ABSTRACT
Meeting the needs of a school and the students it serves requires the acquisition, allocation, and effective management of adequate financial resources. The acquisition, allocation, and management of financial resources are truly complex and important tasks of the school leader. In the book Principals for Our Changing Schools (1990), four major performance domains for principals are identified, one of which consists of programmatic domains. Programmatic domains focus on the scope and framework of the educational program. They reflect the core technology of schools, instruction, and the related supporting services, developmental activities, and resource base. “Resource allocation consists of planning and developing the budget with appropriate staff; seeking, allocating, and adjusting fiscal, human, and material resources; utilizing the physical plant; monitoring resource use and reporting results” (National Commission for the Principalship, 1990,p. 24). Seeking, allocating, adjusting, and monitoring the use of fiscal resources for an organization as complex as a public school are predicated upon a careful analysis of the needs, goals, and objectives of the school. This is most effectively accomplished through the active engagement of the school staff and representatives from the school community. This group is often referred to as the school planning team.
