School-based management is rapidly becoming the centerpiece of the current school reform movement. Discusses the new roles of the school business official. (21 references) (MLF)

The Philadelphia School District has a five-step program of site-based-management prerequisites for schools: (1) absolute support from the top administration; (2) clear and fair allocation formulas on which each school's budget is to be based; (3) universal understanding of any restrictions, rules, or guidelines; (4) full explanation of budget…

If appropriate planning occurs, business officials can support site-based management. Districts need to develop new working relationships that appropriately balance the responsibility of the business office for district finances and support services with more site-based management at the school level. (MLF)

Since site-based management supports the separate-schools concept, promotes interschool competition, and allows community pressures to influence decision-making, great disparities in resource allocations can occur. To ensure equity, central management must define and limit principals' roles, provide training for principals, build consensus,…

Discusses major changes that could dramatically alter the chief business official's role, including an aging population of reluctant taxpayers; a multicultural, pluralistic society; increasing child poverty; continued growth in site-based management; public education alternatives; the technology/telecommunications explosion; and a self-centered,…

School business officials will need to lead the way for many of the changes that will take place in the nation's schools. Outlines some strategies to help defuse the tension and defensiveness and clear the way for meaningful change. (MLF)

For any school-based-management model to succeed, the important functions of a school district's business office must be redesigned to shift authority and support for most fiscal decisions to school site. Some of the complexities of shifting the fiscal management to schools include technology, transportation, maintenance and operation, risk…

Explores where in the school-budgeting process decentralized decision making could be used. People at the building site should be evaluating the programs and making decisions about their effectiveness and continued funding. (MLF)

The role of a school business administrator has changed over the years. Fred McCarthy shares the thoughts of an experienced school business official at the "crossroads" of life and work. Don Lussier imparts his own wry visions of what the Canadian secretary-treasurer's role will become. (MLF)

Principals want to be part of the decision-making process regarding business operational procedures. Principals want responsibility accompanied by the necessary authority along with having budgeting and other operational information readily available, technical assistance, evidence of equity, and immediate feedback. (MLF)

The skill levels of school business administrators can be divided into technical, human relations, and conceptual. Field-based research revealed that the more the districts rely on shared decision making, the higher the esteem and trust the other administrators had for the business administrator. (MLF)

Offers a detailed discussion of school-level data collection on educational expenditures and research allocations. Describes some implications of this trend for school business administrators. Suggests that the long-term benefits of these new data far outweigh the short-term costs of their collection. (12 references) (MLF)

In "Board of Education of Boone County v. Bushee," the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld school site councils' power and autonomy in a dispute involving a school improvement plan. Implications of "Bushee" are enormous. School-based decision making presents school business administrators with brave new challenges and increased…

School business officials' technical knowledge and expertise can make the process of school-based management more successful. The art of site-based management is relationship building through effective interpersonal and communication skills. (MLF)

Offers an overview of the school-based decision-making councils in the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 and takes a brief look at a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the authority of councils. (MLF)