How School Districts Interpret and Implement Federal Requirements for Meaningful Consultation in Fiscal Decision Making During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Examinations of Local, State, and National Education Policies: District Implementation, Youth Engagement, Systemic Equity (Table 6)

Abstract

When conducted with fidelity, community engagement in school district fiscal planning can result in decisions that better reflect local experiences and contexts, which in turn can lead to better opportunities and outcomes for students (Marsh & Hall, 2018; Gilman, 2012; Potochnik, Romans, & Thompson, 2016). Despite the importance of community involvement in setting district priorities, however, there is a need for more research regarding the state of democratic participation in school finance.
With this in mind, drawing on the tenets of participatory democratic theory (Hilmer, 2010) as well as research on authentic democratic participation (Anderson, 1998; Marsh, Strunk, Bush-Mecenas, & Huguet, 2015), this paper reports on a qualitative case study focused on understanding how districts in North Carolina interpret and implement federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) requirements for meaningful consultation with community members in developing district fiscal plans (U.S. Department of Education, 2021). In particular, this paper will examine what district and community conditions shaped the ways in which democratic engagement played out across districts (Marsh & Hall, 2018) as well as how that engagement is evidenced in expenditure data (Briffault, 1992). This project will make an important contribution to the field of educational research by capturing how district leaders aim to engage communities in fiscal planning in relation to COVID relief funds. It is anticipated that the findings from the study will serve to offer examples of how districts across unique demographic, socioeconomic and geographic contexts engage their communities and use federal funds to support students.

Author

• John Diaz, University of California - San Diego
  Presenting Author