By Sharon Raschke, ED.D., CFO, MSBO Board President, School District Liaison – Dexter Wellness Center Management, Dexter Community Schools
Last month, I started this series with one of the lessons that has stayed with me throughout my career: You know more than you think—and less than you know.
If you are new to school business, you bring knowledge and experience that have value. But you are also entering a field with its own mission, language, history, relationships and ways of doing things.
So where do you begin?
Learn the field before you try to change it.
When I completed my dissertation in 2003, I separated the transition into school business into three things a newcomer had to learn: the field of public education, the profession of school business, and the culture and expectations of the particular school district. At the time, that distinction helped me make sense of my research. Over the next 28 years, it helped me make sense of my career.
For someone coming from outside education, it can be tempting to look at a school district and see a business. There is a budget. There are employees, buildings, contracts, purchasing systems, technology, transportation, food service, insurance, and countless other operations. In many communities, the school district is one of the largest employers and manages one of the largest public budgets.
Those things can look very familiar to someone with a business background. But the purpose is different.
We aren’t here to generate a profit or increase shareholder value. We manage all of those resources for one reason: to support the education of students.
That sounds simple. Living it is more complicated.
There will be times when the most efficient business decision is not necessarily the best educational decision. There will be times when you look at a practice and wonder, Why in the world do we do it this way?
I certainly did.
Sometimes the answer will be that there is a law, regulation, collective bargaining agreement or funding requirement you haven’t learned yet. Sometimes there is history you don’t know. Sometimes the decision reflects an educational priority that isn’t obvious from the business office.
And sometimes you will discover that there really isn’t a good reason.
That’s when the perspective you bring as a newcomer becomes incredibly valuable. The mistake is deciding which one it is too quickly.
One of the advantages of coming into any profession from somewhere else is that you see things insiders may no longer see. You ask questions other people stopped asking years ago. You bring experiences that challenge assumptions about what is possible. Don’t lose that.
But curiosity will take you farther than judgment.
Instead of beginning with, “This doesn’t make sense,” try beginning with, “Help me understand why we do it this way.”
And don’t learn public education only from the business office. Visit classrooms. Attend events that have nothing to do with your particular job. Listen to principals and teachers talk about their work. Get to know transportation drivers, food service employees, custodians, administrative assistants and the people who interact with students every day.
Most importantly, learn to connect your work to what happens for students.
A budget is not just numbers in columns. A bus route isn’t simply an exercise in efficiency. A boiler isn’t just a capital asset. Payroll isn’t merely a transaction. Each is part of an educational system, and decisions about each ultimately affect the people that system exists to serve.
That doesn’t mean abandoning sound business practices. Quite the opposite. Schools need people who understand finance, operations, management, technology and all the other disciplines represented within school business. That’s part of what you bring.
The challenge—and eventually the privilege—is learning how to apply that expertise in service of a mission larger than the business operation itself.
After 28 years, I still believe newcomers should question things. Some of the best improvements in our organizations begin with someone asking why.
Just make sure you understand the why before deciding it needs to change.
Bring your expertise. Keep your fresh eyes. Ask the questions. But first, learn the field you have chosen to serve. Once you understand the mission, you will be much better prepared to help move it forward.
Next month, I’ll move from learning the field to something I came to understand as essential to succeeding within it: building your professional toolbox.