School District Funding & Budgeting Models
We support districts in designing and implementing funding models that deliver foundational resources to every school and distribute resources strategically and equitably to the highest-need areas.
Our Approach to Designing Effective School Funding Models
Train Your Team to Make Strategic Resource Use Decisions
Positive student and teacher experiences aren’t just dependent on how much money a school gets, but also on how well school leaders use that money. That’s why we provide extensive training and redesign processes to help school leaders, school supervisors, and school budget teams make strategic resource use decisions.
The Goal: Assess the current state to identify strategic resource use opportunities.
Analyze the Efficacy of Your School Funding Model
We assess school-level staffing and resource use to understand how funding varies across schools, what drives funding differences (such as student needs, school staffing, and programming), and how student experiences are impacted.
The Goal: Spot the greatest opportunities to improve school funding adequacy, transparency, and flexibility.
Redesign School Funding and Staffing Models
We lead the design and implementation of new school resourcing models, including student-based budgeting, design-based budgeting, weighted-staffing models, and more. This work often includes supporting leaders in redesigning district- and school-level budgeting processes.
The Goal: Create a bespoke and highly effective funding model for your district.
Support Strategic School Spending
We provide “strategic budgeting” implementation support and professional learning to school leaders and the central office staff who support them.
The Goal: Ensure your team has what it needs to put your tailored funding model into action.
“The magic of what ERS does is giving people the tools and skills to manage resources effectively, and doing so in a way that’s accessible, understandable, and directly relates to the work they do in schools every day.”
—Dr. Jim McIntyre, Dean of the College of Education and Assistant Provost for Academic Excellence at Belmont University
Strategic School Funding in Crowley Independent School District
The Opportunity
Like many districts, Crowley Independent School District (CISD) grappled with significant challenges during the 2023-24 school year, including the end of COVID-relief funding, students coming out of the pandemic with additional learning needs, uneven school-level resource allocations, and staffing systems that no longer met the district’s needs.
The Planning Process
ERS supported CISD in addressing these challenges through the ERS-led Texas Strategic Resource Use Network, in which leaders assess current resource allocation patterns. Together, we charted a path to make short-term shifts in staffing to address the immediate financial challenges and identify opportunities to build toward long-term shifts that support excellent student outcomes and experiences.
The Results
Through our partnership, CISD made strategic shifts to systematically distribute resources more equitably, regardless of budget conditions. Those shifts included:
- Developing an elementary-level need index to identify the highest-need schools.
- Utilizing the need index to guide resource allocations through a need-based funding system.
- Making targeted reductions alongside new strategic investments, including hiring high-impact staff at each elementary and middle school to increase student-facing support for all students.
Other School Funding & Budgeting Partners
Albuquerque Public Schools
Let’s Work Together
Ready to explore what’s possible with a new funding model? Fill out the form below to get started.