Program Authorization: La. Constitution of 1974, Article VIII, Sec. 2; R.S. 36:647; R.S. 17:21-27; R.S. 7(2)(c)(d) and (e); R.S. 39:29-33,1491,1494-1502,1557-1558,1572,1593-1598; R.S. 17:3971-4001; R.S. 39:75; R.S.17:10.1-10.3; R.S. 36:651; R.S. 17:354
The mission of the Office of Management and Finance Program is to provide quality service and leadership through a system of accountability that ensures the effective, efficient and equitable use of state, local, and federal resources in accordance with policies and legal mandates for educational programs administered by the Department of Education.
The goal of the Office of Management and Finance Program is to provide the support system to the educational programs administered by the Department of Education through planning for potential and analysis of existing departmental programs, fiscal management of state-level activities, and distribution and oversight of funds allocated to local school districts and other service providers.
The Office of Management and Finance Program includes the following activities: Procurement and Asset Management, Appropriation Control, Budget Control, MFP Accountability - Information Management, MFP Accountability - School Finance and Audit, Progress Profiles/Planning and Evaluation, Management Information Systems, LEARN, and Administrative Transfers.
OBJECTIVES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
The Management and Finance Program provides support services to the Department of Education. The success of this program is reflected in the success of the other programs in the Department of Education. Performance information consistent with this program's strategic plan and with the statewide model for administration/support service programs will be reported next year. The program did provide the following information this year:
1. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the MFP accountability/Information management activity will develop, refine, and manage data collection and a data/information delivery system in FY 1998-99.
2. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the MFP accountability/School finance and audit activity, will conduct student audits of MFP formula data to insure 100% accuracy in FY 1998-99.
3. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the progress profiles/planning and evaluation activity, will refine, produce and distribute school, district, and state education profile reports, a school directory, and an education fact sheet in FY 1998-99.
4. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the management and information system activity, will provide the telecommunications and network infrastructure to support the administrative and programmatic information needs of network clients as evidenced by a customer satisfactory rating of 90% in FY 1998-99.
5. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the procurement and asset management activity, will decrease processing time for purchase order and professional services contracts approval and issuance by 1 week by FY 1998-99.
6. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the appropriation control activity, will continue to process vendor payments within 30 days and travel reimbursements within 5 days in FY 1998-99.
7. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the budget control activity, will reduce questioned costs by 1% of the total dollar value of audit coverage provided for food and nutrition assistance programs in FY 1998-99.
8. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the budget control activity, will maintain the questioned cost percentage for special education programs below 1% of the dollar value of audit coverage provided in FY 1998-99.
9. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the progress profiles/planning and evaluation activity, will develop and test an extensive school analysis and improvement process in FY 1998-99.
10. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the procurement and asset management activity, will maintain systems for movable property control, fund transfers for Central Services and warehouse storage, and coordinate department-wide safety, telecommunications, emergency preparedness, and facility planning/buildings and grounds activities in FY 1998-99.
11. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the MFP accountability/School finance and audit activity, will administer and audit nonpublic school funds/nonpublic assistance in FY 1998-99.
1 Latest figures are for FY 1995-96. At that time, a $567,627 annual savings was realized from audits, with a $1,176,755 cumulative savings.
12. The Office of Management and Finance Program, through the Louisiana Education Achievement and Results Now (LEARN) activity, will initiate and implement a grant process to provide funding for local improvement, professional development and pre-service planning and implementation activities in FY 1998-99.
13. The Office of Management and Finance, through the charter school activity, will increase the number of charters issued by local education agencies to 20 and the number of schools operating to 9 in FY 1998-99.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR THE PROGRAM
This program is funded with the general fund, interagency transfers, self-generated revenues, statutory dedication and federal funds. The interagency transfers are provided through indirect cost recovery from federal programs and payments from various federal and state programs within the Department for goods and services provided including supplies, postage, evaluations) and accounting/expenditure control. The self-generated revenue is derived from non-profit donations such as Distinguished Partners. The statutory dedication is provided through the Teacher Supplies Fund and the School and District Accountability Fund as authorized in Act 473 and 478 of the 1997 Regular Session. (Per R.S.39:32B.(8), see table below for a listing of expenditures out of each statutory dedicated fund.) Federal funds are provided through a grant from the National Cooperative Education Statistics System (NCESS); and the following: Title 1,2,4, and 6 of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994; Adult Education Act, Sections 4 and 5 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; Sections 11 and 13 of the National School Lunch Act of 1946, as amended; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Parts B, C, D and H); and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act.
The total means of financing for this program is recommended at 93.1% of the existing operating budget. It represents 84.3% of the total request ($18,907,276) for this program. The increase in general fund reflects statewide adjustments, the transfer of positions and salaries associated with departmental reorganization and a means of financing substitution for the School and District Accountability statutory dedication. The decrease in interagency transfers is primarily attributable to the transfer of the Bureau of Internal Audit to the Executive Office program but his was offset through realignment of salaries as a result of the departmental reorganization. The decrease in federal funds is primarily the result of the transfer of the administrative and commission budget for the Louisiana Education Achievement Results Now (LEARN) activities, funded through federal GOALS 2000, to the Office of Student and School Performance. The net increase in positions reflects departmental reorganization and the elimination of two (2) positions which have been consistently vacant.
ACQUISITIONS AND MAJOR REPAIRS