In the wake of the pandemic's impacts to an already fragile system, superintendents face the next wave of financial and operational challenges, including:
- Enrollment Loss
While "hold harmless" provisions temporarily shielded districts from the pandemic's devastating enrollment drops, their expiration leaves districts with significant budget shortfalls, exacerbated even further by a declining trend in attendance. Many districts still hope these students will return, but enrollment data from the 2022/2023 school year indicate those students (and dollars) may be gone for good.
- Growing Cost Structures
Influx of relief funds temporarily eased budgetary pressures, but also masked runaway costs due to inflationary pressure, a tight labor market, aging capital investments and increased use of compensatory education and wraparound supports. These costs were not matched with new, sustainable funding sources, creating a looming fiscal cliff as ESSER sunsets.
- ESSER Expiration
In addition to implications for cost structures, districts are also struggling to appropriate the remaining ESSER II and ESSER III funds by September 2023 and 2024 deadlines, and to adequately manage requirements associated with how the funds must be used and tracked.
- Talent Shortages
Districts across the country face a talent crisis at all levels. In 2022, all 50 states reported teacher shortages in at least one subject area1, and vacancies in district leadership roles abound due to the competitive job market and an inability to compete with private sector wages.
- Economic Uncertainty
After more than ten years of economic growth, economic uncertainty and the potential for a recession puts at risk state and local government revenues derived from payroll and property taxes. Districts will suffer the downstream effects.
If superintendents fail to address these challenges, districts will be forced to make short-sighted and painful decisions, and student needs and achievement will suffer as a result.
Transformative Actions for School Districts: Driving Success in the Post-Pandemic Era
As the deadline to use remaining ESSER funds approaches, education leaders have a "once in a generation" opportunity to make structural and operational changes to better serve students. Big, bold, changes are required. But leaders must act quickly and decisively before the window of opportunity closes. As school districts across the country work to avoid the fiscal cliff as COVID-relief funds expire, the following four actions will be critical to optimize funding and attention to student outcomes and achievement:
- Use a data-driven approach to create structures and processes that evaluate, prioritize and align current and planned investments with student outcomes.
- Streamline administrative functions for efficiency and effectiveness; reallocate savings to cover revenue losses and re-invest in the classroom.
- Build resilient organizations that can serve today's changing student population while remaining flexible to meet the next challenge or student need.
- Re-imagine teacher and leadership career tracks, incentives and training to build must-have capabilities and improve retention.
Expert Education Transformation Services: A&M's Solutions for School Districts
A&M provides leadership, data driven problem-solving and value-creation to underperforming and healthy organizations in the US and globally. In 2003, A&M launched its Public Sector Services (PSS) practice devoted to serving the unique needs of the public sector. As part of that practice, A&M Education delivers strategic assessments, recommendations and reforms to school systems, charter management organizations and state education agencies. We've been on the front lines of some of the most dramatic transformation efforts in public education both at the district and statewide level.
We help K-12 agencies and districts:
- Deliver cost-savings that close financial gaps and prioritize student success
- Improve financial management to drive transparency, objectivity, and alignment with priorities
- Evaluate and prioritize curriculum and EdTech investments
- Create efficient organizations and equitable funding models to optimize the value of each dollar
- Analyze district and school operations and cost structures against student need and forecasted enrollment to design and implement district transformation efforts
- Align pandemic recovery funding with proven strategies to address learning loss and other priorities while charting a course for fiscal sustainability post-ESSER
Footnote
1. https://tsa.ed.gov/#/reports
Originally published 25 May 2023
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
