Prioritizing programs during budget cuts

“Q: As I’m waiting for my community to vote on the budget and worrying about funding for next year, I am struggling with what to prioritize if programs need to be cut. How can we make these kinds of decisions when all our programs and faculty are vital to the success of our students?” Signed, A concerned superintendent A: No one likes having to make these kinds of decisions, so I can empathize with the agony this must be creating for you. It’s not easy being the person with the power to keep or cut programs or positions, and even more challenging knowing that students and staff will feel let down by any of your decisions. But the hard truth is that, for every superintendent who has survived this, “everything is vital” is not a suitable budget framework. It may be emotionally true, but it is operationally paralyzing. What you need right now is not a way to avoid tradeoffs. You need a principled, transparent, and repeatable process for making them because the community will watch how you decide as closely as they watch what you decide. And these decisions will have an impact. Separate Emotion from Mission Obviously, you aren’t going to stop caring. Instead, build a decision-making framework that puts student learning outcomes, not nostalgia, seniority, or the loudest voices at the center. And remember, you don’t have to go through this process alone. Convene your leadership team and start getting clarity together. As a group, write down the single most important question your district exists to answer. Make it sharp and specific. Something like: “Does every student in our district leave us reading proficiently by the end of third grade?” or “Does every graduate leave us with a viable postsecondary plan?” After you have done this, narrow the questions as a team. Now use that question as your north star. When you and your team evaluate a program or position, ask: If we lose this, does it directly threaten our ability to deliver on that promise? If the answer is yes, that program moves to the top of the preservation list. If the answer is “it would be a real loss, but it doesn’t directly block that goal,” it moves further down. This is painful but clarifying. A mission-driven framework gives you a defensible, values-aligned rationale for every decision you make, and that matters enormously when you have to explain those decisions to your board, your staff, and your community. Use a Transparent Tiered System Since you’re already including your team in the process, you want to be transparent with all your stakeholders about the situation. Do not make these decisions behind closed doors and then emerge with a single final recommendation. That approach erodes trust and invites conspiracy theories about what was really cut and why. Create a transparent, four-tier system and share it publicly before any specific cuts are proposed. Tier Definition Example Tier 1: Non-negotiable Required by law, safety, or directly tied to your mission-critical goal Special education, core instruction, and school safety Tier 2: Priority Deeply important, but could be restructured or reduced before being eliminated Intervention programs, counseling, and instructional coaching Tier 3: Important but flexible Valuable enrichment that could be scaled back, combined, or offered differently Electives, non-core specialists, extended-day programs Tier 4: Supplemental Adds value but is not central to the mission as currently structured Some non-essential positions, optional programming, and low-participation initiatives Publish this framework to your website. Present it at a school board meeting. Invite feedback. Let the community see how you and your team are thinking before they see what you are cutting. That transparency builds trust, even when the news is bad. Look for Creative Restructuring Before Elimination Sometimes we jump to cutting a program entirely when what we need to do is restructure its delivery. Before you eliminate, ask: Can this role be shared across two buildings instead of being housed in one? Can this program run in alternating years instead of every year? Can we partner with a community organization, local college, or business to co-fund this position? Can a full-time position be reduced to part-time while preserving the core service? Can we consolidate two programs that serve overlapping needs into a stronger, unified program? For every program on your “at-risk” list, write down three restructuring alternatives before you write down an elimination recommendation. This is a good place for a team brainstorming session. Some will not be workable, but you owe it to your students and staff to explore every structural option before reaching for the hardest one. Communicate the Why, Not Just the What Communication is key to everything in leadership. So, when the decisions are final, and they will be, resist the urge to send a sterile memo or a single board presentation. Your community needs to hear from you , not just from a document. Take the time to host an open forum. Visit each school building and speak directly with the staff. Send a personal video message to families . In every communication, lead with three things: The values that guided your decisions , not just the financial constraints. The process you used, the tiered system, the restructuring analysis, and the stakeholder input you gathered. The human impact, naming honestly what is being lost, who it affects, and how you will support those who are impacted. When you communicate this way, you do not eliminate the pain. But you do eliminate confusion, resentment, and the suspicion that decisions were made arbitrarily or unfairly. And that matters. Lastly, remember you did not create the funding crisis you are navigating. But you are responsible for how you lead through it. Use a mission-driven framework. Be transparent about your process. Look for creative restructuring before elimination. And communicate with honesty and humanity at every step, and include the trusted members of your team, as you are not alone in this work. Your community may not love every decision you make. But if they trust how you made them and why , they will follow you into the difficult year ahead — and they will be ready to help you rebuild when better times return. If you have an issue that you would like me to address, please email me at ssackstein@educatorsrising.org or complete this form . You will be kept anonymous. The post Prioritizing programs during budget cuts appeared first on Kappan Online .

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