Alison Francis

CP Budget Example

MEDT 6461: Administration of School Media

Budget Project
 Proposed Three-Year Budget for 2018-2019 / 2019-2020 / 2020-2021

Holcomb Bridge Middle School has a student population of approximately 730. The
student population is divided fairly evenly in terms of gender, 49% male, 51% female. The
school is very diverse with 34% Hispanic, 31% Black, 28% white, 4% multiracial, and 3%
Asian. More than 30 home countries are represented among the student population and 10% is
ELL. The school is 55% free and reduced lunch. 24% of students are served through the Special
Education program. The major school-wide initiatives are personalized learning (as the school
has recently gone 1:1 with iPads), project-based learning, and Positive Behavior Interventions
Strategies.

Upon interviewing the school librarian, Mrs. Reagin, it was determined that there is
typically a yearly budget of about $7,000. The schools PTA also funds certain projects from
time to time such as re-furnishing and re-painting the media center two years ago. Mrs. Reagin
stated that some years, there are certain percentage requirements for the budget, but typically the
current principal does not ask for those numbers and allows for autonomy in utilizing the budget.

Mrs. Reagin spends the majority of the money on books (print, eBooks, and AudioBooks)
and runs reports provided by our book provider, Mackin, to determine where the gaps are in the
schools collections lie. The report provided by Mackin breaks down the schools current
collection in terms of subject, genre, and date of publication, so it becomes easy to see which
collections need to be updated or supplemented. Additionally, due to the schools diversity both
ethnically and academically, Mrs. Reagin is very intentional in spreading her resources to
develop materials that will benefit a wide range of learners. One other interesting point to note is
that the Supplies category of the budget has changed quite a bit in recent years due to the
school becoming 1:1 with iPads. Therefore, much of the production equipment, and hard-copy
audio materials for no longer necessary. Finally, Mrs. Reagin mentioned that Accelerated Reader
is often part of a budget for many school libraries, but she does not use AR because she finds it
to be limiting for readers. She believes that it is more effective to focus on students interest in
selecting reading materials, and not focus so heavily on lexile levels and passing AR tests.

The budget is created in vast majority by the media specialist and the media
paraprofessional. Informal conversations with teachers, students, and administrators throughout
the year influence decisions, but there is no formal collaboration or needs assessment used to
determine need. It is suggested that a formal needs assessment be completed by staff, students,
and parents particularly with the change in technology at the school in recent years. It seems that
formal input from all stakeholders would better inform budgeting decisions, particularly in terms
of technology and general supplies.
 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 TOTAL
Mackin Books
ELL Print $150 $150 $150 $450
Non-Fiction Print $750 $750 $750 $2,250
Fiction Print $1,050 $1,050 $1,050 $3,150
eBooks $750 $750 $750 $2,250
Audio Books $300 $300 $300 $900

Periodicals $350 $350 $350 $1,050

Equipment
Mobile White Boards $300 $200 $0 $500
Headphones $425 $174 $174 $773
iPad Cases $500 $600 $600 $1,700

Maker Materials
Sphero SPRK+ $425 $130 $130 $685
Ozobots $0 $546 $0 $546
Snap Circuits $0 $0 $546 $546

TOTAL $5,000 $5,000 $5,000

MACKIN BOOKS:
The largest amount of the budget will be allocated toward books (print, eBooks and Audiobooks)
as this is the most expensive need in the library and the most consuming to keep up-to-date. With
such a diverse population at the school (ethnically and academically) it is important to include
reading materials that will meet the needs of a wide range of learners, including a percentage of
ELL materials, to incorporating high interest, low Lexile texts for our struggling readers, to
challenging titles for our gifted population. Including eBooks and Audiobooks is also important
because every student is issued a school iPad for the year, so having digital options makes
reading more accessible to students.

PERIODICALS:
A smaller portion of the budget will go toward periodicals as they are of high interest to this age
group and motivating reading materials for many reluctant readers.

EQUIPMENT:
As previously stated, the equipment category has undergone quite a bit of change over the past
few years as our school as gone 1:1 with iPads, eliminating the need for much production
equipment. Items that will be purchased for this category include mobile white boards that are
useful for small groups working in the media center as well a P.E. when they need visual direct
instruction in the gym. Headphones will also be purchased that can be checked out by teachers
for use in the classroom. With every student completing work and receiving a significant amount
of instruction in stations via the iPad, headphones are essential. Additionally, the school has a
few iPad carts that were used by teachers before the school went 1:1. Those carts are now used
supplementally when students do not bring their iPad or the battery is low. Those iPads,
however, are in desperate need on new cases as many of the cases have so much damage, they
have had to be thrown away.

MAKER MATERIALS:
A portion of the budget will be devoted to the purchase of maker materials for promoting STEM
and 21st century skills. While there are a number of maker materials already at the school
(including Legos, Sewing, and 3D printing), its important to continue to grow the collection to
appeal to the diverse needs of students at the school. Maker materials will include Sphero coding
robots, Ozobots, and Snap circuits. These materials will support the interests of our engineering,
robotics, and high school science, and STEM class students while encouraging those who may
not otherwise be introduced to higher order STEM opportunities.