* Revenue projections
* Expenditure projections
* Staffing projections
* Multi-year projections and budget assumptions
* Utilizing software systems for budgeting and downloading state software
* Presenting and communicating the budget
* Using a budget development committee
Salary Schedules and Payroll Management (4 hours)
* Processing certificated and classified payrolls
* Retirement, withholdings, and voluntary deductions
* Tax deferred products
* Administering collective bargaining contracts
* Salary administration
* Salary schedule construction
* Projecting fringe benefit costs
The Status of the California Economy As It Effects Education (3 hours)
* DOF and LAO projections
* Comparative support for education
* Financial dartboard
Managing and Accounting for Student Funds (1.5 hours)
* The legal foundation of the associated student body
* The role and responsibility of the school principal
* The role and responsibility of the student council
* Fund raisers
* Appropriate and prohibited uses of student body funds
* Clubs
* Accounting requirements for student body funds
* Management of cash and internal controls
Financing Special Education (2.5 hours)
* 602 financing system
* Federal role (94-142) and level of support
* SELPAS and governance structure
* The mental health service debate
Financial Accountability (5 hours)
* AB 1200
* Danger signals of financial insolvency
* Criteria and standards
* Interim reports
* Multi-year analysis
* Monitoring the budget
Closing the books (5 hours)
* Developing accounts payable and receivable
* Clearing liability accounts
* Repayment of temporary loans
* Charge resources and other funds for indirect costs
* Adjust prepaid expenditures
* Verify GO Bond activity
* Perform special education and community school revenue transfers
* Perform PERS revenue limit reduction transfer
* Verify that asset inventory is updated
Attendance Accounting (5 hours)
* Essentials of attendance accounting, systems, and ADA
* Projecting ADA
* Reports and report periods
* Instructional time requirements
* Increasing student attendance
* Compulsory attendance issues/residency
Financial Auditing (4 hours)
* Preparing for the audit
* Auditing from the auditor's perspective
* Components of the audit
* Writing the Management Discussion and Analysis
* Utilizing the audit to improve management information and reporting
* Responding to audit findings
* Internal controls
Financial Reporting (5 hours)
* SACS reports
* Un-audited actuals
* Indirect cost rates
* Program cost reports
* Categorical reconciliation
2. School Operations [Total = 57 hours]
The Legal Framework for Public Education (4 hours)
* Education code
* Title V
* The courts
* Propositions
* State vs. local control
* Federal involvement in education
* Legal issues typically encountered in the business division
Maintenance and Operations Responsibilities (4 hours)
* Maintaining buildings and grounds
* Staffing ratios
* Legal impediments to contracting out
* Williams process
* Deferred maintenance program
* Routine repair and maintenance account
* Meeting safety standards
* Energy management
Pupil Transportation (4 hours)
* Overview of transportation management
* Establishing routes, ridership, and schedules
* Bus acquisition and replacement
* Staff training, certification, and safety program
* Maintenance--schedules and staffing
* State funding
* Special education transport
* Field trips and extracurricular support
Introduction to Risk Management (4 hours)
* Principles and strategies of risk management
* Occupational safety and health
* Workers compensation program/process
* Property and liability
* Strategies for mitigating accidents and losses
Retiree Benefits (4 hours)
* GASB 43/45 requirements and actuarial studies
* Strategies for meeting long term costs
Contracts and Labor Relations (4 hours)
* The contrasting roles of the CBO
* The art and science of collective bargaining
* Effective handling of impasse, fact finding, mediation, and arbitration
* Costing out proposals
* Public disclosure requirements and AB 2756 certifications
Capital Finance and Money Management (4 hours)
* Financing facility construction and modernization
* Selection of financial adviser
* General obligation bonding
* Parcel taxes
* Certificates of participation
* Mello-Roos Community Facility Districts
Purchasing and Inventory Control (4 hours)
* Best practices
* Just-in-time purchasing
* Inventory function
* Staffing
* Bidding procedures and gift of public funds issues
* Oversight and security
* Surplus property
* Purchasing systems
* Contracts
School Facilities, Planning and Construction (5 hours)
* Functions of the Office of State Architect, CDE, and State Allocation Board
* Working with your architect
* Labor compliance
* Planning and property management
* Site selection issues
* Lease, lease-purchase and purchase
* State construction programs
* Annual assessment of facility priorities
Food Services (5 hours)
* Overview of the food service operation
* Compliance with state and federal laws
* Cost control strategies
* Organizational and staffing options
* Nutritional requirements and meal preparation
* Legal requirements for food preparation and storage
* Environment and sanitary regulations
* Food service sales
Management Information Systems (4 hours)
* Information systems used in school business
* Managing data systems and information security
* Structure and operation of management information systems
* Network management
* Selecting data processing systems
* California student identification system (CSIS)
Personnel Administration (3 hours)
* Overview of the human relations office
* Classified personnel supervision
* Interaction between personnel and business staffs
* The payroll process
* Hiring and retaining good employees
* Good supervision practices and techniques
* Employee discipline including termination
* Compare and contrast evaluation instruments
Educator Selection (1 hour)
* The purposes of certification
* Testing teachers and administrators
* The nature of personnel work
* The systems approach
* The human resource approach
Educator Evaluation (1 hour)
* Criteria for a good teacher evaluation system
* California Standards for the Teaching Profession
* Alternative methods of teacher evaluation
* Evaluating teachers on the basis of student performance
* Using portfolios to evaluate teachers
* Peer review
* Faculty self-evaluation
* Teacher observation
* Teacher evaluation based upon accurate student evaluation and follow-through
* Sanctions short of termination
* Evaluation of new teachers
* Evaluation of permanent teachers
Educational Technology (1 hour)
* Communication--with other students, teachers, experts in various fields, and people around the world:
* electronic mail,
* computer "bulletin boards,"
* computer conferences (e.g., there are now more than 100,000 "Listserv discussion groups"),
* synchronous computer conferencing,
* audio and video teleconferences,
* collaborative environments in which students exchange data and theories in the investigation of science questions ("Earthlab," "National Geographic Kids Network"),
* group decision support systems, in which people work together at linked terminals, exchanging text, drawings, etc. (The software not only passes the data; it can link similar ideas, take votes, describe progress, etc.)
Auxiliary Program Director Tour (5 hours)
*Participants will visit a classified director's site, and obtain an overview of the operation. Participants will submit a reflective report, discussing those aspects of the operation they would emulate and those aspects they would organize differently.
3. Leadership [Total = 20 hours]
Organizational Culture (1 hour)
* Looking at your local resources and building upon them
* A model for examining organizational culture
* Subcultures
* Formal an d informal cultures
* Cultures of various functional groups
* How to "get a handle" on the cultures of a school district
* How leaders influence culture
* Internal and external publics
* The change process
Vision and Leadership (3 hours)
* Definitions of leadership
* Theories of leadership
* Great man theories
* Trait theories
* Environmental theories
* Psychoanalytic Theories
* McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
* Exchange theories
* Constructivist theories
* James McGregor Burns' Transactional and Transformational Leadership
* Torbert's theory of leadership in organizations
* There is no one "best" form of leadership
* Vision (Educational examples)
* Required reading, select one of the following:
* Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton
* How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie
* The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Harari
Curriculum Audits (1 hour)
* Alternative evaluation approaches
* Objectives-oriented approach
* Management-oriented approach
* Consumer-oriented approach
* Expert-oriented approach
* Adversary-oriented approach
* Participant-oriented approach
* Standards for a curriculum audit
* Demonstration of system control
* The establishment of objectives
* Documentation regarding programs
* Utilization of results
* Productivity
* Format for the audit
* Assessing curriculum wholeness
Administrative Team (5 hours)
* Building a strong, supportive administrative team
* Collaboration skills and techniques
* Avoiding groupthink
* Understanding the outlook of each team member
* Resolving team differences
* Case studies
Board/Administrative Operating Principles (5 hours)
* Superintendent/Board Relations
* Board operating principles
* Principles for board-administration relations
* Preparing board packets
* Working with school boards
* Defining the culture
* Goal setting
* Treating all board members equally
* Working for the majority
* Staying out of the fray
* Reporting to the board
* Reporting to the public
* Handling angry parents
* Board governance
* Developing and maintaining the district policy manual
* Superintendent evaluation procedures
* Case studies
The Ethical Leader (5 hours)
* The moral dimensions of education
* Professional education codes of ethics
* Confidentiality
* Illegal practices
* Dealing with crises of conscience
* Morality and social norms
* Cross-cultural studies
* Understanding the moral views of the community
* Case studies
4. Charter Schools [Total = 20 hours]
Charter School Law (5 hours)
* History of charter schools
* How charter schools are created
* Applicable and exempt Education Code sections
* The independent charter school
Charter School Operations (5 hours)
* Teacher-student ratio requirements
* Administrative organization and staffing
* Facility requirements and needs
* Charter schools in operation--case studies
Charter School Finance (5 hours)
* How charter schools are financed
* Audit requirements
* Financial reporting
* The not-for-profit public benefit corporation
* Accounting rules and practices
* Monitoring fiscal solvency
* Charter school insolvency--a case study
Virtual Learning (5 hours)
* Tools for Inquiry
* Theory building--computers as aids to thinking:
* data modeling--defining categories, relations, representation;
* procedural models ("Logo");
* mathematical models;
* outline tools;
* model exploration ("Interactive Physics," ecology simulations, "SimCity," "SimEarth," "Sampling Laboratory");
* visualization software;
* problem-solving programs.
* Data Access--connecting to the world of texts, video, and data:
* library access and ordering;
* both remote and local storage data bases (e.g., Dialog, Oxford English Dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, census, Olympics records, etc.);
* music, voice, video, and still images; graphics, data tables, and text;
* hypertext and hypermedia environments;
* Data Collection--using computers to extend the senses:
* micro-observatory: a programmable telescope with a charge-device putting the Mt. Palomar observatory into the classroom;
* microcomputer-based laboratory, with sensors for motion, heart rate, temperature, etc.;
* survey makers for student-run surveys and interviews;
* video and sound recording.
* Data Analysis:
* spreadsheets,
* table and graph makers,
* exploratory data analysis ("Statistics Workshop"),
* statistical analysis ("SPSS").
* Tools for Construction
* Control Systems--using computers to affect the physical world:
* robotics,
* control of equipment,
* "Lego Logo."
* Computer-aided Design
* Tools for Communication
* Document Preparation:
* word processing;
* outlining;
* graphics;
* spelling, grammar, usage, and style aids;
* mathematical expressions;
* desktop publishing
* Tools for Expression