The Strategic CFO: Additional Resources

November 20, 2019

ERS worked with the Broad Center to create the Strategic CFO Guide, a leadership tool for school district financial leaders that follows up on our 2014 publication The New Education CFO with actionable best practices and exemplars. We have built out a set of additional resources from this guide–listed below–to support this work.

Core Function #1: Long-Term Financial Planning

What to Review: Your district’s current long-term financial plan; artifacts from prior planning cycles, such as board minutes and public presentations

• Long-Term Financial Planning at Boston Public Schools (2018) | Boston Public Schools
• 10 Big Ideas to Unlock Resources | Boston Public Schools
• Long-Term Financial Planning Checklist | Education Resource Strategies
• Guide to Long-Term Financial Planning | Government Finance Officers Association

Core Function #2: Strategic Planning

What to Review: Your district’s current strategic plan; publicly articulated priorities of board members and local elected officials

• Strategic Plan | Boston Public Schools
• Case Study: Strategic Planning in Highline Public Schools | Education Resource Strategies
• Presentation on Embedding ROI into Strategic Planning | Education Resource Strategies
• Establishing Partnerships Between Academics and Finance | Government Finance Officers Association

Core Function #3: Annual District Budgeting

What to Review: Past budget presentations from your district, including both formal, annual presentations and any off-cycle updates; media from a past budget cycle that required reductions; media on community opinions of the last budget cycle

• Building an Effective Budget Development Process | Denver Public Schools
• Strategic Budget Development Checklist | Education Resource Strategies
• District Budget Hold’Em Game | Education Resource Strategies
• Best Practice on Budget Monitoring | Government Finance Officers Association
• 2019-20 Budget Presentation | Philadelphia Public Schools

Core Function #4: Annual School Budgeting

What to Review: Your district’s current school planning process calendar; current school budget tools and templates; sample school budgets; principal survey data about satisfaction with central office supports

• Reflection on School Planning Process Improvements | Baltimore City Public Schools
• Case Study: School Budgeting in KIPP Bay Area | Education Resource Strategies
• Case Study: School Planning in Tulsa Public Schools | Education Resource Strategies
• Strategic Budget Support Framework | Education Resource Strategies

Core Function #5: Collective Bargaining

What to Review: Your district’s current teacher contract; artifacts from the prior bargaining cycle; teacher compensation strategy documents; contracts from peer district or exemplar districts

• Reflection on Teacher Hiring Policy Change | Boston Public Schools
• How to Negotiate an Interest-Based Contract | Illinois Federation of Teachers
• Teacher Contract Database | National Council on Teacher Quality