DMGroup Spotlight on Strategic Budgeting
With tight budgets, rising student needs, growing expectations, and the end of ESSER funds, districts must make bold resource allocation decisions and strategically invest in initiatives that do the most good for students, teachers, and staff.
In this Spotlight, we share our recommendations for effective resource allocation and outline the key steps necessary for school districts to optimize their resources.
Schedule a complimentary consultation with our director Joe Costello at jcostello@dmgroupk12.com to explore how DMGroup can help you make the most of school budgets to deliver the best for your students.
Key Actions for Strategic Budgeting Success
A first step to budgeting strategically is starting with an Initiatives Inventory. Creating this centralized document of all programs and initiatives within a district and capturing key information such as program objectives, program design, outcomes, and costs provides a well-structured and organized view of how resources are currently being used in the district.
With an Initiatives Inventory in hand, districts can move to the next steps of the strategic budgeting process - in-depth Academic-ROI analyses — to determine which programs are most effective for which populations of students and at what cost. This helps districts ensure that resources are being used most effectively to deliver for students.
Academic-ROI really helps us look at student outcomes in a different way.
Carmen Arrieta Candelaria, CFO, Fort Worth ISD (TX)
After the Initiatives Inventory and Academic-ROI evaluations, many district teams are eager to adopt this approach. Implementing our New Initiative Application Form can help ensure that new investments align with strategic objectives and can set the district up to track the progress of these new initiatives more effectively.
The transition to a strategic budgeting approach district-wide takes time and effort, but it can be accomplished. Consider the following high-impact tools for building strategic budgeting capacity district-wide to put your district on the path to meaningful, measurable improvement.
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Putting Strategic Budgeting Into Action -10 Lessons to Remember
While strategic budgeting requires financial acumen, its success ultimately hinges on district leaders undergoing a fundamental shift in mindset and processes. Although challenging, strategic budgeting is achievable.
Keeping these ten lessons in mind, you can evolve your current practices to leverage this powerful approach to allocating resources effectively and efficiently for maximum impact.
Learn More at the DMG Summit 2025 Strategic Budgeting Simulation
Join us for the Strategic Budgeting Simulation at DMG Summit 2025 to gain hands-on experience in the budgeting process within an educational setting!
In this session, participants will assume the roles of leaders in a fictional school district and engage in a realistic budgeting exercise to better understand how to leverage data, budget, and strategic planning information to forge a path forward.
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