School board focus groups examine budget communications

January 8, 2010
by Susie Pender

At the Chappaqua Central School District Board Meeting on Tuesday, December 15, Board President Jeffery Mester presented a Summary of Responses obtained from the focus group discussions on the budgetary process held on December 2 and 3. To view the president’s power point presentation, clicking HERE.

Dr. Chuck Fowler of School Leadership, LLC, facilitated the discussions by the two ten-person focus groups. According to President Mester, no board members attended the focus group sessions. Superintendent David Fleishman and Assistant Superintendent for Business John Chow provided the groups with a basic budget overview and responded to questions about it, then left. The participants completed a questionnaire, available as part of the president’s power point presentation, and then held discussions facilitated by Dr. Fowler, who volunteered his time and expertise.

The questionnaire consisted of the following seven questions:

  1. How much of the budget information presented in the Budget Overview this evening did you feel you already knew?
  2. Rank in order of importance which of the following have been your primary sources of this information:

    __ Local and regional news media [Name: _________________]

    __ School district publications

    __ Attendance at school board meetings

    __ Attendance at a “Budget Coffee”

    __ Through PTA or other community organizations

    __ Through personal conversations with school district staff

    __ Through personal conversations with school board members

    __ Through personal conversations with others in the community

    __ Other _________________________________

  3. What do you think is the single, most-important part of the Budget Overview this evening that should be communicated to the community?
  4. What do you think are the three best means of communicating this information (in #3 above)?
  5. What parts, if any, of the Budget Overview this evening were new information for you?
  6. What questions were left unanswered for you by the Budget Overview this evening?
  7. Are there aspects of the Annual Budget on which you believe the School Board should invite specific citizen input? (E.g., class size, administrative costs, new curriculum/course offerings, facility costs, transportation costs, funding of extracurricular activities, average property tax impact, budget-to-budget percentage increase). If so, what aspects and when should that information be solicited?

    What mechanism(s) do you feel might be the best means of obtaining that input?

    Check all that apply:

    __ Written and/or web-site questionnaire

    __ Budget Hearings

    __ Through school PTA’s and/or Budget Coffees

    __ Through PTA Council

    __ Through student government

    __ Through individual letters, e-mail

    __ Through invitational focus groups

    __ Other ____________________________

Highlights of questionnaire responses

President Mester, with a friendly nod to the NewCastleNOW.org reporters sitting at the front row, announced that it was apparent from the questionnaire responses that NewCastleNOW.org is the primary source of information about the school budget. 

The responses showed, he continued, that 75% of the participants of the focus groups felt that they were well informed on the budget data presented to the meeting; local and regional new media together with school board meetings appear to be the major sources of participants’ prior knowledge and that additional information is gleaned from PTA participation and school district publications. 

In assessing the significance of this data, it is important to keep in mind this is only a sampling of 20 citizens. In addition, the focus group participants were drawn from the ranks of people who either actively participate in some community organization, like the Rotary, the Historical Society, the Library or CVAC, or were recommended by board members. 

How to communicate important information about the budget to the community

These focus group members favor mass written communications over communications through meetings to disseminate information about the budget to the community. The methods of communication suggested were, with no particular preference indicated:

  * Email blasts;
  * Web site links to budget details;
  * District publications;
  * NCCTV recordings;
  * Local media (News 12, NCCTV, The Journal News, NewCastleNOW.org).

The focus group participants suggested that the methods through which the board could best receive citizen input on the budget should include, with no particular preference indicated:

  * Budget coffees (identified as a good way to receive community input but not to disseminate district information);
  * In school PTA meetings;
  * Talking to community groups;
  * Web-based questionnaires and surveys.

Results of the group discussions

In the discussion lead by Dr. Fowler, the groups discussed their suggestions for what should be included in the budget development process.

The budget development process should:

  * Be ongoing.  Throughout the year, indicate what each program under discussion costs.
  * Be clear to the community what the Board’s directions to the administration are with respect to budget development.
  * Include multi-year look at revenues and expenditures.
  * Offer opportunities for input to multiple stakeholders, not just those who attend Board meetings or are PTA officers.
  * Be resourceful, such that multiple levels of budget information are available to the community. Allow drill down for those who want more detail.
  * Be holistic in its view. What is the district trying to accomplish with its use of resources?
  * Make use of large-scale data development as part of the input process. On-line and printed questionnaires.
  * Better use of web site, email and cable television in communicating important information.

President Mester offers board’s reaction to focus groups’ suggestions

After reiterating that these focus groups were just the first step in the budget process, President Mester stressed that the board supports full transparency in the process. “What they were pretty much saying was: ‘Show us everything and we’ll sort it out, and then listen to us.’”

He reported that the board has already implemented or is implementing most of the suggestions and that they will continue to provide detailed information on the web site. In particular, the board will devote a special section on its web site to this year’s budget development process and will post available background data.

In the discussion that followed the president’s presentation, Board Member Jay Shapiro question whether the board wants to spend every meeting discussing the budget. “I don’t think that we should; the budget is not our sole mission.”

In response, Mester explained that all he was suggesting was that when they spoke of program adjustments, part of the discussion should include the financial ramifications of such an adjustment.

Heidi Fuhrman, vice-chair of the Horace Greeley PTA, inquired about the board’s receptivity to making changes to the budget supported by parents. She noted that an overwhelming number of parents attended school board meetings last year to protest the changes to the music program, but their concerns went unheeded. 

Richard Laster, a long-time resident of New Castle and former member of the school board who was a member of one of the focus groups expressed concern about one thing that came out in the focus groups. “In the overview, it was stated that ‘seventy-five percent of the budget is fixed, that the board can’t do anything about it. My feeling is that everything is up for grabs. There is no such thing as a fixed part of the budget.”