It depends on the committee and the amount of money. Most of ours do the legwork and bring the final plan back to the board for a vote. Many times it is accepted as proposed. Other times the board wants changes. The fact that they have a defined budget doesn't give them a free hand to do anything they want.
Certainly you want to have confidence in your committee and not undermine them. But if the overall board doesn't support the plan - you shouldn't implement it.
I could really use your help. This is the first year we created a budget and have committee chairs. We gave each committee a budget of what they could spend for their event. This is our current situation: Our family reading night chair found an author who is willing to come to our school for $500 and that is their entire budget. Besides having an author the kids are going to have an opportunity to play bingo for books, which the books have already been order for no fee. There are members of our board who do not approve of them spending their entire budget on an author. We need to sign a contract to get this author soon but are having the money issue. I would like to give our committees the opportunity to do the research and the faith that they are working in the best interest of the children. When a committee comes to us to sign a contract I feel the board should review with the committee their plans for the event and ask any necessary questions for them to have an understanding of what is going to happen. I don't feel the board should vote on what the committee has decided to spend their money on.
What power do you give to your committees? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.