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2025-26 Budget Guidance

Shifting from Recovery to Rigor

Board of Education Meeting

December 17, 2024

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Vision/Mission Statement

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To develop lifelong learners by providing an

inspiring and challenging education for every student.

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By embracing the strengths inherent in a diverse student body,

the mission of the Collingswood/Oaklyn Public Schools is

to inspire confidence, critical thinking, creativity, and perseverance

in every student.

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

District Leadership Actions

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• Analyze current systems and remove barriers
• Move from compliance-driven to capability-building systems around instructional improvement
• Reframe and shift district-mandated curricula as resources to support effective teaching
• Commit to supporting and sustaining strong school leaders
• Commit to supporting and retaining dedicated faculty and staff

136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

Student Based Budgeting

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Student Based Budgeting (SBB) is strategy for school districts that seek to allocate limited resources to schools, especially in the face of persistent achievement gaps, changing and complex demographics, and shrinking federal and state support. It is a school funding system where schools receive dollars based on the number of enrolled students and their individual needs (such as multilingual learners, students with IEPs, or students from low socioeconomic backgrounds).

Giving school leaders flexibility over their resources isn’t what drives change; it’s what school leaders do with those resources that drives change. SBB is most successful when it is part of a broader strategy for school empowerment and site-based decision-making. Under SBB, the principal manages resources and sets a school vision. School leaders identify their key student and teacher needs, implement an empowering, rigorous curriculum, and then reorganize resources (people, time, technology, and money) to enact a coherent set of research-backed strategies. As school needs change over time, resource use can shift as well.

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School Budget Planning Calendar

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September - November: Discuss the upcoming SY25-26 budget cycle with all school and district administrators. Plan visits to schools to discuss their needs in anticipation of next year’s budget. Distribute budget guidance. Develop and host budget training sessions for school administrators. Visit schools and open the budget projection module for use by administrators to begin budget projections. Answer questions regarding budget preparation at the school level. Review all requests made by school administrators.

December - January: Address budgetary concerns at the school/department level. Budgets are to be submitted by the school/department online by December 20th. Continue review of all school budget submissions. Discuss preliminary budget figures and needs with the BOE Finance/Buildings and Grounds Committee in January 2025 and at the BOE Retreat when scheduled.

February: Update budget and review with BOE Finance/Buildings and Grounds Committee. Review State aid release if need be, revise the budget. Advise administrators if changes are needed due to State Aid.

March: Submit the SY25-26 budget to the Camden County Office of Education by March 20^th. Begin to plan for new programs, changes to existing programs, staffing changes, and facilities work.

April: Go out to bid for summer facilities/capital work. Public Budget Presentations to take place during the April Board Meetings in Collingswood and Oaklyn.

136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School Budget Planning Guidance

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Identify Budget Priorities: All schools must work collaboratively with their faculty and staff to establish key budget priorities for the 2025-26 school year.

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Inform Your School Community: All schools must be transparent about the budget process and share with their school community how programs and services will be determined for the 2025-26 school year.

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Review and Analyze Student Data: All schools must focus on reviewing and disaggregating their data to identify bands of student performance. This will help schools determine appropriate support(s) and program offerings.

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Align Staffing Plan to Student Needs: The daily learning schedule must drive the staffing plan requested for the 2025-26 school year. Please make staffing decisions based on student needs rather than adult preferences.

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Individualized Approach: Please draft your learning schedule based on your school’s specific needs. Be innovative and flexible where appropriate.

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School Budget Planning Guidance

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Focus on Solutions: Where are the areas of concern this year with the learning schedule or delivery of educational services? Work with your faculty and staff to propose solutions for 2025-26.

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Maximize Funds Available: Strategic spending is not about creating winners and losers. But tradeoffs may be necessary. All funding spent should lead to positive student outcomes. Resources must be allocated based on what directly impacts students.

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• Focus on Student Needs: Schools must work collaboratively with faculty and staff to ensure student needs drive the budget development process.
• Prioritize Academic Achievement: Schools must attempt to eliminate expenses that do not support student learning or positive school culture.
• Student Voice Drives Decisions: Schools must survey students to determine their interests and use their feedback to inform the development of the 2025-26 program of study.
• Annual Enrollment Review: Although not possible across all content areas, schools must ensure that classes are fully enrolled.
• Annual Review of Offerings: Schools have the flexibility to remove or adjust courses or programming that do not align with their school’s specific accelerated learning strategies or academic goals.

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School Budget Planning Guidance

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Adjust Discretionary Spending Accordingly: Given your current context, please consider discretionary funds as an opportunity to supplement your instructional program (instructional materials, field trips, student enrichment, guest speakers, family engagement, and staff support).

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Coordinate with Departments: Coordinate with district-wide departments to ensure that funding efforts are not duplicated. Schools must ensure that when changes are planned, they are communicated to staff for feedback before final decisions are made.

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Innovation is Welcome: When in doubt, accelerate. When there is no doubt innovate. Please work collaboratively with your faculty and staff to identify engaging student learning experiences aligned with the values of the district (Team & Family, Equity, Student Success) and the identity of your school.

136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School District Budget Priorities

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Administration

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• Improve alignment of the Administrative Team
• Review of roles, responsibilities, and opportunities to VISION 2026 strategic goals and objectives
• Actively engage the community to address the infrastructure challenges
• Continue to identify strategies to secure adequate school funding
• Actively pursue additional revenue streams to support student learning initiatives
• Commit to supporting and retaining dedicated faculty and staff

Curriculum & Instruction

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• Continued implementation of the Science of Reading
• Improving the Quality of Teaching & Learning
• Increase the Effectiveness of Existing Curricular Resources
• Increase Building Leadership Capacity to Support Instruction
• Increase District Capacity to Support Inclusive Schools
• Increase Targeted Student Support (Literacy & Mathematics)

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org

School District Budget Priorities

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PreK-5

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• Increase access to high quality preschool seats for Collingswood & Oaklyn families
• Maintain the infrastructure to support and sustain the K-5 MTSS Model (Multi-tiered system of support)

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Grades 6-12

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• Develop the infrastructure to support and sustain the 6-12 MTSS Model (Multi-tiered system of support)
• Implement the Into AGA Math Curriculum with fidelity (Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II)

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Thank You

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136 Kendall Blvd, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 | 856-858-0335 | www.oaklynschool.org