Fiscal Health Management Principles: Resource and Technical Assistance Manual

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) is one of 20 technical assistance centers supported under the U.S. Department of Education's Comprehensive Centers program from 2019 to 2024. The center works to drive educational change in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas so that every student has the opportunity to thrive. Collaborative, customized, adaptable support is provided at no cost to state education agencies throughout the country. R14CC designs and implement projects in the states within the region that build state education agency capacity to carry out evidence-based policies and programs that focus on: (1) Improving the quality of instruction; (2) Increasing access to effective teachers and school leaders; and (3) Closing education achievement gaps. This resource was originally created in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) as a tool to assist school districts in their financial practices to meet the needs of the students they serve. Through a series of engagements with ADE leadership and school district officials throughout the state, R14CC assisted ADE leadership in the development of six fiscal health management principles and related expectations to support each principle. The principles and expectations were originally designed to align with Arkansas laws, rules, and policies. The material within this resource has been modified to provide more generalized guidance that can be adapted and built upon by other states and districts as the principles apply in a local context. However, these principles are intended to guide districts' fiscal administration, decision-making, and strategic planning to educate students and can provide a solid foundation for state- or local-level guidance as it relates to fiscal health operations and ensuring an efficient, successful outcome for the students served.