Financial survival kit for schools: Budgeting, staffing, and sustainable growth | Event recap

The Financial Survival Kit for Schools event, hosted by Grow Schools, brought together industry experts who shared valuable insights on budgeting practices, strategic staffing solutions, and facility financing strategies that support sustainable growth.

Speaker highlights and expertise

The event showcased four distinguished speakers, each offering specialized insights into various facets of school financial management:

Maximizing funding streams

Mastering spend management for financial health

Stanton Jandrell, CEO of Fraxion, underscored spend management as a cornerstone of sound financial practice. His presentation highlighted:

• The significant savings are lost through unmanaged spending. Effective spend management can deliver 10 - 20% operational cost savings. 
• The direct impact of effective spend management on maintaining stable cash flow.
• Practical tools for gaining spend control, such as procurement automation with budget tracking capabilities.
• Additional avenues for savings through strategies like PunchOut catalogs and Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs).

Jandrell emphasized that robust spend management fosters financial transparency, accountability, and sustainable growth, ultimately empowering schools to better serve their students and navigate financial challenges effectively.

Proven school budgeting and forecasting

Raj Thakkar, CEO of Charter School Business Management, delivered insights into 15 proven budgeting and forecasting practices for schools, emphasizing:

• The power of a vision-driven budget to translate strategy into financial reality.
• The necessity of separating operating and capital budgets for clear financial oversight.
• Strategies for fully understanding and leveraging revenue streams.
• The importance of setting adequate contingency amounts.
• Focusing budget development around key metrics like enrollment and compensation.
• The value of using forecasting to guide financial planning, rather than constant budget modifications.

Strategic staffing solutions

Beth Jacobs, Co-CEO of vChief, addressed the financial challenges facing schools and presented fractional leadership support as a strategic solution for maintaining operational excellence. Her presentation covered:

• The cost-saving benefits of fractional executive support, providing expertise without the overhead of a full-time position.
• Optimal times for schools to engage fractional leaders, such as during transitions, peak seasons, or for specific initiatives.
• The value of leveraging fractional leaders' prior experience in overcoming similar obstacles.

Jacobs underscored the current financial vulnerabilities of many charter schools due to issues like ESSER fund expiration, teacher shortages, compliance requirements, and enrollment declines. She proposed that fractional support offers a practical way for schools to maintain forward progress while effectively managing these challenges.

Facility refinancing as a growth strategy

Maddy Marlton, Vice President of Real Estate Acquisitions at Grow Schools, discussed how strategic facility refinancing can catalyze educational growth by freeing up capital for reinvestment.

Key topics included:

• Benefits of refinancing: Lowering interest rates, extending loan terms, and converting short-term debt into long-term, fixed-rate financing.
  
  
• Timing considerations: Assessing school financial health and monitoring trends in the credit market to determine optimal refinancing windows.
  
  
• Financing options: Exploring tools such as tax-exempt bonds, CDFI facility loans, and lease-to-own arrangements.
  
  
• Supplemental funding: Identifying additional sources such as charter school facility incentive grants and philanthropic contributions.

Marlton outlined practical next steps for schools, including reviewing current working capital, updating financial projections, and reassessing existing loan agreements to identify refinancing opportunities.

Click to watch The Financial Survival Kit for Schools event on-demand

Key takeaways and next steps

Participants gained a clear and actionable understanding of how strategic budget and spend management, staffing solutions, and facility planning can work in tandem to support long-term, sustainable growth for charter schools, particularly as they face the financial headwinds of the current economic uncertainty.

One powerful lever for building financial resilience is effective spend management. By implementing clear spend vs budget, fund, or grant tracking, increasing transparency, and embracing automation, school leaders can ensure every dollar is aligned with their mission and goals. Leveraging data insights also enhances financial decision-making and uncovers opportunities to save costs and increase operational efficiency.

As school budgets are increasingly strained, now is the time to explore smart spend management solutions that streamline processes and help ensure financial stability.

Start simplifying and strengthening your school’s spending process

The right spend management approach can lead to better financial outcomes for your school. Fraxion supports schools with a user-friendly platform that brings visibility, efficiency, and control to everyday purchasing, so you can focus more on your mission and less on paperwork.

Book a call with Fraxion today to discover how your school can unlock new efficiencies and strengthen its financial future.