Financial planning is the key to providing a high-quality instructional plan. A 5-year financial plan is typically updated by looking at district financial history, future instructional plans, staffing requirements, and revenue projections. Planning assumptions must be clearly understood by the financial team and the community. (MLH)

Responding to schools' need for disaster preparedness, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a week-long course at its Emergency Management Institute (the Multi-Hazard Safety Program for Schools). FEMA recommends that school officials identify likely hazards, mitigate against them, develop response and postdisaster coping plans,…

Following a fire and a costly PCB cleanup at a Connecticut high school, the administrative staff learned valuable lessons. Districts must have an emergency management plan, provide accurate information, pursue alliances with media and agencies, issue daily press releases, develop a phone chain, and share the spotlight. (MLH)

Describes events following the murder of a Wisconsin high school principal from the superintendent's viewpoint. A conceptual emergency plan is needed to get through the immediate tidal wave of the crisis. Simple guidelines are most useful. Plans should be clear and flexible and provide for inservice training, psychological assistance, and…

Maps are becoming essential strategic components for school business officials. The power of the personal computer is bringing map analysis programs down to the desktop level. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will help business managers display student data, analyze school boundaries, route buses and maintenance vehicles, chart home values,…

In response to the passage of the Goals 2000: Education America Act, states are actively working to bring their educational programs in line with the act's requirements. Steven A. Melnick describes initiatives under way in Pennsylvania at the local, regional, and state levels. Gary Farland takes a brief look at how Minnesota may draw on its…

Vermont's Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1997 will radically increase the proportion of state money designated for public education and transform the entire state taxation system. Spurred by a court decision invalidating the state's school finance system, Act 60 establishes a statewide property tax for a general state support grant, includes…

It is critical that school facility planning and design include auxiliary spaces that uphold the primary instructional program. This article identifies major support elements (storage, hallways, cafeteria, library/media center, administrative and guidance offices, and outdoor facilities) to be incorporated and discusses how to make these…

When focusing school planning efforts around technology, educators may create costly "technocentric" plans that will not necessarily improve learning or increase school-community communication. Internet access is wasted unless students are taught critical-thinking/information-validation skills. Students do not need $2,000 pencils to…

A cash-flow plan allows districts lead time for investing, borrowing, reducing or delaying expenditures, expanding revenue sources, informing the community, and avoiding surprises. Planners should identify type, timing, and amount of revenues and expenditures and then compare revenues and expenditures to determine (and accommodate) shortfalls or…

Comparative analysis of state performance-based accountability systems (PABS), which consist of five components: standards, assessments, multiple indicators, rewards, and sanctions. Discusses three unintended consequences of PABS: narrowing of curriculum, teaching to the test, and timeliness of available data. (Contains eight references.) (PKP)

Describes 10 habits school business officials need to succeed: organization, time management, delegation, planning, collaboration, personal development, creativity, empathy, ethos, and leadership. Based on book "The School Business Official: Ten Habits You'll Need To Succeed," published by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business…

Despite thousands of public building closures in the last decade, many public agencies are renting privately owned space. Interagency use of public facilities is one response to this problem; however, to overcome legal, political, economic, and social barriers, agencies must learn to cooperate and communicate better. (MCG)

Although education cannot be reduced to profit-and-loss statements, schools need clearly defined objectives, processes, and procedures. Schools can learn from corporations' benchmarking practices (standard setting, measurement, and consequences) and their past mistakes, such as the complacency that seriously weakened Xerox and AT&T. Schools…