Beyond the Budget: The Numbers That Tell Your District's Story

An exciting new school year is beginning. While most of your attention is probably focused on what lies ahead, this is also an ideal time to look back and gather key financial and operational data from the year that just closed.

CBOs know a great deal about how a school district operates, but much of that information never makes it beyond the business office. Collecting and communicating meaningful data can help tell your district’s story, answer questions from the board and community, recognize the work of employees, and identify opportunities for greater efficiency.

Start With a CBO Cheat Sheet

When I became a new CBO, I kept a cheat sheet containing essential information about the district. It included:

• Total revenues and expenditures

• Enrollment by grade level

• Average daily attendance

• Number and percentage of high-needs students

• Number of certificated and classified employees

• General Fund balance and reserve percentage

• Other key financial and operational facts

Having this information readily available helped me tremendously. When a board member, community member, or colleague asked a question, I did not always have to search through a budget report or ask someone else to research the answer.

Of course, school district finances are constantly changing. Budgets are revised, enrollment and attendance fluctuate, and expenditures are adjusted throughout the year. However, once the prior fiscal year is closed, you have reliable actual figures that can serve as a useful point of reference.

Your cheat sheet does not need to contain every statistic about the district. The goal is to have a concise and dependable snapshot of the information you are most likely to need.

Look Beyond Financial Statements

Later, I expanded this idea by asking department leaders to gather annual data about the year that had just closed. Depending on the district, this information could include:

• Meals served

• Miles driven by school buses

• Students transported

• Purchase orders processed

• Vendor payments issued

• Utility costs

• Employees paid

• Timecards processed

• W-2 forms issued

• Employees receiving health benefits

• Facilities square footage maintained

• Work orders completed

• Technology devices supported

• Help desk requests resolved

• Percentage of the budget spent directly on classroom services

Gathering this information should not require an extensive manual effort. Most districts now use online forms and electronic platforms for purchasing, payroll, work orders, technology support, and other processes. These systems already collect much of the information needed to determine the number of purchase orders, timecards, work orders, help desk requests, and similar transactions processed during the year. In many cases, the data can be obtained through an existing report or dashboard.

These figures provide a more complete picture of what it takes to operate a school district. A financial report may show how much was spent on transportation, food services, payroll, facilities, or technology. Operational data helps people understand what those expenditures accomplished.

For example, reporting the total number of miles traveled by district buses may not immediately resonate with everyone. Converting that figure into the equivalent number of trips across the country—or around the Earth—can make it more memorable. A district whose buses travel 250,000 miles annually, for example, travels the equivalent of approximately ten times around the Earth.

Build a Bank of Information

Our leadership team presented a State of the District report to the board each year. Because we had already collected financial and operational facts, we developed a bank of information from which to select the most relevant and compelling data.

The information could also be used throughout the year to highlight a department or program. A short “Did You Know?” feature might recognize the number of meals served by nutrition services, the square footage maintained by facilities employees, or the number of devices supported by the technology department.

These facts help connect the district’s budget to the people and services behind the numbers. They also provide an opportunity to recognize employees whose work may not always be visible to the public.

Consider payroll as an example. It is helpful to know the number of certificated and classified employees, but that figure tells only part of the story. The number of regular payroll transactions, timecards processed, W-2 forms issued, and employees receiving health benefits provides a much clearer picture of the payroll department’s workload and responsibilities.

This information can also be useful during negotiations with bargaining units. You may not always have the latest data available at the beginning of a discussion, but you can reference the prior year’s actual figures. Doing so demonstrates that you are prepared and provides a credible starting point for the conversation.

Use the Data to Evaluate Operations

Gathering operational information should not be viewed only as a communications exercise. It can also help CBOs and department leaders evaluate workload, efficiency, staffing, and service levels.

Comparing data from year to year may reveal important trends. For example:

• Are purchase orders increasing while staffing remains unchanged?

• Are utility costs rising faster than the square footage being maintained?

• Is the number of technology devices or help desk requests growing?

• Are more timecards being processed because of changes in staffing practices?

• Has the cost per meal, student transported, or square foot maintained changed significantly?

The answers may help a department identify efficiencies, explain the need for additional resources, or establish short- and long-term goals. The data can also be used to measure progress toward those goals.

Department leaders should be involved in deciding what information to collect. They understand their operations and can identify the statistics that best demonstrate workload, service, accomplishments, and challenges. To make the process sustainable, establish consistent definitions and ask departments to report the same core information each year.

Stay Ahead of the Story

Accurate and accessible information allows a CBO to be proactive instead of reactive. Whether you are answering a board member’s question, preparing for negotiations, recognizing a department, responding to community concerns, or setting organizational goals, having the facts readily available gives you a stronger foundation.

As the new school year begins, take time to capture the story of the year that just ended. Start with a simple cheat sheet, ask department leaders to contribute their operational data, and build a reliable bank of information.

The numbers already exist. The real opportunity is to use them to help others understand the complexity of school operations, appreciate the work taking place behind the scenes, and see how district resources support students every day.

By: Jenny Delgado, CASBO Certified CBO/Consultant
Retired Assistant Superintendent, Huntington Beach City School District