51萝莉

A Group Exercise Delivers Long-Term Stability

By Gabriela G. Mafi

Each year, school district leaders are faced with the challenge of making difficult financial decisions while ensuring that every dollar contributes to student success.

In my 12 years as superintendent of a 37,000-student urban school district in California, we鈥檝e embraced a strategy grounded in careful planning and innovative thinking. Our goal is simple: Align resources with what matters most 鈥� our students 鈥� and do it as a cohesive team.

Achieving that alignment, however, is not always easy. Each of our six assistant superintendents is deeply committed to their department鈥檚 programs, but passion without coordination can lead to siloed decisions and inefficient spending, a concern Patrick Lencioni discusses in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. To address this, we align priorities with our leadership culture, especially when it comes to budgeting.

Picking Priorities

One of the most effective tools we use is a hands-on 鈥淪pend a Dot鈥� or 鈥淪ave a Dot鈥� exercise, depending on our financial outlook. We cover our conference room walls with oversized posters outlining each department鈥檚 budget priorities. Each assistant superintendent receives 10 colorful dot stickers to allocate 鈥� or mark for reduction 鈥� but they can only place dots on other departments鈥� priorities, not their own.

This interactive, visual process promotes cross-departmental collaboration, encourages honest discussion and helps us reach unified decisions on spending cuts, one-time investments and cost-saving opportunities.

In addition to fostering collaboration, we鈥檝e also tailored state-funding policies to better meet the needs of our students. Under California鈥檚 Local Control Funding Formula, the state uses an unduplicated count, where students are counted once even if they qualify for multiple categories such as free/reduced-price lunch, English learner status or foster youth.

Recognizing that students with multiple needs often require more support, we adapted the formula to reflect our community more accurately. In what we call the 鈥淕arden-Grove-ized鈥� model, we use a duplicated count, meaning each qualifying category is counted per student. All schools receive a base grant based on enrollment and then additional supplemental and concentration funding based on both unique and duplicated qualifiers. This approach ensures that resources are directed where they are most needed and helps us better support the whole child.

Sustainable Staffing

Just as we tailored funding to reflect the real needs of our students, we also adjusted our staffing approach to respond to extraordinary circumstances with care and foresight. While it鈥檚 generally unwise to use one-time funds for ongoing personnel costs, the COVID-19 pandemic required a thoughtful exception.

Faced with urgent needs for additional support staff 鈥� such as instructional aides and clerks, many of whom were part-time 鈥� we negotiated memorandums of understanding with our classified bargaining unit. These agreements allowed positions to move to full-time temporarily, with the understanding they would revert back when the one-time funding ended. This solution expanded services without creating long-term financial risk.

Our approach to budgeting is not just about managing the present. It鈥檚 about building a sustainable future. The stability of our district leadership 鈥� only four superintendents in the past five decades and a five-member board of education with members serving between 8 and 30 years 鈥� has allowed us to engage in long-range planning. Regular board study sessions focused on five- to seven-year budget forecasts ensure that we鈥檙e not just reacting to the moment, but preparing for what鈥檚 ahead.

Fiscal Health

Our commitment to forward-thinking and collaborative planning has kept our district financially healthy. Thanks to these strategies, our district has avoided massive cuts and layoffs since the 1970s. More importantly, we鈥檝e been able to maintain the high-quality education that continues to earn our schools recognition at the state and national levels.

Careful planning takes time, but when it鈥檚 collaborative, strategic and grounded in values, it leads to long-term stability and success 鈥� for our schools, our staff and most importantly, our students.

Gabriela Mafi is superintendent of Garden Grove Unified School District in Garden Grove, Calif.