school business officials

Closing or consolidating neighborhood schools is a painful decision that no school district or community ever wishes to face, but increasingly it may be on the table due to declining enrollment trends and budgetary pressures. 

In this episode, host Jason Willis and school finance and policy veteran Carrie Hahnel deepen our understanding about school closures and consolidations. They delve into current factors that could lead to more closures and data showing how closures have disproportionately impacted different student populations. They pinpoint the tension schools and communities must try to resolve between difficult and necessary budget decisions on one hand and the enormous potential equity effects of those decisions on the other.

Carrie serves as a senior associate partner for policy and evaluation at Bellwether and a senior policy and research fellow with Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). She and colleagues Max Marchitello and Dr. Francis Pearman co-authored a series of recent research for PACE related to declining enrollment, equity, and closures.

Jason and Carrie further explore how district and school leaders can proactively approach considerations about school closures while centering equity, and:   

• The extent to which closures or consolidations achieved expected savings for districts, 
• Connections between demographic trends, housing, segregation and other local issues to resource disparities, 
• How the State of California has started to weigh in on the issue of school closures, and
• The importance for districts of pairing a school closure process with an affirmative strategy to provide students that will be displaced with high quality educational opportunities.

“It’s hard not to be paying attention to school closures if you’re paying attention to what’s happening in schools."

About Our Guest

Carrie Hahnel currently serves as a senior associate partner on the policy team at Bellwether, a national nonprofit. Previously, she focused on equitable school funding as an advocate at the Education Trust West, and as a policy director at the Opportunity Institute. She has worked extensively with the statewide research organization PACE. Her research has focused on school funding formulas, equity, tax policies and local budgeting practices and decisions, among other areas.

About Our Host

Jason Willis serves as  Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd, and he is a former chief business official in several California school districts.

Key Resources

• Centering Equity in the School Closure Process in California – Report
• Declining Enrollment, School Closures, and Equity Considerations – Policy brief and related PACE Webinar.
• Examining Racial (In)equity in School-Closure Patterns in California –  Working Paper

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by CASBO and WestEd.  The series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and sound by Tommy Dunbar. Alyssa Perez and Hannah Jarmolowski at WestEd provides research and develops the written briefs that go along with each episode.

In this episode, dig into ways schools can advance equity by expanding "whole child" services that are available to students at sites. Dr. Chaun Powell, Senior Chief of Student Services for the Alameda County Office of Education, helps identify key approaches for maximizing funding sources for these services -- with a particular focus on behavioral and mental health supports -- and seizing new opportunities to partner with other agencies that serve children.

*Be sure to check out the Companion Brief to this episode*

California is in the throes of rolling out major initiatives that create greater access for students to a range of vital services  to better support all areas of children's  development and learning, including the California Community Schools Partnership Program, California's Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, Extended Learning Opportunities Program, and Family First  Prevention Services Act.

These initiatives present a new era of possibility for school districts and county offices to blend and braid funding to increase and sustain services. Chaun leads us through this new landscape of programs and policies that promote interagency collaboration. With insight and curiosity, she helps to explore questions around innovative funding, strengthening collaboration across systems, and centering equity.

Other Resources

• Statewide Multi-Payer School-Linked Fee Schedule overview video
• "Improving Student Wellness With A Multi-Tiered System of Support," WestEd AudioCast featuring Santa Clara COE

About Our Guest 

Dr. Chaun Powell, Senior Chief of Student Services, Alameda COE, is  a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), school social worker, educational leader, writer and adjunct faculty member at San José State University & California State University East Bay.  Her unique background in education, community based work and child welfare helps her bring a cross systems lens and experience to serving children, youth and families in schools and the community.  Prior to joining Alameda COE, she served as a site level Dean of Students, and as Executive Director, Youth Health & Wellness for Santa Clara COE, where she also led a statewide Professional Learning Network for educators on school-based billing.  

About our host

Jason Willis serves as  Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd, and he is a former chief business official in several California school districts

About our series

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented byCASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support.

School districts face extreme urgency to safely return students to in-person environments and help them recover from a pandemic that has not yet ended. At the same time, leaders and practitioners are pressing to expeditiously but thoughtfully allocate a windfall of new state and federal dollars – all the while trying to leverage the unique opportunity created by these circumstances to bring about transformative changes to our public school systems.

How can school communities make the most of this moment to innovate towards a greater equality of outcomes for all students? That's the question we explore in this episode. Education reform experts Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn share powerful ideas and insights from their work. Both have advised school systems in California and throughout the world. They’ve co-authored many books and papers, including their latest, “Right Drivers for Whole System Success.”

Fullan and Quinn help us to look through the lens of equity and learning, emphasizing that education leaders should prioritize engaging all of their students.

The possibilities for investing this influx of new, one-time funding to address inequities is truly exciting. But not so simple. School business officials especially may find themselves caught in a tension, on the one hand focused on fulfilling their important, traditional role of ensuring fiscal health and responsible accounting (including spending down Covid-recovery funds within prescribed timelines) while also being presented an opportunity to help their districts think and act in new ways that can be sustained over time.

CASBO CEO and executive director Tatia Davenport also re-joins Jason to put some of Michael and Joanne’s ideas through a school business “reality check.” Tatia describes why focusing on increasing the long-term yield of our public school investments is so critical, plus she highlights why district leaders need more time and space to plan, so they can develop a cohesive strategy with their communities for effectively spending their funds and improving outcomes.

Download the Episode 4 Companion Brief here.


Guests

Joanne Quinn is an international consultant and author on system change, leadership, and learning. As co-founder and Global Director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, she leads partnership work across eight countries focused on transforming learning. Joanne has provided leadership at all levels of education as a superintendent, implementation advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Education, and Director of Continuing Education at the University of Toronto. 

Michael Fullan, O.C., is the Global Leadership Director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and a worldwide authority on educational reform with a mandate of helping to achieve the moral purpose of all children learning. A former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto, Michael advises policymakers and local leaders around the world to provide leadership in education.

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Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), in partnership with WestEd. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd  develops our related written materials. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for providing additional support. 
@Budget4edequity

Veteran school district CBO Jayne Christakos joins us to help build our practical understanding of equity and resource allocation in educational systems, and to identify some good places to start. She emphasizes the crucial importance of embracing a districtwide culture that is comfortable using data, asking questions and "listening to the whole system."

Throughout our series, we’re sharing specific experiences and examples of leaders and practitioners who are doing the work of ensuring a more equitable allocation of resources. We explore their motivations, what tools they’re using, what’s working, and what they’ve learned. 

Check out the Episode 2 Companion Brief: Using Data to Advance Equity.

Jayne Christakos has served as a chief school business official in several California districts, including the past six years as CBO with San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD), where she recently retired from in June. SBCUSD is among the 12 largest school districts in the state with nearly 50,000 students, about 90% who qualify for free and reduced price meals. The district has implemented a number of significant initiatives to improve learning and well-being for its diverse student population.

In this episode, Jayne describes work she has helped carry out in the district, including an initiative called Targeted Support for School Progress (TSSP) that utilized data across all areas to identify a number of school sites for additional support. As part of TSSP, district and site teams worked to examine everything they were doing, from classroom instruction to professional development. The effort also involved creating a new cabinet-level assistant superintendent position for continuous improvement (led by Dr. Rachel Monarrez) -- and strengthening cross-departmental collaboration. Data after the first year of the program showed significant improvements for student subgroups across many areas.

Jayne also shares additional timely advice for leaders and school business officials based on her experiences in the CBO chair, as a CBO mentor, and as a "go-to" person for so many in the state on school district budgeting.

Related resources

CASBO WorkWise Webinar: Leaders from San Bernardino City USD discuss the value of social emotional learning for education leaders and share real-world examples and best practices.

About our series

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO), the premier resource for professional development and best practices for more than 24,000 California school business leaders, in partnership with WestEd, a national nonprofit research development and service agency that works to promote excellence and equity in education.

We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for providing additional support.

Engage with us!

Follow us on Twitter at @Budget4EdEquity to keep up to date on the series and share your thoughts, ideas, questions and feedback.

Budgeting for Educational Equity is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd serves as an advisor and develops the written materials that go along with each episode.

It has been exactly a year since we launched the Adventures in Ed Funding series. And what a year it was! In addition to our focus on school finance, we also produced additional episodes with timely information and stories to help schools and communities navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. In total, our first season included 36 shows. Here's a quick look back at just a few of the highlights during a difficult time when we've all learned so much.

Note: We’re currently taking a break from production. We'll be back soon with an update on some exciting developments for the next season.

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For the latest information about education and school business, be sure to check out CASBO Connect, the new podcast series hosted by chief business officials and CASBO leaders Eric Dill and Tina Douglas.
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Guests featured in this episode include:

Samantha Tran, Managing Director of Education, Children Now
Episode 1, February 7: “California schools: Where the adults aren’t.”

Elizabeth Esquivel, Senior Director of Policy and Governance for CASBO
Episode 9, March 20: “School Closures Due to Covid-19: What you should know.”

Paulo Azevedo, Director of Maintenance. Operations, Transportation and Facilities, San Ysidro School District, San Diego County
Episode 16, May 7:  “A Clean Restart for California's Schools.”

Amy Rovai Gregory, Principal, Greer Elementary in San Juan USD, Sacramento County
Episode 25, July 27: "A Back to School Like None Before."

Linda Darling-Hammond, President, California Board of Education
Episode 26, August 2: “Checking in with Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond.”

Diane Deshler, CASBO Vice-President and Chief Business Official, Lafayette School District in Contra Costa County
Episode 27, August 9: "Back to School Safety and Planning: A View From the CBO’s Chair."

Paul Gothold, San Diego County Superintendent  of Schools
Episode 34, November 3: “California Schools Put to the Test.”

ABOUT the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

CASBO is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Be sure to visit CASBO.org for the latest budget news and more information about the many valuable professional development programs. Follow on Twitter at @CASBO

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Your series guide Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Follow on Twitter at @pjr100. 

Contact us at EdfundingCA@gmail.com

What has it been like for school district human resources departments during these many months of pandemic? What are key challenges faced and lessons learned from recruiting, hiring and negotiating in a virtual environment? In this episode, special guest Norma Gonzales, Assistant Superintendent of HR and Interim Associate Superintendent of Business Services in Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento, helps us explore HR topics essential to school district operations.

Human Resources, as Norma says, is all about people. But at a time when we are so often physically distanced, it's more vital than ever to try to carry out the various HR functions in ways that maintain personal connections with those around us.

Norma is an HR expert who has served in leadership positions for several school districts and a county office of education during the past two decades. She joined Washington USD in April 2019. The district, which is situated in Yolo County just across the river from the state's capital, has more than 7,000 students spread across elementary, middle and high school campuses and nearly 800 employees.

Norma offers insight into:

• How HR operations in her district have changed since March;
• The issue staff has been bringing up most often to the HR team;
• How recruiting and hiring new staff is happening remotely;
• Early lessons learned from conducting collective bargaining negotiations virtually; and
• Meeting the potential need for substitute teachers during this time.

Plus, Norma shares some tips about virtual interviews for those who may be seeking a new position -- and she describes what she's most looking forward to once we are all past this pandemic.

Norma also served as one of the presenters for the recent CASBO Human Resources Summit and discussed tips for conducting investigations during the pandemic. Find more information about that and all of the latest professional development offerings at www.casbo.org/learn.

Follow on Twitter: @NormaVGonzales1
Contact at: ngonzales@wusd.k12.ca.us

ABOUT the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

CASBO is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Be sure to visit CASBO.org for the latest budget news and more information about the many valuable professional development programs, including the new CASBO Work Wise Webinar Series. Follow on Twitter at @CASBO

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Your series guide Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Follow on Twitter at @pjr100.

Contact us at edfundingca@gmail.com

How do education stakeholders, political leaders and policy experts view California’s school funding system and what would it take to come together around a comprehensive, coordinated effort to increase funding in California? 

In this new episode, we explore these and other timely topics with Jason Willis and Carrie Hahnel, two co-authors of “Securing and protecting education funding in California,”  a new study from Policy Analysis in California Education (PACE).

The report includes a great primer on California's education finance system -- and it provides an excellent frame for thinking about and addressing California’s school funding challenges.

New Resource: CA School Funding Crisis Explained in 12 Charts

We discuss several of the study’s key findings and recommendations – and we use the study as a springboard to engage Carrie and Jason in some “big-picture” conversation about the future of funding in California. Topics include:

• The political choices and will that drive funding policies
• Why is a new master plan for education funding needed and what would it do?
• The value of “cross-segment” planning
• Transparency and accountability in school funding, and more.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Carrie Hahnel is an independent researcher and consultant and a fellow with The Opportunity Institute. Her work focuses on education policy, including school finance, accountability, and ways in which policies and systems can mitigate racial and socioeconomic inequities. Previously, Carrie served nine years at The Education Trust-West, where she led research and policy work. carrie@theopportunityinstitute.org

Jason Willis is Director of Strategy & Performance in the Comprehensive School Assistance Program at WestEd, a nonprofit research, development and service agency, where he oversees and guides performance and accountability practice to support state and school district efforts. Previously, he served as budget director, chief financial officer and assistant superintendent in the Oakland, Stockton and San Jose unified school districts, respectively.  jwillis@wested.org

Your series guide, Paul Richman, is a public education advocate and consultant.  edfundingca@gmail.com; follow at @pjr100

Policy Analysis in California Education (PACE) is an independent, nonpartisan research partnership among five CA higher education institutions that seeks to make research accessible and bring evidence to bear on the most critical issues facing our state.

MORE RESOURCES

• "Silent Recession: Why California School Districts are Underwater Despite Increases in Funding," 2018, WestEd 
• Why Investing in Public Education is Crucial to California's COVID-19 Recovery, Episode 15 

 ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. CASBO is dedicated to promoting excellence and professionalism in all aspects of school business. Learn more at CASBO.org; follow at @CASBO