Three Asks of Our New Superintendent: Budget Transparency, Accountability, and Plan for Improvement
As a former principal in OUSD, I knew that one of my most important responsibilities was managing my school’s budget to best serve the needs of my students. In January, when I first heard about the budget challenges and imposed spending freezes in OUSD, I immediately knew that this would be concerning for principals and their school sites. To lose money that your students, families, and communities were counting on is nearly impossible to accept, justify, or explain. In March, when I learned that school sites had most of their remaining funds frozen, I knew that principals and their school sites would be devastated.
The twenty plus school sites that I have visited this spring are at risk of not having enough paper, in danger of needing to cancel 5th and 8th grade promotion celebrations, and worried they may need to cancel overtime for teachers tutoring students. In the days and weeks to follow, site leaders scrambled to justify planned expenses and cut purchases that had been promised to students, families, and communities. Frozen funds is directly impacting students, and this is unacceptable.
The new OUSD superintendent now has an immediate financial priority that will need to be addressed. If I had a chance to speak with the incoming superintendent, I would ask that he/she prioritize the following:
- There needs to be budget transparency. We need transparent communication about what happened and how we got here. The messaging to date is not clear enough on how things got this bad so quickly, and at worst it has blamed school sites for the problem.
- There needs to be budget discipline and accountability. We need to support our district leaders in making difficult financial decision. If they don’t, there needs to be meaningful accountability given the consequences felt by students at school sites.
- There needs to be a plan for improvement. We cannot change what has happened, but we can make sure this doesn’t happen again. This is not the first time, but must be the last time we are in this position. We need to identify the policies and procedures can we put into place that learn from our mistakes and ensure the future financial health of our district.
I make these asks by applying the same logic of how we approach problem solving at our school sites. Our schools are expected to operate with transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement, and I believe our central office should be held to the same expectation.
If our school system is not fiscally sound, we are unable to successfully implement our plans and achieve our goals for student achievement. If I had the opportunity to interview the superintendent candidates, I would ask:
- What is your background in managing a budget the size of OUSD?
- How will you diagnose the root cause of the current budget challenge the district is facing?
- How will you ensure transparency, accountability, and develop a plan for improvement?
The silver lining in these difficult times is that this experience can be a catalyst for us to become a model financial district. Our incoming superintendent will have a community that is ready to rally around solving this problem and move us forward. We are ready to learn from our mistakes, make the changes necessary, and put in a plan for our future financial success.
The silver lining in these difficult times is that this experience can be a catalyst for us to become a model financial district. Our incoming superintendent will have a community that is ready to rally around solving this problem and move us forward. We are ready to learn from our mistakes, make the changes necessary, and put in a plan for our future financial success.
My name is Nima Tahai and I worked in OUSD for seven years and spent the last six years as the Principal of Garfield Elementary school in OUSD. I currently work for GO Public Schools Oakland as the Director of Educator Leadership. I share this reflection speaking as an individual and capturing my own sentiment as a former OUSD Principal.
