THE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TASKS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AS DEFINED BY ELEMENTARY AND SENIOR HIGH PRINCIPALS IN KANSA

As school districts begin to incorporate a recent trend to decentralize administrative responsibilities, local principals are being faced with more responsibility for the business management of their building. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to identify the business management tasks of selected school principals in Kansas and to determine if differences existed in the kinds of tasks performed by principals at different levels and in different size buildings.;Following a pilot study in 1980, the investigator mailed a revised survey instrument to 55 secondary principals and 105 elementary principals in the Kansas State University service area. After an over-all response rate of 95.25%, the data were analyzed in the four sections of the survey instrument (Purchasing and Supply Management; Accounting, Budgeting, and Reporting; Lunchroom Management; and Money Management) using the Multivariate Analysis of Variance procedure. The main effects (independent variables) were level, size, and level by size. Significant results were then analyzed with a single Analysis of Variance to locate the specific tasks that differed significantly by level or size. Cross tabulations were also performed to aid in the identification process.;Only five of the 33 business management tasks on the survey instrument differed significantly in importance by level or size of building. Out of these five, three differed by level (in the Purchasing and Supply Management and Money Management sections) and two differed by size of building (in the Lunchroom Management section).;Sixteen tasks out of 33 were considered to be a fundamental part of a principal's job by a majority of all surveyed principals with elementary principals including slightly more tasks. Most of the tasks identified as fundamental were in Accounting, Budgeting, and Reporting section of the survey.;The results of this study indicate that principals do engage in a variety of business management tasks at this time; therefore, colleges need to examine their curricula to be certain these skills are being taught. Further studies could also determine the amount of time being spent on these tasks as well as the competencies principals possess in this area.