Chapter 6: Reaching the Fiscal Cliff: Including the Community in Making Hard Budget and Resource Decisions

This case examines how a superintendent, consultants, and district leaders formed a community committee to address long-term fiscal challenges and propose budget cuts, leading to greater buy‑in. Lawrence Public Schools (USD 497), a district of approximately 10,900 students, is located in Lawrence, Kansas, a quintessential college town and notoriously liberal area. Over the past decade, since the state drastically cut taxes and school support, the district struggled financially and often relied on their contingency fund, spending it down below 1%. The tipping point came when enrollment dropped during COVID and never rebounded as expected. The enrollment-based state funding formula that capped local revenue at 33% exacerbated the crisis. USD 497 was forced to make tough choices to stay solvent, increase staff salaries, and rebuild their contingency funds. Some cuts, such as closing schools, had been proposed for multiple years and the community passionately pushed back. To make families, community members, and staff part of the decision-making process, the superintendent, who inherited the fiscal problems in 2018, along with consultants decided to form a committee that would provide input to the school board. The process began with teaching the community how school finance worked, an often opaque topic. Then committee members examined the budget and investigated different alternatives using cost‑benefit analysis and equity‑impact analysis while developing creative solutions, such as installing solar energy. This case teaches district leaders how to solve fiscal challenges in collaboration with the community, eventually building greater stakeholder acceptance and support.