Identifying the District's Needs
The process of building the Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD)
budget starts with local school district involvement. Everything in the
GISD budget is derived from the direct feedback of superintendents and
local districts. GISD is the only intermediate school district in the
state that engages in this extensive level of a public budget process.
The existing budget development process has been followed in the GISD
for over 20 years. This seven-month process starts with superintendent
committees of the Genesee County Superintendents Association. The
committees are:
- Career Technical Education Committee
- Cost Effectiveness / Efficiency Teams
- Curriculum Committee
- Health and Human Services Committee
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- Legislative Committee
- Special Education Committee
- Technical Support Committee
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The Superintendents Association Committees review the GISD budget
sections that correlate to each respective committee focus area. Then
the committee articulates the resources and services that will assist
local districts most effectively.
Following this series of reviews, a complete presentation is made to
all of the 21 superintendents at an association meeting. This
presentation is coupled with a review of GISD's continuous improvement process. After deliberation, the superintendents offer their endorsement of the GISD budget.
Receiving Public Input
The proposed budget documents are then reviewed by the GISD Board of Education,
which recommends that the budget documents be presented at a public
meeting to the representatives of Genesee County's 21 constituent
district boards of education. The president of the Genesee Intermediate
School District Board of Education chairs this public meeting.
The intermediate school district is required to comply with budgeting requirements established by the Michigan Legislature's Public Act 234 of 2004.
The law requires that constituent districts review the proposed
intermediate school district budget and adopt a resolution expressing
its support for, or disapproval of, the proposed budget. Whereas the law
specifically applies to the General Fund Budget, it has been GISD's
practice to share all of its budgets with constituent districts.
Formal Budget Adoption Process
Following the budget hearing and upon receipt of the resolutions from
the 21 constituent boards of education, GISD staff prepare for a public
hearing before the GISD board of education and then recommend adoption
of the budget documents prior to the June 30 deadline. After extensive
review and deliberation, the GISD Board of Education approves the annual
budget by resolution.