Budget decisions are based on politics, not data

Budget Decisions with Data

20% 85%

+325%

Programs Cut Without Data

3/year 0

-100%

Board Confidence in Spending

Low High

Improved

The Problem

Budget season was driven by politics, not data. Programs were funded because they'd always been funded, or cut because someone needed to find savings. Nobody could answer the basic question: "Which interventions are actually working and which are we paying for out of habit?" The data to answer that question was in the system — factor trends, tier movement rates, group outcomes — but nobody had ever pulled it together for a budget conversation.

The Plan

1

Pull outcomes data for every funded program

Students served, factor improvement, tier movement rate, completion rates.

March

Data Wall Factors Groups See example

Elmer Suite → Data Wall

StudentMetric 1Metric 2Status

Student A At Risk Watch Flagged

Student B On Track On Track ✓

Stoplight colors show who needs attention at a glance.
2

Add cost-per-student from the business office

Align program cost data with outcomes so leadership can compare ROI.

March

Analytics See example

Elmer Suite → Analytics

Tier Distribution

Tier 1: 72%Tier 2: 20%Tier 3: 8%

↓ Tier 2/3 down 4% since last quarter

Track whether MTSS is working at scale — one view across all buildings.
3

Run a structured budget review meeting

Programs categorized: high impact/low cost (expand), high impact/high cost (maintain), low impact (restructure).

April, 2-hour meeting

DataDay Data Wall