Page 28 - The Edge - BTS 2019

EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT system, the less work you’ll have to do to allocate down to
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 schools,” he said
Weatherless recommended that when you have
your data together, be sure to report to the principals,
Justin Dayhoff, Senior Account Adviser for Allovue, a instructional leaders and the CEO/CFO of their buildings,
Baltimore-based company that provides software that people responsible for navigating the news media and the
helps school districts budget and manage their spending governing board. Getting the support of the principals is
– explained that ESSA, passed in 2015, governs the federal extremely important, she said.
K-12 public education policy and replaces the No Child Left “I reach out to our principals,” Weatherless said,
Behind Act. suggesting it would be up to them to justify if their school
Dayho opened the discussion of “How to Use ESSA has more or less money than a nearby school.
Report Cards to Improve Schools” with a basic question Dayho recommended teaching the public and others
and a simple answer. “Does money matter?” he asked. e in the district the language of school business o cials,
answer, of course, is “Yes.” What also matters is how much, particularly the jargon used. “When we talk school nance,
where you use it and how you spend it. Also, transparency we don’t want the gloss-over look,” he said. “We want to get
around money matters, Dayho said. people excited to talk about this. Not all superintendents are
ESSA requires more transparency with actual per-pupil former business managers.”
spending, he said. e statute is meant to force conversations Dayho raised the question of whether your per-pupil
about what schools are doing with the money they receive, spending aligns with student need. “Not all students are the
including federal dollars. same or require same resources to educate them,” he said.
“A district’s strategic goals begin in the budget book,” “So, the question becomes: Do I have a higher number of
Dayho said. English Language Learners in my school? More poverty?
Per-pupil reporting is important, and so is how you More students with disabilities? Is it a small school with a
calculate those rates. high overhead? Where are the di erences? How big are
Weatherless asked her AASBO audience where they are those di erences?”
in the ESSA reporting process. Her advice: “Look at the He continued: “Di erences or variations in per-pupil
e ciencies. Be cognizant of that. Does it make sense to the spending are not necessarily a bad thing. No two students
public, to the parents? You will be surprised when running are the same, so no two students require the same resources.
your data, comparing schools to each other, comparing one Districts must engage the data to nd out if di erences are
district to another. You will see unexpected uctuations that tied to student need.”
can swing per-pupil spending.” Regarding per-pupil variations, Dayho posed several
As you are budgeting, you need to make decisions questions about what the data shows, such as: How
regarding ine cient schools, smaller, older schools with much per-pupil funds do the schools get? Where are the
a higher overhead, Weatherless said. “ at will drive per- di erences? Which schools get the most and the least? How
pupil spending,” she said. big are the di erences? To what extent do the distributions
Dayho recommended bringing your accounting down coincide with student characteristics? Do schools with
to the school level, which includes teacher salaries. “We more “expensive” student populations receive more dollars?
know that experienced teachers, the best performing, are Do speci c programs or services have a disproportionate
the highest paid and are at the highest-performing schools,” impact on distributions? Do distribution patterns relate
he said. e ip side is that new, lower paid teachers are to teacher salary and experience? Does a student’s family
generally at the lowest-performing schools. income relate to access to per-pupil dollars?
“Budgeting in average rather than actual means we are e presenters o ered four rules. Rule No. 1: Play o ense,
e ectively asking under-performing schools to subsidize not defense. Get ahead of the story.
the cost of more-experienced teachers at higher-performing Rule No. 2: Spreadsheets do not equal a presentation, but
schools,” Dayho said. Transportation costs can vary. A no spreadsheets provide no transparency. Don’t get rid of
school with a high number of special education students them, but don’t use only spreadsheets.
may have the biggest transportation costs. “Some districts Rule No. 3: Educate district leaders rst. No surprises for
are breaking up custodial and janitorial supplies by square the Governing Board, superintendent and principals.
footage in order to more accurately report on utility and Rule No. 4: Educate your community and keep it simple.
janitorial costs,” Dayho said. “How does that a ect what
story we want to tell?” Renee Weatherless and be reached at: (1-520) 225-6493 or
Budgets at the school level means less money having to reneeweatherless@tusd1.org
go through the allocation process, he said. “ at matters, Justin Dayhoff can be reached at: (1-240) 444-2493 or
because the more you can pull your data directly from a justin@allovue.com

28 THE EDGE | BACK TO SCHOOL 2019