Get match-ready for COVID budget challenges

Schools’ budgets were challenging enough before COVID came along. Val Andrew and Tina Brown, of School Business Services, discuss the challenges now facing school business leaders

Schools have had to quickly adapt their operating models in recent months, delivering learning in radically different ways both on and off site. The introduction, this term, of new timetables, class and year group ‘bubbles’ and new site and staffing arrangements represents what is probably the biggest change to school life in decades.

For finance directors and school business managers – juggling home working and family demands with their commitment to adapt and do the best for the children at their schools – the new spending requirements were difficult to predict, but now form one of their main priorities.

Much time, currently, is being spent on managing the raft of extra spending needs to ensure that their schools operate as safely as possible. These considerable additional requirements include new materials, PPE, staffing, site arrangements and cleaning measures to ensure the safety of everyone in the school environment.

Planning for financial flexibility

The possibility of local lockdowns, class and year groups returning to home learning for temporary periods and staff becoming sick, or needing to shield, means that there could be new spending requirements throughout this academic year.

Although the government has announced new funding for areas like catch-up tuition, SBMs will have to make adjustments in their planning, reassessing their priorities to ensure the funds are there to deal with unforeseen eventualities.

COVID budget challenges

SBMs are already well-versed in reviewing expenditure levels to inform future spending, assessing likely income levels for the next financial year, assessing priorities in the school development plan and seeking out where greater efficiencies might be achieved. They now need to add to this list ‘Planning for the ongoing impact of COVID’. Areas for specific attention include:

• Speed of responsiveness – as new guidance can be issued with little warning and require fast action – for example, the ability to respond quickly to local lockdowns. The processes for responding to local lockdowns, and associated costs, should be written into budget projections for at least the next 12 months until there is more certainty about the potential for a vaccine.

• Staffing costs arising from different levels of sickness absence, shielding, flexible workers, class and year bubbles and class re-organisation, all of which can be modelled to predict the impact.

• Timetabling and attendance – many schools are rescheduling their timetables to accommodate social distancing guidelines and to ensure the learning environment is as safe and workable as possible. This will, inevitably, lead to part-time attendance in some schools and levels of parental confidence in the system could see more fluctuations in attendance levels. Unusual attendance patterns will need to be reflected in the autumn census data that drives funding for the next financial year.

• The cost of providing technology systems to support home-based learning, and home-based working, in the event of a further lockdown.

• Catch-up support for pupils through one-to-one and small group tuition, accessing the full funding promised, and making best use of it on eligible activities.

• Wellbeing and mental health initiatives provided by external specialists may be an additional need for schools as pupils come out of several months without normal schooling.

• Uncertainty about forthcoming reimbursements from the DfE/ESFA for COVID-related costs incurred to date, and into the foreseeable future. Registering for the latest DfE/ESFA updates on gov.uk will ensure that you get the these as soon as they are issued.

• Changing health and safety situations, risk assessment processes and changes to normal routines in school, requiring additional equipment, training and even staff. This is one of the areas where schools could look at opportunities to share the cost through collaborative procurement.  

Navigating a new era

Running budget planning scenarios is one of the best ways to do this because it means the SBM is well-prepared, and knows what the impact of different staff and site changes would be, and whether or how these can be paid for. What is more, the ability to benchmark costs and spending with other schools will be crucial.

Budget software nowadays takes much of the time and effort from this kind of scenario planning. It can help SBMs predict and prioritise spending on areas such as staff cover – which could increase due to illness – to inform financial decision-making.

Budgeting systems should include something called ‘analysis tagging’ which is an approach that makes it possible to track COVID-related income and spend without disrupting your coding structure.

SBMs shouldn’t forget the support and advice that will be freely available within local or regional professional networks and school support providers, where there are opportunities to share good practice and planning ideas. The power of peer-to-peer support, and the sharing of ideas and best practice, has never been so important. The SBM role is one of the most isolated in any school – so a network of supporting professionals is a lifeline for many.

Finally, keeping on top of your professional development will also extend your knowledge and understanding, and help to ensure you keep your technical skills fit-for-purpose. And don’t forget the power of taking part in the coaching or mentoring of other SBMs – this can be a valuable support for isolated SBMs, and an empowering way of supporting your own professional development.