3 Skills Students Need from the School Business office

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School business officers and their teams are important contributors to a school district, but have you ever considered the insight they can lend to teaching and learning? Their perspective and some of their daily skills can provide a glimpse into career development for the next generation.
 

Negotiation skills

Building a budget calls for plugging in numbers and balancing the books, but it can also take some nuance. Part of being a good financial steward of district funds extends to finding solutions at a reasonable cost. Often, young children misunderstand money fundamentally. The less they know the easier it is for them to be taken advantage of in early adulthood. Students practicing negotiation strategies sharpen skills including listening, problem-solving, compromise, and public speaking. Students get an opportunity to present their offer or position then engage in counter-offering or debate until an agreement is met.

There aren’t a ton of opportunities to practice these kinds of skills until real dollars, cents, and signatures are on the line. K12 educators provide a priceless opportunity to practice and get comfortable with negotiation.

 

Financial literacy

An invaluable and often overlooked literacy school districts can support in creative ways, financial literacy is helpful not only to students but to families as well. In the absence of generational wealth and knowledge, students who have an opportunity to explore financial literacy in school have a better chance to get ahead. This might extend to academic spending (think grants, scholarships, and loans) and everyday expenditures and bills. Some school districts set aside financial literacy practice as an event rather than a class. Students are assigned a salary corresponding with their current career goals, then work with price guides to choose utilities, groceries, and other household bills within their budget. Rather quickly, students’ jaws drop once they realize it is tricky to balance a budget.

 

Fraud vigilance

Scammers continuously target the SBO looking to take a buck, so it’s only natural that school business officials and their teams must stay well-versed in spotting security threats.

Have the experts share their tips and tricks for remaining safe in the face of phishing emails, MFA fraud, and other sophisticated threats. It’s okay to give students just enough knowledge to grasp the basics—after all, students are behind a fair percentage of school data breaches, grade-changing scandals, and more.

Read more in 3 Ways for Students to Steal Your Password


Money matters, and so do the folks who steward it in your district. If they’re up for sharing their skills, students will benefit from learning more from these budget and fraud experts.



 
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