The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) has awarded Prince William County Public Schools with the Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for the 2022-23 fiscal year. This is the 27th consecutive year that PWCS has earned this award, and PWCS was the first school division in Virginia to earn this award in 1997.

This award recognizes best practices for budget presentations in school districts. To be eligible for the award, participants must apply and submit their documents for the budget year to a review panel of school business officials. The officials review the materials to ensure the application and budget documents meet their standards using the MBA “criteria checklist,” and provide helpful feedback to school districts on ways they can improve their budget presentations.

To earn this award, the MBA checklist states the school budget should reflect, “a technically well-prepared [budget], clear and logical in its narration of facts and data, mathematically accurate and free of spelling and grammatical errors, and have consistent formatting throughout including writing style.”

In a press release, David J. Lewis, ASBO International executive director, shared, “ASBO International’s MBA program provides school districts with tools and resources to develop a high-quality, easy-to-understand budget to share the district’s goals and objectives internally and with the community. By participating in the programs, districts demonstrate their commitment to upholding nationally recognized budget presentation standards.”

To learn more about the ABSO and the MBA program, please visit their website.