Thoughts on Handling Budget Deficits

        One of the things I  appreciated about my former principal, is that he was very transparent about budget cuts, and where funding should go and why, based on campus needs. Now that we are the other side of two very tough years, funding in many districts has now been cut for the next year.  There is much concern about surplusing teachers when it seems like our campus should be getting more teachers, due to the fact that it is on the brink of falling under restructuring because of low STAAR scores.  Harwin, Lloyd and Blomstrom (2019) asserted, "For policymakers and taxpayers alike, school

finance is an uneasy balance between effort—how much they're willing or able to spend—and equity, or how fairly that money gets spread around to schools and districts."  It is, therefore, up to principals to carefully consider where and how  limited resources are used. The problem I see in years of budget deficits, however, is that central office staff and adminstrative positions are not considered as areas where funds can be conserved. In my 23 years in education, I have noticed that even in years of budget deficits, central office personnel will still get their offices redecorated. 

         As a principal, the first step I would take is to utilize my core Campus Academic Leaders(CALs), instructional coaches  and my assistant principals so that we can go through the campus improvement plan to determine our most pressing needs. Including the CALs in this process is important because each department needs to have a voice to advocate for their respective departments and let them have a say in what their departments really need and what they can do without.  We would start looking at items that we can cut that do not directly affect student learning. We would also look at creative ways to utilize existing staff; for example, instead of having a dedicated AVID teacher, we might ask a few teachers to teach a section of AVID. In this digital age where schools have gone one-to-one with technology, we would look for areas to eliminate paper copies and challenge teachers to go 100% digital.  Finally, as a committe, we would want to look at the curriculum for each subject, to ensure that our students are getting what they need to be successful.  "When states and districts target their money toward well-proven initiatives, researchers have found, academic outcomes significantly improve, especially for poor and minority students" (Burnette II, 2019). This is especially important in a deficit year, since schools do not want to spend money on ineffective initiatives when they can invest that money in a more efficient ways. 

        As we look to remedy the immediate concerns, it is also important that we look at the long-term improvement plan to ensure that the changes we make for the short term will not sabotage best practices for years to come. Being transparent about all of the changes and giving the why behind them is a critial piece in ensuring that the faculty on our campus will buy into the necessary cuts and shifts in budget. 

References

Burnette II, D. (2019). Just How Much Does Money Really Matter? Education Week, 38(34), 13–14

Harwin, A., Lloyd, S. C., & Blomstrom, O. (2019). Charting the Continued Friction Between K-12 Spending, Equity. Education Week, 38(34), 10–13.