Heartland AEA and Southeast Polk CSD to co-host "Facing Budget Reductions with Confidence"

Heartland AEA and Southeast Polk are partnering to offer a two-day session to help participants learn how difficult budget decisions can be improved by putting the focus upon clear, weighted criteria which are used to rationally prioritize difficult budget choices. Participants will learn how to use the Tregoe Analytical tools to make these decisions. Read below for more information and please reply by emailing adavids@aea11.k12.ia.us to indicate if your district has an interest in participating and how many people you anticipate will attend. Also, let us know if you have a preference of the following dates, January 11 & 12, January 26 & 27 or February 8 & 9. The cost will be based on the number of people participating. (The more participating, the lower the cost. The fee may range from $50 to $100 per person.)

Facing Budget Reductions with Confidence: Getting It Right the First Time
By developing objective criteria before the debate about “what to cut?”, it helps remove the emotion that often accompanies budget reduction discussions. Using an analytic approach which will be understood by all will not only improve results but also minimize misunderstandings and conflict. This two-day session will:

• Address the importance of a leadership team using a common framework of analytic processes for making difficult decisions and solving complex problems.
• Utilize a case study which will involve the participants in making some budget decisions.
• Provide a sample “resolution” to the case study which uses the Tregoe Education Forum’s Decision-Analysis process.
• Learn how to use Decision-Analysis to develop clear, weighted criteria for budget reduction, evaluate a list of potential budget actions, identify high-impact risks associated with proposed reductions, develop preventative actions to address risks and develop an implementation and communication plan for rolling out budget actions.