Making the Most of School District Budgets
School districts across the nation are wrestling with the challenge of reduced funding as ESSER dollars disappear, while students’ increased needs persist and costs continue to rise. And, for districts facing declining enrollment, the funding gap is even larger. Fortunately, best practices and actionable strategies exist that can help districts effectively support students, preserve much needed services, and continue to invest in their top priorities even as budgets tighten.
Our Services
At New Solutions K12, we bring together deep expertise and experience working with hundreds of districts to help districts take a strategic approach to budgeting that ensures that each dollar and FTE has the maximum impact on student outcomes. Our approach ensures that staff have fair and equitable workloads and that staffing investments are in line with district priorities and best practices. Whether you’re looking for comprehensive strategic budgeting support or to deepen your team’s understanding of strategic budgeting principles, our experts are here to help.
Comprehensive Custom Support for Strategic Budgeting
New Solutions K12 can provide comprehensive, custom support to help school districts apply strategic budgeting principles to achieve their specific goals. We have helped districts close a budget gap, preserve ESSER funded services beyond the fiscal cliff, deal with declining enrollment without closing schools, create staffing guidelines for fairness and cost effectiveness, revise the budgeting process to increase voice and buy-in, and more.
We approach strategic budgeting work from many angles, strategically considering the greatest needs of the district; technically through extensive analysis of staffing, use of time and schedules; and politically by understanding the context and building support from a wide range of stakeholders. Our experts help build staff capacity and buy-in for strategic budgeting approaches, facilitate and strengthen budget-related teamwork between central office staff and principals, and lead stakeholders through the essential prioritization and planning processes that will enable the district to build more strategic budgets both now and in the years to come.
Staffing Review and Staffing Guidelines
Our team of experts can provide a comprehensive staffing analysis, considering district norms, national best practices, and strategic priorities, and examine to what extent staffing in each school reflects fairness, enrollment trends, and differing levels of student need. This work begins by collecting and cleaning detailed scheduling and staffing data and codifying what constitutes a full teaching load at each school. Our team then conducts a detailed course and staffing analysis and makes recommendations for staffing guidelines that align with priorities in the district.
Professional Development for School and District Leaders
Adopting a new approach toward staffing and budgeting can be challenging. It requires new ways of thinking and different types of expertise. Therefore, an essential prerequisite to improving resource allocation and spending practices is to develop buy-in and understanding of best practices across a wide variety of stakeholders. New Solutions K12 can provide professional development for district and school leaders to share best practice research on strategic budgeting, cost-effective staffing models, and other resource allocation best practices.
Start a Conversation
Want to learn more about how we can support strategic budgeting in your district?
