School Operations and Resource Management
This domain tests stewardship of people, time, money, and facilities. Expect budget cycles, fund accounting, internal controls, Title I rules, scheduling, transportation, food service, and maintenance.
Core rules
- Budgets follow a cycle: plan, adopt, implement, monitor, amend, and report. Align dollars to school goals.
- Use fund accounting: separate federal, state, local, and grant funds; never commingle them.
- Title I requires supplement, not supplant, comparability, and documented time and effort.
- Internal controls include segregation of duties, approvals, reconciliations, and audit trails.
- Operations decisions consider total cost of ownership, safety, equity, and instructional time.
Worked example
A midyear shortfall requires cuts. The principal uses a zero-based review of nonpersonnel accounts, protects direct classroom materials, checks carryover and grant restrictions, and proposes delaying a furniture purchase. She documents the rationale and shares it with the school council.
Reasoning: the leader protected instruction, respected fund rules, and used transparent criteria rather than across-the-board cuts.
Traps
- Using Title I funds to cover a budget deficit, which risks supplanting.
- Commingling federal and local dollars.
- Cutting maintenance and safety to protect visible programs.
- Ignoring enrollment projections and staffing ratios.
- Approving purchases without conflict-of-interest checks.
- Spending one-time funds on recurring positions.