Funding in K12 is one of the most important parts of creating a solid education for students.
We tend to forget about that aspect until something goes wrong, though. Never fear: steadfast stewards of K12 finance are shoring up the school business office. Let’s talk about their far-reaching impact on education.
The school business office protects the community’s investment
While school funding trickles in from several sources, the one closest to home for each school business officer would have to be the local tax dollars from the community. After all, this is the agreement when discussing public schools: a community shall set aside a fund to educate the community’s children, regardless of their ability to pay.This is a crucial step of maintaining public education (and heck, even private education to an extent). SBOs help assure the community there is a professional in charge of the income and the spending of school funds. Add to this the transparency we have come to expect from the district and the school board. It’s the SBO’s job to forecast, create, and present the annual budget. The better they can explain it, the less ire caught from critics.
The school business office is the first line of defense for fraud
Unfortunately, K12 schools are sitting ducks for cyber criminals. Cybersecurity is cobbled together with shoestring budgets. The SBO is always on watch for threats, internal and external, and clues that bad actors have been traipsing through accounts.Criminals take deliberate advantage of the flurry of activity over the summer—a time when the business office is jumping but folks may come and go with students out of classrooms. SBOs stay vigilant year-round, whether students are present or not.
The right tools help the student business office protect the community's investment. Modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are crucial to setting the highest privacy, confidentiality, and security standards for the entire campus.
The school business office ensures resources are available for students
While business office and budgets conjure up visions more akin to Scrooge McDuck, SBOs also tackle the responsibility of providing goods and services to students and staff at school. This includes managing transportation, ensuring the cafeteria is stocked, and allocating resources for schools to provide to students in need. The school business office controls the funding, and the funding is earmarked for services and items students need to learn.If the school district were a wheel, the SBO serves as the central hub as teachers orbit the outer rim. In between, everyone strives to serve students as best they can. In this way, not only does the school business office protect and preserve school funding, but they also uplift a strong school culture, serving those who serve students and the student population directly.
School business officers are in it for the same reason any educator is: they wish to serve students, families, and their greater community in a meaningful way. Stewards of school finance are out here providing and protecting their districts day in and day out. Thank you!
See other roles in the spotlight of the MVP series:
IT is the MVP AdminAssistants are the MVP
WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOUR EDTECH? The right combo of tools & support retains staff and serves students better. We'd love to help. Visit skyward.com/get-started to learn more.
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Erin Werra Blogger, Researcher, and Edvocate |
Erin Werra is a content writer and strategist at Skyward’s Advancing K12 blog. Her writing about K12 edtech, data, security, social-emotional learning, and leadership has appeared in THE Journal, District Administration, eSchool News, and more. She enjoys puzzling over details to make K12 edtech info accessible for all. Outside of edtech, she’s waxing poetic about motherhood, personality traits, and self-growth.
