The role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a critical district position when it comes to professional learning procurement through contracts and partnerships. Conversation #22 with Caitlin Richard, CFO for Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut explores some complex challenges that district finance leaders face as they plan for scalable and sustainable professional learning in 2025.

"As anyone currently working in education recognizes, we’re navigating a challenging financial landscape. Our district faced significant cuts after ESSER funds expired and we’re grappling with a major budget deficit. This has forced tough decisions, including reductions in central office staff and professional learning. We're advocating for a more equitable state funding formula, and I've been working with the school board and city members to clearly communicate the urgency of this situation.

This isn't just a Hartford problem; it's a systemic issue. Connecticut is one of two states in the country that does not include a factor for special education in the state funding formula, so this issue has been a specific focus area for our advocacy. I'm focusing on narrative and storytelling to raise awareness, working closely with the district’s Superintendent and Communications Director to more clearly articulate the why behind our financial crisis. We're seeing a rise in advocacy for funding and resources, both within the school district and from our community stakeholders, which is encouraging.

In the meantime, we're exploring innovative approaches to partnerships and professional learning supports. We've seen success with full-service community school grants and are leveraging external coaches to support our new Wit and Wisdom curriculum. A key question is how to balance internal and external professional learning resources.

During ESSER, we began developing our administrator pipeline (principals and assistant principals), a strong area of need for professional learning in the district. Due to budget cuts we have had to sunset a lot of this work. Luckily, we retained a lot of the materials from the launch of the programming during ESSER, so we are able to continue some of the work internally. However, additional investments would be needed to make this more robust.

Other areas for future investment include the Welcoming Culture & Nurturing Climate section of our district’s strategic plan. Here, we envision developing identity-based affinity groups to support staff, strengthening mentorship programs to support and retain new teachers, increasing opportunities for specialization/differentiation of educator roles and responsibilities to reduce burnout, and strengthening pathways for educators to advance into leadership and mentorship roles."

Thank you Paula Shannon for making the connection!