The New York Budget Framework moves leaders from being held accountable for outcomes to engaging stakeholders on their priorities throughout the decision-making process.
- As a leader, how do you know what your community values?
- How do you provide stakeholders with trust and confidence that the district is moving in the right direction?
ThoughtExchange helps school districts make inclusive decisions at scale. Open-ended ThoughtExchange questions provide collaborative, respectful, and inclusive engagement opportunities that give leaders data-based insight into group priorities.
By bringing diverse voices into decision-making processes, ThoughtExchange allows participants to share responsibility for student growth, achievement, and New York state educational goals. ThoughtExchange supports school districts in demonstrating fiscal responsibility by uncovering community priorities. Leaders can then make data-driven decisions at every level.
Timeline Overview: Development & Implementation
Timeline Details
WINTER:
- Governor Announcement of Proposed State Budget (January)
- District Planning and Development of Priority Based Budget (January-February)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to understand community priorities
- School Budget Planning (February-March)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to understand building level priorities
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to hear from staff on proposed budget
- Draft Budget (February-March)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to community to share Draft Budget Proposal, opportunity to create an FAQ
SPRING:
State Budget Adopted (April 1)
- Budget Presentations: Sharing Budget Information, Maintaining Community Trust (After Budget Adopted-Up to Vote Day)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange live (Presenter Mode) to hear thoughts and questions from community
- Budget Vote (mid-May)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange for post-vote engagement
- Development of School PD Plan (May-June)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to understand staff priorities and needs for PD
SUMMER:
- Look Back & Look Ahead: Setting the Strategic Vision (June-August)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to take stock on how the school year went and forward thinking for upcoming school year
- Leadership/Administrative Retreats (July-August)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to align the vision and strategic priorities at leadership and/or administrative retreats
FALL:
- Check-in with the community on implementation of district priorities (October-December)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to understand what is working well/areas for improvement
- Internal Priority Based Budget Work (December)
- Launch a ThoughtExchange to understand department and building level priorities for next year’s budget
District Planning and Development of Priority Based Budget
January/February
This engagement is key to understanding your community’s priorities, and the results will help determine what goals to build into your district’s budget plan. You can run this exchange before or after the Governor’s Budget announcement. It’s also an opportunity to reflect on the progress you’ve made with your existing budget goals or set out new goals based on the feedback you receive. The results from this exchange will also help districts to make data-driven budget decisions with the trust and confidence of stakeholders.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff/Parents/Students/Community: What are the most important things to focus on as we continue our work to support all students?
Staff/Parents/Students/Community: What are some important things our district should consider as we plan for the next school year?
Staff/Parents/Students/Community: What do we need to focus on to ensure the success of every student?
Bob Lowry, Deputy Director, NYSCOSS
School Budget Planning
February/March
Engaging at the school level supports administrators in building school-level plans that reflect their local context. Exchanges at this stage will surface priorities that are specific to each school community. It also aligns with the leadership principle of demonstrating innovative, responsive, and flexible decision-making. This provides an opportunity for the community to share their perspectives and seek further clarity.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff/Parents/Students: What is working well, and what opportunities are there for improvement in our school?
Staff/Parents/Students: What do we need to focus on at our school to ensure the success of every student?
Staff/Parents/Students: What are your thoughts and questions about the proposed Draft Budget?
Anita Murphy, District Superintendent, Capital Region BOCES
Budget Presentations: Sharing Budget Information, Maintaining Community Trust
(After Budget Adopted-Up to Vote Day)
Using ThoughtExchange in the development of Priority Based Budgeting allows leaders to understand stakeholder priorities, make data-based resource allocations, and reflect back to the community what they heard. Exchanges are also a meaningful step in the Budget presentation process that shows stakeholders you are listening, setting budget priorities based on their feedback, and providing opportunities for Q&A to responsibly allocate dollars to achieve district goals. Using ThoughtExchange live at Budget presentation sessions/BoE meetings allows for real-time crowdsourcing at scale to uncover important thoughts and questions effectively and efficiently. Supported with data from district wide exchanges, building level exchanges, and budget review presentations, the final budget is presented to stakeholders ahead of vote day.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff/Parents/Community: What final questions do you have based on the budget presentation? (Live exchange using Presenter Mode)
Staff/Parents/Community: What final information do you need to know ahead of the budget vote on (date)?
Budget Vote
(mid-May)
Using ThoughtExchange to understand the thoughts and feelings of why your community supported or did not support the budget allows for valuable insights to move forward into the district's next steps. Learn more about what different stakeholder groups aligned with, how to do a better job next time.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff/Parents/Community: What are your thoughts and questions about the results of the budget vote?
Staff/Parents/Community: What influenced your decision to support or not support the proposal? If you voted no, what changes would you suggest?
Staff/Parents/Community: Thank you for voting! Please share your thoughts and feedback on the process. If you didn’t vote, please share why.
Professional Development Planning
May-June
Ongoing opportunities to build professional capacity and foster continual improvement can be identified by engaging your teachers, administrators, and staff. Beyond identifying professional learning priorities, this exchange highlights an additional opportunity to develop planning that appreciates the local needs/context within each school.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff: As you reflect on our goals for next year, what do you need PD and support in to be successful?
Staff: What training and/or professional development activities do you think will benefit you in teaching and help you to be effective and efficient?
Staff: What does great professional development look like to you?
Look Back & Look Ahead: Setting the Strategic Vision
June-August
Using ThoughtExchange to reflect on how the school year went and vision on the upcoming year can surface opportunities for identifying professional learning priorities, and highlight an additional opportunity to develop planning that appreciates the local needs/context within each school to align with the strategic vision.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff: Reflecting on the school year, where did we succeed and where is there an opportunity for growth?
Staff: As you reflect on our goals for next year, what PD and support do you need to be successful?
Staff: What does great professional development look like to you?
Board Retreat/Admin Retreat: As we develop our vision for the future, what do you think are the major issues and trends we should consider?
Board Retreat/Admin Retreat: To make this coming year amazing for our school and for me personally, I will...
Dr. Jason Andrews, Superintendent, Windsor CSD
Community Check-In: Open and Learning Leadership
October/ December
As you implement your plans at all levels and start seeing the outcomes, reflect on the progress you are making with your stakeholders. Fall exchanges with your various educational partners help to show the district is responsively actioning their identified priorities. Checking in with your community supports innovative pivoting throughout the year.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff/Parents/Students/Community: Reflecting on [district/school priority], what are we doing well and how can we continue to improve?
Staff/Parents/Students: What are some things you appreciate about our schools and what are some things we can focus on to make our schools the best places for students to learn?
Staff/Parents/Students:What are the most important ways we can help you be successful at [your school/district]?
Dr. Chris Brown, Superintendent, Marcus Whitman CSD
Budget Planning at the Leadership/Department Level
Engaging Leadership teams and Department teams before the holidays and ahead of going out to the community with an exchange in the New Year, can help align and begin the budget process by using an exchange to help set an agenda, prioritize goals and collaborate with inclusive decision-making.
ThoughtExchange recommended questions:
Staff: What are the most critical things we need to discuss relating to next year’s budget? (Live Exchange using Presenter Mode in a Leadership Team Meeting)
Staff: What are your top priorities for the [year] budget?
Additional Resources
While the above options are focused on essential steps in budget planning, there are many more opportunities throughout the year to engage around a variety of topics. Using ThoughtExchange helps leaders to make sound and consistent decisions by supporting respectful and collaborative engagement of all stakeholders. The topics included below highlight additional opportunities to connect with your communities to support ongoing communication and transparent decision-making.
For example:
And more!
*The above links are exclusive to ThoughtExchange Partners.