Operations and Finance Cohort

Thanks to everyone who joined our December Operations & Finance cohort meeting for a timely mid-year budget check-in. We appreciated the strong participation and candid peer discussion as schools assess enrollment trends and financial adjustments heading into the second half of the year.

A special thank-you to our guest speakers for grounding the discussion in real-world finance and operations experience:
- Daniel Casselli, President of BuyQ, shared practical strategies for aligning procurement and spending decisions with enrollment realities.
- Suzanne DeYoung, CFO at PS wrx, provided expert guidance on Colorado school finance, scenario planning, and building sustainable mid-year budgets.

Key Takeaways:
- Plan for enrollment volatility: With continued enrollment declines and uncertainty around future per-pupil funding increases, schools should use conservative assumptions and scenario planning to assess revenue risk and staffing impacts.
- Use mid-year adjustments strategically: Evaluating staffing, contracts, and vendor spend through a mission-aligned lens can surface opportunities to right-size costs without undermining core priorities.
- Strengthen forward visibility: Cash management, multi-year modeling, and early engagement with boards and leadership teams help schools move from reactive budgeting to confident, data-informed decisions.

Resources:
- Recording: View Recording
Passcode: .iLW7#e0
- Slides: Both slide decks are posted in the Documents Tab
- Enrollment Scenario Model: Excel template shared during the session to model conservative, likely, and optimistic enrollment scenarios.

Next Up:
Jan 13 – Operations & Finance Monthly Meeting
Topic: Policy & Legislative Update

We hope to see you there, and as always, please reach out if you have questions.

Created: December 12, 2025 10:12:55 AM