Here are 5 tested actions for superintendents, cabinet members and board members to consider as they assess what has worked in the immediate past and what needs to be adjusted.
It's the struggle most public school administrators across the U.S. fight every day: teacher absenteeism. The National Center for Education Statistics data shows that chronic teacher absenteeism—defined as missing 10% or more of school days—increased by as much as 49% during the 2021-22 school year. In addition to short-term absences, long-term vacancies continue to grow […]
The School Board has already made $4 million worth of budget cuts in the last five years to keep up with operational costs, according to Board Vice Chair Jeff Lindeman, who added he's not sure how to make up the difference without a change at the state level.
In 2018, West Virginia school employees went on strike for the first time in two years in large part over concerns about the Public Employees Insurance Agency's long-term solvency. Gov. Justice created a task force to study the issue as part of his agreement with labor unions. But it never resulted in any significant policy changes to stabilize the budget.
"2023 has been a tough year for K12 cybersecurity, and some states and local education entities are not taking it as seriously as they should," says Tim Chadwick, chief information security officer at LINQ.
State officials did look through the Portland Public Schools budget recently and identified about $12 million that could be used to bring the two sides together. But $12 million is only a fraction of the difference between the school district proposal and that of the Portland Associations of Teachers.
San Antonio ISD in Texas is on the verge of closing 15% of its schools. Jackson Public Schools in Mississippi may shutter a dozen buildings. Grand Rapids Public Schools in Michigan is considering 10 closures.
Faced with declining enrollment and a $104.4 million deficit, Seattle Public Schools administrators will roll out a fiscal stabilization plan that could pave the way for school closures and consolidations.
While CFOs and federal programs directors have done a good job guiding districts through the last three years of budget tailoring, now it's time for superintendents, cabinet members and board members to take a longer-term, strategic approach to ensure that only the most effective strategies—those with the strongest (LOI)—are retained as resiliency is drained from the system.
