My principal prepares the school budget in the following way: She uses the previous year's budget as a starting point. She then runs reports to determine student enrollment in each course. Next, she retrieves the school's budget spreadsheet from the district office, which includes items categorized by department and object code with descriptions and amounts. Big ticket items over $700 require bids and justification. The CTE and library budgets are separate. Department directors submit priority lists for expensive items, and the administrators work through the lists until funds are exhausted to decide the budget.