School & District Management

Schools Left Hanging as States Dither on Budget Cuts

By Daarel Burnette II — June 15, 2020 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School district administrators this month have been placed in a torturous holding pattern.

There’s no question that state sales and income tax revenue have plummeted because of the coronavirus pandemic and that most districts will have to swallow sizeable budget cuts in the coming months if Congress doesn’t come up with another relief package. But in most states, legislatures haven’t given a clue as to how much public schools will be expected to cut.

Not knowing how much money they’ll have to work with this fall makes it all the more difficult for school officials to decide which contracts to renew, how many teachers to hire this fall, and when to open school back up.

“It’s chaos, and it’s been challenging to deal with all the political uncertainty on top of the other chaos that districts are dealing with at the moment,” said Heather DuBois Bourenane, the director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a school funding advocacy organization. “We’re hearing, ‘Get ready to tighten your belt.’ Well, the belts were already tightend before this happened. It’s stressful for our districts to try to adjust to students’ growing needs with even more insufficient funds.”

According to Edunomics, a school policy think tank based at Georgetown University, 27 states still have not revised their fiscal projections of how much revenue districts could lose this year and next since the pandemic has hit. Thirteen states have given school districts a general warning that they will likely soon have to make budget cuts, and only 11 states have given detailed warnings about how much revenue they can expect to lose this year.

More and more district administrators have indicated to Education Week’s research center that they expect to make steep budget cuts this year. In March, when the pandemic first hit, only 42 percent of surveyed administrators said they expect budget cuts, but when that same question was posed last month, more than 52 percent said they expect budget cuts. More than a quarter of respondents said last month that they think their district will get more money next year.

When budget cuts are passed by states’ legislatures later this summer, districts, with just a few weeks before school starts, will have to scramble to rewrite their budget, cut programs and lay off staff. This sort of budget-cutting can be emotionally fraught, politically contentious and, in the long run, academically destructive.

But K-12 finance experts say district administrators shouldn’t wait. They suggest administrators act now to avoid haphazardly making classroom cuts this year.

“If states wait longer to revise their budget projections...that will send districts further into the future before making any spending changes which could require deeper cuts,” Marguerite Roza, a Georgetown University school finance professor, during a recent webinar. “If you can’t save money now, you’ll have to save more and save more suddenly at the end of the summer and possibly after the school year starts. That’s why those of us who look at the fiscal impact are very anxious about timing and when districts are notified. We’re in chapter two of an eight chapter story. This thing is not done yet. So stay tuned.”

Below are four tips from finance experts on how to mitigate budget cuts this summer.

Overcommunicate. Administrators should be explicit with school board members, parents, and teachers about the looming budget deficit, said Jonathan Travers, a partner with a partner with Education Resource Strategies, which consults with urban districts on ways to make money have more impact in the classroom. Even though administrators may not know exactly how much they will have to cut out of their budget this year, administrators should convene working groups to talk openly about what the district currently spends their money on and collect ideas on how to make budget cuts.

In Education Week’s survey, 40 percent of principals said they knew “a lot” about how the coronavirus would impact their district’s budget, while another 41 percent said they knew “some.” The rest of the respondents said they knew little or none at all.

“A CFO’s chief responsibility is to explain, not defend,” said Travers said. “I think the most strategic CFOs are going to help districts understand why school spending numbers are what they are.”

Assess now your students’ needs and figure out what programs are working and not working. Travers has also encouraged district CFOs to work more collaboratively with academic teams to have a good understanding of where students’ greatest needs are. He encourages administrators to use the time before legislative sessions to pore through test scores and talk with principals to gather anecdotal information about programs that are academically essential for struggling students. This information will come in handy when it comes time to cut, he said.

Trim costs now. Administrators of Portland, Ore., knew budget cuts were on their way so the district this spring took cost-cutting measures in preparation for a brutal budget year. It’s a model administrators have encouraged other districts to replicate.

The district’s school board cut one day out of the school week, closed the administrative buildings on Fridays, froze hiring, cut back on purchasing and, instituted for its entire teaching force a 20 percent pay cut. The district encouraged teachers to apply for partial unemployment through the CARES Act this year to make up for the cut in their paychecks. In total, the district made more than $10 million in cuts, which administrators predict will save more than 66 jobs next year when they expect the state to cut more than $60 million from its budget when they reconvene.

Come up with budget-cutting scenarios now. When Nolberto Delgadillo, the CFO of Tulsa’s schools in Oklahoma, had just finished making drastic cuts out of his district’s budget this year, an arduous, months-long process, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and oil prices tanked. It was a clear sign that he needed to quickly reconvene board members, parents, and community members to figure out what more budget-cutting will look like. Last month, he and his board came up with several scenarios in case that the state’s legislature this summer cuts 2 or 5 percent out of the district’s budget.

“Be as clear as possible with district leadership/key stakeholders around what is being prioritized. That is if we need to make ‘X dollars worth of reductions,’ we’ve already done the pre-work and have a general understanding of what the revised investment plan may look like.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 17, 2020 edition of Education Week as Schools Left Hanging as States Dither on Budget Cuts

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Improving Outcomes on State Assessments with Data-Driven Strategies
State testing is around the corner! Join us as we discuss how teachers can use formative data to drive improved outcomes on state assessments.
Content provided by Instructure
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management A New Federal Plan Could Make Free School Meals a Reality for More Students
The plan will mostly benefit districts in states where lawmakers have enacted universal free school meal policies.
5 min read
Young boy in a school lunchroom cafeteria line and choosing a slice of pizza to put on his tray which includes an apple.
SDI Productions/Getty
School & District Management Q&A How One High School Became a Model for Intergenerational Learning
School and community leaders say “there’s no down side.”
5 min read
Swampscott High School students and Senior Center members hold a quilt they made together for Black History Month at Swampscott High School, which is collocated and shares space with the senior center in Swampscott, Mass., on March 8, 2023.
Students and senior center members display a quilt they made together for Black History Month at Swampscott High School, in Swampscott, Mass, on March 8, 2023. The high school and senior center were designed and built to be part of the same complex, providing opportunities for teenagers and senior community members to collaborate and learn from one another.
Sophie Park for Education Week
School & District Management Did Principal Turnover Increase During the Pandemic? Here's What We Know
The data are still scant, but what’s emerging shows a drop in 2020-21 and an increase the following year.
6 min read
Black and white male and female figures walking in different directions on a light blue textured background. One male figure is walking out of an open door.
Anton Vierietin/Getty
School & District Management MAP: Where School Employees Can and Can't Strike
See which states do and don't allow public school employees to go on strike.
2 min read
Amy Chapman and her daughter, first grader Corinne Anderson, pose for a photo while they support teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.
Amy Chapman and her daughter, 1st grader Corinne Anderson, show support for teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 24, 2022.
Samantha Hendrickson/AP