The Grant They Forgot To Spend
Summer Budgeting Challenge
Issue #49: The Grant They Forgot to Spend
The email arrives on a Thursday in late June. It’s from your district’s finance office. Subject line: “Carry-forward funds — action required by July 31.” You open it. There’s $47,000 sitting in a restricted grant account. Money that was never spent. Money you didn’t know you had. Money that disappears in 28 days if you don’t use it.
Most school leaders never see it coming. You’re managing daily operations for ten months. Budget decisions happen fast, often without full information. And then summer arrives and someone finds money in a bucket you didn’t know was filling up.
The instinct is to spend it fast. Order technology. Buy furniture. Fill the supply room. But fast spending is where good principals make bad decisions. Urgency is not a strategy.
Before you spend a dollar, ask three questions. First, what does the grant actually allow? Restricted funds have rules. Spending outside those rules creates audit findings that follow you for years. Second, what did the data show last year? Don’t spend $47,000 on a solution to a problem you haven’t diagnosed. Third, who needs to know? Spending unilaterally on big purchases without involving your leadership team or key teachers is a trust problem even when the decision is technically right.
Call your district grant coordinator first. Understand the parameters. Then sit down with your data. Then make a list of needs ranked by evidence, not convenience.
The best use of unexpected money is to fix the thing you knew was broken but couldn’t afford to address. The second-best use is to invest in something your teachers asked for all year that kept getting deferred.
The worst use is panic purchasing. You’ll know it when you see it. Everyone does.
TRANSFERABLE PRINCIPLE THIS WEEK
Urgency is not a strategy for spending.
When unexpected funds appear, slow down before you act. Read the grant parameters. Pull your data. Consult your team. Every dollar you spend without a clear rationale is a dollar that won’t be defended well when someone asks why you made that choice. School leaders who spend wisely under pressure build credibility. Those who spend fast under pressure often explain themselves in September.
Until next time — the chair is yours.