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Every year, the Virginia School Boards Association holds a training program, one designed to help officials in each district learn about school finance, managing budgets and building open communication with the county staff. Not all groups have people make it through the program. This year, only five school districts did, including Lunenburg County, Fredericksburg, Greensville, Newport News and Brunswick County all had people make it through this year’s class.

Through in-depth activities and discussions of best practices, participants had the chance to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their school division fiscal governance teams and learn alongside other exceptional fiscal governance teams. The program included four training sessions that focused on the successful integration of school finance, instructional leadership, school division governance, and administration to improve student outcomes.

“By successfully completing this program, LCPS has demonstrated its readiness to address the complex fiscal challenges facing educational institutions today,” district officials said in a statement. “By being engaged in this program, LCPS has strengthened its capacity to make informed decisions that will have a positive impact on the fiscal health and sustainability of the school division.”

The sessions allowed for school division staff and school board members to not only learn from the facilitators, but from one another through discussions and insight sharing. The cohort members will have the opportunity to continue the relationships they have fostered through the training to benefit their school divisions and their communities.

VSBA Executive Director Gina Patterson commended the participants stating, “This achievement reflects not only the individual efforts of the participants, but also the collaborative spirit and shared vision of the school division teams. The participants have undoubtedly strengthened their capacity to make informed decisions that will positively impact the fiscal health and sustainability of their school divisions.”