Education Finance: Administrator Interview

Step 1

Identify a school district administrator, school administrator (i.e., principal) or business manager or a childcare facility director or owner to interview for this assignment. Use the administrator as a resource to assist you in completing the case study assignment.

Case Study Scenario

You are the superintendent of a school district or director of a childcare center which has 75% of next year’s expenditures already in reserve as you begin the current school year. Unfortunately, your school district/center is spending substantially more than the revenues you receive. This deficit is projected to grow dramatically over the next few years as expenditures escalate and revenues remain relatively flat. If you don’t begin to respond soon, the district/center will face a major financial crisis in the not-too-distant future. However, the reserve will provide time to address the problem without resorting to crisis management.

As part of your interview, please minimally include the following questions:

1. From your experience, what are the key factors that could have contributed to the district’s/center’s deficit situation?
2. What strategies would you employ to maximize this school district’s/center’s revenues?
3. What strategies would you employ to minimize this district’s/center’s expenditures?
4. How would you prioritize the various proposed actions?
5. What potential issues would the administration have to consider as they address the budget deficit problem?
6. What political, psychological, and ethical implications would the district administration have to weigh?

Assignment Requirements

When writing your response for this assignment, please include the following sections:

Section 1: Description of the person interviewed including personal background and experience with school/center financial planning (1-2 paragraphs)

Section 2: Summary of the content of the interview (2-4 summary sentences for each question)

Section 3: Your personal reflection on both the case study scenario and answers from the administrator you interviewed (i.e., do you agree or disagree with their answers, what would you do differently from what they said, etc.)

This assignment is due by 11:59 PM Friday, September 24. Please refer to the rubric in the syllabus when completing this assignment.

Rubric

Administrator Interview Rubric

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