Planning models for budgeting teaching resources

This paper relates experience in the development of a set of integrated planning models for a school board in a public school system. Three modules were developed. An enrolment projection module utilizes a modified Markov transition matrix (augmented by adaptive exponential smoothing models to forecast flows into the system). A program review module operates in interactive mode as a deterministic simulation to generate alternative budgets in a ‘planning-programming-budgeting’ context. A resource planning module was produced as an optimizing goal programming formulation, but was not found useful to implement for reasons outlined in the paper.