Finances

We need to get real about finances…

Waste. Mismanagement. Fraud. Corruption.  How many times have we heard those words used in conjunction with DISD?  All too often!  And how many times have you found yourself thinking “this has got to be the last of it” only for news of another scandal to hit the streets? It would be naive to think that the most recent budget shortfall will be the end of the financial  issues at DISD.  But I believe that our next Trustee should be vigilant about how our money is being spent. When you see red flags, you don’t take the word of the bull that everything is okay! You ask questions and expect proof. And when you realize that there’s an $84 million shortfall and that there has to be a “reduction in force” to survive, you don’t stall for 2 months the difficult decision to lay people off, causing the threat of a state takeover of the district, creating turmoil and denying those people the opportunity to get jobs in other districts.

I WILL WORK FOR:

• a line item review of the budget to eliminate waste and non-essentials.
• year-long projections provided to the Board showing monthly expenses.
• a budget review committee that meets monthly to review adherence to the budget and to look for any discrepancies between projected and actual figures, with those discrepancies being addressed immediately.
• an “alert” component built into the software programs that notifies administration if/when budgets are exceeded.