CSBA to offer leadership training for CBOs
Published: October 1, 2006
The California School Boards Association will provide the leadership education component in a new, state-supported training program for school chief business officers, helping them better understand their leadership roles so they can work more effectively with their local school boards and other administrators to maximize student achievement.
Spearheaded by the California Association of School Business Officials, the Chief Business Officer Education Partnership Training Program also involves the Association of California School Administrators, the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, School Services of California Inc. and the Financial Crisis and Management and Assistance Team.
The CBO Partnership is the largest of a number of new programs designed to improve school finance training. Alarmed at a shortage of qualified school business officers and an increasing number of district insolvencies, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 352 in 2005 to create incentives for school districts and county offices of education to provide comprehensive training for their chief business officers and finance managers.
This year’s state budget includes $1.1 million to begin the programs and provide $3,000 grants to 350 school districts—about a third of all the state’s local school business officers. Priority is given to applicants from local education agencies that had submitted qualified or negative financial statements to their county offices of education within the past five years, indicating potential or existing fiscal problems. Of the 350 available slots, approximately 200 went to business officers participating in the CBO Education Partnership Training Program.
Effective school business officers play crucial leadership roles, according to Marjorie Peterson, senior director of CSBA’s Governance Institute. Peterson and Dan Walden, director of Single District Governance Services at the institute, will provide the leadership training.
“School business officers have to understand that they are leaders and that they have many complex and important tasks in addition to overseeing the district’s financial health,” Peterson said. “We’ll focus on how the chief business officer contributes to the success of students, the CBO’s role in supporting and implementing district policies and his or her role relative to the board, the superintendent, the leadership team, parents and the community.”
The program will begin in January. It consists of 200 hours of classroom and individualized support and professional development over 18 months. Topics include school finance, accounting, auditing, school operations and charter schools. Enrollment remains open through December, depending on space available. The tuition cost is $3,500. State grants are no longer available this budget year, but registration for future grant funding is available.
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