It’s that time of year when school leaders are undertaking the immense task of planning their budget for the upcoming school year. School budgeting is not just about creating a financial plan for the year, but developing a strategy for the goals and deliverables that will be focused on by the leadership, educators, students, and support staff.
Budgets need to reflect the desired educational outcomes, should be data-driven, and should not only look to introduce new initiatives but support existing programs. An important part of this process is understanding all stakeholders in the educational community, as well as determining what are the most important focus areas for that community.
Eduscape works with educators every day and has supported over one million teachers in 48 states with our professional learning options. We are the only company that provides PD and credentials on the most critical challenges in education including learning loss, engagement recovery, and post-pandemic leadership.
We have developed a strategic planning template and budget checklist to be the first step in planning your initiatives and budgeting for the upcoming year. It can also be used as the last verification of whether your strategic plan covers all the current critical focus areas in U.S. education.
The strategic planning template includes sections for your district’s mission and vision, measures of success, and areas of focus, all the while giving suggestions that may be helpful for developing those aspects of your plan. Of particular interest would be the areas of focus and success measures. In light of the current situations affecting the US Education system at a fundamental level, experts here at Eduscape have developed strategies for your district to enable an increase in academic growth. Eduscape recommends an emphasis on STEM, SEL, Accelerated Learning Recovery and Student/Staff Wellbeing. These areas of focus will lead to a better equipped social and academic community. If instituted effectively, your district will see an increase in social emotional wellbeing, student learning outcomes, as well as use of targeted instructional strategies.
The pandemic has changed the needs of every district. We are hoping that through our suggestions and free resources, you might find it a little easier to make use of the ESSER funds and other relief funds to support the future education of your students. It is certainly crucial in this delicate time to make strategic decisions with the best use of these funds. The Budget Checklist can help you to do just that.
Our budget checklist focuses on seven key steps:
Set goals for the year
Create a communications plan
Re-engage learners
Address social-emotional learning
Account for equity
Integrate STEM practices
Select the proper tools
To receive a complimentary copy of our strategic planning template and budget checklist, leave your information below and you will be redirected to download the digital materials!