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District finance team urges performance‑based budgeting, better grant capacity and Impact Aid strategy
Summary
Finance staff at the retreat said the district needs to shift to performance‑based budgeting, shore up grant‑writing capacity and protect Impact Aid funding, while exploring state capital and SEG formula changes that could alter revenue projections.
District finance staff used the April 17 retreat to press for a budgeting approach that ties spending to measurable program outcomes and for expanded capacity to pursue outside grants.
Budget framing and Impact Aid: Finance leaders emphasized that Central Consolidated’s reliance on Impact Aid and the district’s low local tax base requires careful use of one‑time federal funds and alignment with recurring priorities. Staff reported the district now receives a higher Impact Aid share but warned that political and formula changes at the state level make advocacy and documentation important.
Grants capacity and compliance: Staff said the district has grant coordinators in departments, but lacks a dedicated position to proactively pursue all available grants. Several speakers urged creating a grant‑funding role that hunts for nontraditional funding streams (industry partners, federal energy funds, private foundations) and strengthens internal grant compliance and drawdown practices so money already awarded is spent down appropriately.
Performance‑based budgeting: The finance director proposed that the board adopt performance‑based budgeting: align staffing and capital choices to clear outcome metrics so that scarce dollars go directly to interventions and programs that demonstrably improve student outcomes.
State funding and SEG formula concerns: Staff summarized recent changes to the state funding formula and noted political perceptions that a district with high Impact Aid is “wealthy,” an impression they said must be corrected with clear data about operating constraints and local needs.
Ending: The board asked finance and cabinet staff to prepare actionable budgeting options tied to program metrics, to model the budgets under possible state formula scenarios, and to examine having a dedicated grant pursuit/proposals coordinator.
