Dive Brief:
- The Souderton Area School District in Pennsylvania is revamping its budget procedures to focus more on hard data and less on passing budgets that estimate final figures.
- Discussions will begin only when the final budget is presented in April, which district leaders say will lead to more informed discussions.
- The district's board said it taking a page from the corporate world with the approach in an effort to seem less institutional.
Dive Insight:
Periodically, schools have heard that they should run their operations more like businesses, although rarely is that practical advice considering schools' mission and accountability to the community. The choice to focus more on hard numbers, rather than estimates, can help schools manage their funding better. Many districts are still dealing with post-recession funding cuts that have lowered overall spending.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, data and analytics are rapidly reshaping the landscape for K-12 districts when it comes to managing budgets. Today it's possible for districts to track spending as it corresponds to stated goals to make sure that funding allocated for specific purposes is being used effectively.
As districts begin overhauling budget practices, they must also contend with new regulations, passed as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which require them to publish per-student expenditures online in an effort to boost transparency for the local community.