Smarter School Spending - Set Instructional Priorities

The budget needs to be rooted in the priorities of the district. Intentionally created instructional priorities provide a strong basis for developing a district’s budget and strategic financial plan, as well as presenting a budget document.
Objectives
- Develop goals
- Identify root cause of gap between goal and current state
- Research & develop potential instructional priorities
- Evaluate choices amongst instructional priorities
Establish a Partnership between the Finance and Instructional Leaders
A collaborative process increases the likelihood that the decisions made will be supported after the budget process is over.
- Set expectations for the budget process and analyze the district's current state
- Effectively communicate the process and corresponding decisions to stakeholders
Milestones
- Level 1: Superintendent, chief academic officer, and chief financial officer agree to pursue Smarter School Spending (SSS) and commit to regularly review progress at cabinet meetings.
- Level 2: Develop a formal governance structure to guide the district as it pursues progress on the SSS framework.
- Level 3: Develop criteria to define what constitutes a successful budget process.
Your Quick Wins
- Quick Win: Discuss and agree between academic, financial officers with superintendent why pursuing the Best Practices is a good idea. Examine roadmap and identify what district wants to accomplish on the roadmap.
- Why important? Established communication channel, documents/formalizes why Best Practices are being pursue.