"But schools are sitting on all this money!"

 I'll be writing something more complex up for this for work, but I wanted to get a couple of links out to those slogging it out on this right away.

I've now heard from multiple sources that the word on the street, or, more worryingly, around the State House is that schools are still sitting on "all that federal funding" and most of it hasn't been spent yet.

This deserves--and will get, if not necessarily here!--more of a complete response than I am able to give right now, but let's first note where this is coming from. U.S. Ed has posted this Education Stimulus Fund Transparency Portal which is intended to track spending of the COVID relief funding for schools. 

The main issue is this: there's a long way between a School Committee allocating the funding, and the federal government recognizing it as spent. As Jess Gartner has noted: 

In this context, “spent” can mean several things:

- Planned/budgeted
- Encumbered
- Contracted
- PO issued
- Submitted for reimbursement
- Check cut
- Reported

These “analyses” are largely looking at only the “reported” definition, ignoring $ in other states of process. https://t.co/1ALQqbwiFt

— Jess Gartner (@jessgartner) February 2, 2022

This was also governed in Matt Barnum's piece in Chalkbeat:

 ...the federal figures reflect a long data lag. When a district pays a bill with federal money, it takes time for that to be reported to state agencies and then up to the federal government. And the data hasn’t been updated at all since September 2021.

In Indiana, for instance, the state now reports that 20% of the money has been used.

That still might not seem like a lot, but there is another wrinkle: when a school hires a new reading interventionist or starts a project to improve ventilation — both things Wayne Township has done — the money isn’t spent all at once. A new staff member is paid an annual salary over the course of months; an HVAC upgrade takes time to contract, design, and implement.

“By the time you get to the national level, you’ve got a lot of lag plus a lot of uncertainty in what we’re calling ‘spent,’” said Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank where he has analyzed COVID relief spending.

I imagine that much of this is going to be covered in this "ESSER Mythbusting" webinar from Allovue next Tuesday. If advocating for school finance is part of your universe, you might sign up (I have!). 

MASC/MASS 19: Transparency: The New Normal

DeLai: you can do more with less but you're not going to get that less unless you improve transparency

Ready for presentation at @massupt @MASCSchoolComm joint conference on Fiscal Transparency with @DRG_mdelai and @MASBONet. Great crowd! #MASSMASC19 pic.twitter.com/mx3ivyOMw7

— Brian E. Allen (@Brian_E_Allen) November 6, 2019

comes not just from ESSA, but the increased public attention to awareness and attention
lack of equity, funding, understanding, communication, and trust
Allen: no secret sauce
things you're doing already and could do better

• ensure a highly participatory budget process
• make budget information accessible to all
• connect dollars to strategic outcomes

What a difference busing accountability makes

Roanoke City Schools in Virginia, which you may remember has just started a contract with Durham School Services this school year without good results but with lots of attention from their school board, just got a tracking app.

Worcester, of course, was supposed to get a tracking app for our buses two contracts, or six years, ago.

When the elected board pays attention and calls to account, it makes a difference.

Regarding the Commissioner's search

A twitter thread:

Just want to point out something real quick on the draft #MAEdu Commissioner’s job description (apologize in advance for photos):

— Tracy Novick (@TracyNovick) October 26, 2017

Budgets: Beyond Spreadsheets and Powerpoints (MASBO)

DESE is coming up with post-assessment guidelines for PDPs for SBOs: being piloted today, so there is a quiz on the back of the evaluation
And yes, this one is WPS's own Brian Allen

to use as a policy document, to use for information within your community, for transparency
ASBO's Meritorious Budget award process to consider within the budget document, even if not to do in full
the presentation is using Poll Everywhere for those in the presentation
how important is a transparent budget to you?

when people review your budget, how clear is it to them?
is the budget solely a district administration tool (for superintendent, finance, but that's it)? Is it only for school committee (if you've been on for some time)? is it something that those who follow town finances (FinCom, selectboard) can follow? is it something that your parent groups can understand? or is it something that anybody new to your community can understand?
as it happens the group is divided pretty equally in thirds from extremes

transparency "is in the eyes of the beholder" with town administrators saying that they don't need all that information

Your budget is a policy statement
"it's the school committee's most important policy statement that they approve every year"
it's an accountability tool: public can hold school committee accountable for, school committee superintendent, superintendent administration
evidenced-based decision making tool: shows that "decisions based on some level of logic and equity"
record of the past: "all the decisions that have been made in the years before us" "capturing the history of your district"
builds confidence in resource allocation within the district and within the community
reductions of future actions, financial planning
signal of district preferences and priorities: "there's no money left: well, it went somewhere!"
provide solid answer to public questions about spending
shows authentic leadership: "[some] don't want to share the full information...that's the power of having the budget information" "I challenge that; being transparent is being a true leader for your community"
decentralizes budget authority: greater information shared by all
"There is strength in numbers...I have found it to be actually valuable to have your parents know your numbers...they can walk the walk, they can talk the talk."

how is your budget linked to your school improvement plan?
how can you do an improvement plan unless you identify the resources that you're going to use?

those who write the budget are "largely number crunchers"
but many who use the budget are not
people who like to see things visually, some like to see lines of numbers reconciling, some want to see words
so: use charts and graphs
use narrative
"numbers without narrative is just modeling and narrative without numbers is story telling"
"budget numbers are bound together by a coherent narrative....and I missed the rest of this part...will update if I can get it...

use infographics: SHOW IT
suggestion from group: use a dollar bill

The below swiped from WPS's FY17 budget book:

a bit of disbelief from the group on seeing WPS's 416 page FY17 budget...

ASBO Meritorious Budget award requirements that could be used: 

Executive Summary: a couple of pages that anyone can read

Divisional Organization Charts

Goals and Objectives: how resources will be aligned with goals district is attempting to achieve

Fiscal Policies: school committee approved policies

Budget calendar: so everyone knows what happens when

All funds budget: every dollar should be approved by school committee, all dollars included

What has changed from previous year and what are the key drivers

Budget trends and forecasts: three years actual, current, projected, and three additional projected years 

Enrollment trends and forecasts: (three years prior, actual, three years projected)

Student demographics: some history, current 

Tax rate and impact on community: impact on collection within municipality 

Explanation of changes that are in the budget

Capital budget spending

Debt obligation and fund balances (and show it!) 

Personnel: five year history and up to the current level

Staffing allocation: how are decisions about placement of staff made?

Student performance data (though what is included can be chosen)

Glossary of terms: "that we all know, that your superintendents know...but that the general public may not know"

Spreadsheets and Powerpoints are important but they shouldn't be all that's included
including this information also can be included as part of the evaluation of the SBO (and would, it is argued, be part of qualifying for exemplary status)

GASB Update: NSBA session on Governmental Accounting Standards Board

"I always like it when I get in front of a group because everyone gets to the front of their chairs in excitement"
not accounting 101, but give you some things to look for in your finances

Regarding superintendent searches

I've been watching these across the state, and, as Worcester takes this up tonight*, thought it timely.

Fall River:

Of how the process should unfold, Costa said, “I think it needs to be transparent, inclusive, done very carefully. This is a very huge endeavor, and it’s certainly critical to the very success of this school district.”

Fellow committee member Martins agreed. “I move that this be a highly transparent and open issue,” he said, adding that he felt the potential search committee should consist of representatives from the Fall River Educators Assocation, the Fall River Administrators Association, students, parents, community members, and School Committee members.

“This would certainly give sufficient openness to the process,” Martins said, adding that time is of the essence.

“If we don’t move along we’ll find that June will be here before we know it, and we have a long way to go,” he said.

Mayor Jasiel Correia II, who serves as chair of the School Committee, appeared to agree with Martins’ suggestion for subcommittee members, saying he thinks it’s important “to begin the process with a community based, multi-faceted group of people that can help the school committee through this process.”

North Adams:

"This is the most important hire we are ever going to do," said Alcombright. "This is the most important job in the city of North Adams, this is the investment ... We need to do everything we can to get the best qualified candidate."

Barnstable:

 The appointment of a superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities of any school committee. Here in Barnstable, we had the benefit of the work of a stellar search committee as well as input from the entire community...The search process itself provided an opportunity to step back and assess where the district is, where we would like it to go, and what we should look for in a leader. We sought and heard the community’s voice in this process. The superintendent search committee included community members, parents, teachers, administrators, town councilors and school committee members. 

*I should perhaps note here that while MASC, for which I now work, does superintendent searches, they did not bid on Worcester's.

DFER connection to No Boston Olympics

Nice catch by the Mass Political Profs bloggers on the DFER connection to No Boston Olympics (and a similar attitude towards funding transparency!)

Friday letters?

Lest you think that isn't public or transparent, they're all posted here.

(That's a link off the bottom of the WPS superintendent page.)

Lack of fiscal transparency in Lawrence Public Schools under state receiver

From the article covering the announcement that Lawrence School Committee member Jim Blatchford will run for Lawrence City Council:

At the meeting, Riley responded to Blatchford's request for a line-item account of school spending by saying only that he had delegated responsibility for the budget to aides so that he could focus “on learning and teaching.

Blatchford pressed on until Mayor Daniel Rivera, who chairs the School Committee, suggested he was “badgering” Riley and cut him off.“Your question was asked and answered,” Rivera said. 

“No, it wasn't answered, actually,” Blatchford responded.

“Sometimes that happens,” Rivera said. “I'm not going to sit here and let you get into a badgering match with the superintendent.”

“It's not a badgering match, it's literally a question,” Blatchford said. “It's disgusting that you think (Riley's response) is an OK answer.”

I've seen what it is that the Lawrence School Committee gets for budgetary information, and their PowerPoint--which is ALL that they get--doesn't contain even as much information as our PowerPoints in Worcester have (and that is far from all we get).
When the state took over the Lawrence Public Schools, the School Committee lost legal fiscal oversight. What they and the city of Lawrence didn't lose--and, I'd argue, can never lose--is public accountability. They, and we (as Lawrence, like Worcester, is majority state-funded) are owed specific information about how public funds are being used within the system.
That is a responsibility that cannot be "delegated." The state should call the receiver to account on this.

This is NOT what transparency looks like

"When this process is complete, at that point, we will be transparent."
"Our policy is to be transparent, when things become official."

The New Haven Public Schools are considering turning over one of their schools to Renaissance Schools Services. As pointed out not only in the report, but also by WGBH, the meeting for parents to keep them updated was barred to reporters.
This is a basic misunderstanding of "transparency," folks (and, incidentally, if this is what having a spokesperson looks like: no, thanks!). Transparency, in a public system, means that EVERYBODY gets to know what's going on BEFORE you make the decision.
Yes, even if you aren't a parent.
Yes, even if you couldn't make the meeting.

The plot, by the way, thickens: the only reason the New Haven Board of Ed didn't vote at an improperly-posted meeting last week is the same reporter pointed out that their meeting was not in compliance with the open meeting law. Apparently, Renaissance has been working in the district, regardless:

Meanwhile, Renaissance President Richard O’Neill  revealed his company has already been doing work in the district without a contract.“I’ve been in the district for the entire last week,” looking at data and meeting with staff and parents, he said Monday.

And it isn't cheap:

If Renaissance continues to take over Clemente, the school would have three top officials, whose salaries are not included in the contract. The three positions—principal, “achievement specialist,” and “operations specialist”—carry salaries totaling about $350,000, said O’Neill.
The achievement specialist would be akin to an assistant principal. The “operations specialist” would take on the task of running the school, including talking to parents and dealing with buses—tasks currently handled by the principal and by some central office staff.
O’Neill said he plans to launch a national search this week for these three positions, in addition to considering any internal candidates.
The contract comes as the city faces a budget crisis, with up to 190 layoffs looming at the school board.

(h/t, Nicole!)