SAC Budget & Financial Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of school budget model allocates funds based on the actual number of students enrolled, assigning dollars directly to schools?
- Line-item budgeting
- Program-based budgeting
- Student-based (weighted) budgeting (Correct answer)
- Zero-based budgeting
Correct answer: Student-based (weighted) budgeting
Student-based budgeting (also called weighted student funding) allocates dollars directly to schools based on enrollment, with extra weight for high-need students.
Question 2: What is a 'restricted fund' in school finance?
- Money set aside for emergency repairs
- Funds that must be used for specific purposes as defined by the grantor or legal mandate (Correct answer)
- Budget lines frozen by the board
- Accounts accessible only by the superintendent
Correct answer: Funds that must be used for specific purposes as defined by the grantor or legal mandate
Restricted funds (e.g., Title I, IDEA grants) must be used only for the specific purposes designated by the funding source, and cannot be freely transferred.
Question 3: What does a 'carryover' in school budgeting refer to?
- Debt carried from one fiscal year to the next
- Unexpended funds from one fiscal year that are allowed to be used in the following year (Correct answer)
- Emergency budget reserves
- Funds transferred between departments mid-year
Correct answer: Unexpended funds from one fiscal year that are allowed to be used in the following year
Carryover refers to unspent budget funds at the end of a fiscal year that are legally permitted to roll into the next year's budget for continued use.
Question 4: Which federal funding stream specifically targets low-income students to improve academic achievement in high-poverty schools?
- IDEA Part B
- Title II
- Title I, Part A (Correct answer)
- Perkins V
Correct answer: Title I, Part A
Title I, Part A of ESSA provides federal funds to schools with high concentrations of poverty to support academic achievement for disadvantaged students.
Question 5: When preparing a school-level budget, an administrator should align expenditures primarily with:
- Last year's spending patterns
- The school improvement plan goals and student learning priorities (Correct answer)
- The preferences of the loudest parent group
- The most convenient staffing assignments
Correct answer: The school improvement plan goals and student learning priorities
Budgets should be strategic documents that directly fund the goals and strategies outlined in the school improvement plan, ensuring resources drive student outcomes.
Question 6: What is the purpose of an encumbrance in school accounting?
- Recording revenue received from fundraising
- Reserving budget funds for anticipated future expenditures before the actual transaction occurs (Correct answer)
- Tracking teacher absences with substitutes
- Noting denied budget requests
Correct answer: Reserving budget funds for anticipated future expenditures before the actual transaction occurs
Encumbrances reserve budget funds at the time a purchase order is issued, preventing over-expenditure of accounts before the final invoice is paid.
SAC Budget & Financial Management 1
Which type of school budget model allocates funds based on the actual number of students enrolled, assigning dollars directly to schools?