NYSASBO held its Budget Workshop on Wednesday, December 16. To kick off the event, Sherri Fisher of South Colonie CSD and Lisa Kyer of Lansingburgh CSD presented about the “nuts and bolts” of school district budgeting. The workshop finished with “A Tale of Three Districts,” a panel moderated by NYSASBO’s Deborah Cunningham, featuring Suzanne Slack of Syracuse City SD, Richard Cunningham of Plainview-Old Bethpage CSD, and John Montesanti of Wilson CSD.
In their “Nuts and Bolts of School District Budgeting” presentation, Fisher and Kyer started by offering strategies to better understand a school district’s financial landscape. They then gave an overview of revenue sources, and provided critical information about fund balance and reserves. They went over expenditure patterns, the budget development cycle, and state requirements before explaining how to administer, report on, and communicate about your budget. Fisher and Kyer finished their presentation with some helpful tips on aligning resources with student learning.
“A Tale of Three Districts” panel discussion offered budgeting perspectives from three business officials from rural, suburban, and urban districts. They discussed the varying challenges of dealing with increasing enrollment versus decreasing enrollment, as well as facing a zero percent property tax cap versus being fiscally dependent on city government. The audience was particularly interested in hearing about strategies for reallocating resources, such as Slack’s “Strategic Abandonment Tool” that can help when budgeting for new items. The group talked about the challenge of coming out of a tough economic recession, and gave pointers about building financial stability.
Audience feedback was positive from both live-streamers and in-person attendees. NYSASBO plans to hold more workshops in the future that can benefit both new and seasoned school business officials. If you have a topic to suggest or are interested in leading a workshop or participating in a panel, please contact Kimberly Shannon at kshannon@nysasbo.org. To purchase a video of the Budget Workshop, email Debbie Eberle at debbie@nysasbo.org.