TAKING ACTION

For Student Improvement

Through Reform of School Budgets

FOR FAR TOO LONG

District and campus teams have lived with

disconnect and frustration. Programs are often lost

due to lack of funding support and needless

purchases are made just because some budget line

had money left…so why not.? School funding is an

issue that has been long debated. Though districts

do not have a great deal of leeway, there are many

things that can be done to improve the funding

process for staff and students.

WHERE TO START

Teachers and even campus leaders often do not

understand the how and why of school budget,

therefore, make poor or ineffective decisions

regarding purchases for the daily school operations.

With improved understanding by all stakeholders,

better decisions can be made for not only program

implementation but also for utilization of personnel

and resources.

TO CREATE CHANGE

All stakeholders must be well informed of the global process

that occurs inside and outside of the classroom with regard to

budget.

All stakeholders must be willing to evaluate the effectiveness

of their programs and the use of data for improvement.

All stakeholders must be prepared to use this information to

make informed decisions not only for the good of the students,

but for the campus as well as the district.

TAKING STEPS TO CREATE LONG-TERM

CHANGE

E V A L U A T I O N& A N A L Y S I S

Analyze current budget expenditures with District

Team• This includes all stakeholders, district, campus

leadership, teachers, students community members and parents

• CFO will explain the budget process and requirements and where there can be reform

• Successive meetings will occur based on demonstration of need and understanding of the overall budget process

EVALUATE PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS

All stakeholders prepare data from individual

programs and provide feedback to campus teams

Campus teams provide feedback to district team

Provide purposeful feedback to all stakeholders on

obtained information.

PRIORITIZECAMPUS & DISTRICT

Campus teams gather data and determine areas of

priority for student improvement based on collected

data

Provide priority list to district team

District team meets collect, analyze findings from

campus teams

Prioritize district goals to assure alignment of

district wide resources

NON-NEGOTIABLES

District identifies district wide non-negotiables as

identified through analysis of campus strengths and

needs

Non-negotiables along with prioritized list

distributed to all stakeholders for final review

DISTRICT TRAINING

Training established by the district selected

professional development team pooled from the

district committee

Training provided at all levels including

administration, teachers and students to maximize

implementation success

Training is ongoing and revamped as needed to

assure adequate support for all teachers and

students

IMPLEMENTATION

Programs are implemented as training is finalized

Administrators monitor and report to campus team

success and needs of programs and processes

Evaluations conducted through surveys along with

data monitoring

Campus team reports needs to district team for re-

evaluation, analysis and adjustment as needed.

ONGOING EVALUATION

Campus teams continue to compile and analyze

data in relation to campus expenditures bi-annually.

Campus teams report to district team annually.

District team reports annual findings to all

stakeholders.

THANK YOU

Funding for schools is and will continue to be a point

of argument or difference of opinion for years to

come, but we must be prepared to better arm our

staff to make more relevant decisions about

spending, accountability, self-development and

leadership. Communication is the key to improving

not only school funding but all daily school

operations.