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Planning to Product: A Comprehensive Guide to School Budget Development

This pre-conference outlines a comprehensive process for developing and presenting a school district budget, guiding participants from initial planning through final communication. The program begins by focusing on designing and managing the budget development cycle, emphasizing collaboration with superintendents and municipal partners while aligning timelines with required milestones and local calendars. It then examines the major cost drivers in district budgets, including staffing and salaries, facilities and utilities, and special education services, and explains how factors like enrollment projections and collective bargaining agreements influence financial forecasting. Participants also learn how to systematically collect, evaluate, and track budget proposals to ensure requests align with district priorities, regulatory requirements, and long-term fiscal sustainability. The final instructional session centers on assembling a cohesive budget document and presenting it clearly to stakeholders, using frameworks such as the ASBO Meritorious Budget Award model to enhance transparency and organization. Overall, the sessions equip attendees with strategies for developing disciplined budget processes, understanding financial drivers, and communicating budget decisions effectively to school committees and community partners.

Session descriptions posted on Handouts tab.

The MASBO Professional Development Committee is excited to welcome you to the Sea Crest Beach Resort in Falmouth, MA for another Annual Institute! Why attend?

As session content is confirmed, it will appear on the Contents tab here as well as on the FY26 Annual Institute Agenda.

Depending on your member type, this registration includes the following:

• Basic, Package, Payroll, Associate, and Non-members (Guest accounts): professional development sessions, networking activities, and meals
• Retirees: professional development sessions only; no meals

Your registration confirmation email will include additional information/sign-up links for the following:

• Conference Agenda
• Wednesday Networking Social
• Headshot Photographs
• MTRS Consultation
• Thursday Dinner and Activity

Learn from, engage, and eat lunch with MASBO members in this three (3) one-hour webinar series. Show your understanding by completing an online evaluation.

• October 3, 2025: Tracking Out-of-District Tuition
• November 20, 2025: Quarterly Financial Reporting to Stakeholders
• January 22, 2026: The Governor's FY27 Budget
• February 11, 2026: Chapter 70

Learn about a variety of topics (see below) from MASBO's Silver, Gold, and Platinum partners! MASBO Solution Providers are experts in their fields and look forward to sharing their knowledge and expertise with you in a live webinar format. Attend to learn, ask questions, and earn a PDP!

Date	Topic	Partner
September 18, 2024	Inflation Reduction Act
October 30, 2024	E-Rate Program
November 6, 2024	Rotherization and Secure Act 2.0
December 11, 2024	Preparing Deferred Maintenance and System Replacement Budgets
January 8, 2025	Contracts and Discounts
February 12, 2025	School-Town Financial Software Integration and Cooperation
March 5, 2025	Navigating Cyberthreat for School Business Administrators
April 9, 2025	Transforming School Finance
May 21, 2025

Through this four-webinar series, increase your day-to-day knowledge and skills by hearing from and sharing with other Massachusetts public school payroll professionals. Learn how the payroll professional's role and responsibilities carry over into other school finance areas, such as negotiations and budgeting, and how payroll professionals and school business administrators collaborate to support district initiatives. Show your understanding by completing an online evaluation.

This one-day conference registration is designed for non-MASBO-member school employees to access all content sessions and meals between 7:00am and 4:00pm on May 15, 2025.

This one-day conference registration is designed for non-MASBO-member school employees to access all content sessions and meals between 7:00am and 4:00pm on May 14, 2025.

Sponsored by

The Strengthening School Facilities: Best Practices in Long-Range Planning & Daily Operations Pre-Conference is open to anyone curious about capital planning and facilities operations. This three-hour professional development session will provide school finance administrators with essential strategies for long-range capital planning and effective facilities management. Participants will explore best practices for developing multi-year capital improvement plans, aligning facilities investments with district priorities, and navigating funding challenges. The session will also cover key operational topics, including custodial staffing ratios, supervision, evaluation, training, and maintenance checklists to ensure safe, efficient and well-maintained school facilities and learning environments for students

May 13, 2025 - Nauset 5, Sea Crest Beach Resort

12:00 - Lunch

1:00 - Content with brief breaks

4:00 - Adjourn

*This session does NOT include breakfast.

Sponsored by

The Bidding Basics for Massachusetts Public Schools Pre-Conference is being offered by the Office of the Inspector General. The training will provide an overview of the principles of public procurement under Chapter 30B, including emerging issues, the disposition of surplus supplies and conducting emergency procurements.

May 13, 2025 - Nauset 5, Sea Crest Beach Resort

8:00 - Breakfast

9:00 - Content with brief breaks

12:00 - Adjourn

*This session does NOT include lunch.

Sponsored by

The AI Empowerment Pre-Conference is intended for anyone looking to use AI tools, such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, to increase efficiencies in their school business administrator role and office.

May 13, 2025 - 8:00-4:00, Nauset 3, Sea Crest Beach Resort; breakfast and lunch are included.

Session Objectives:

1. Understand the foundational principles of AI and its relevance to school business operations.
2. Learn practical techniques and best practices for using AI tools to automate tasks, analyze data, and enhance decision-making.
3. Develop confidence in applying AI solutions to real-world challenges in your school district, transforming routine processes into efficient, data-driven workflows.

AI Empowerment

Kick off your day with an AI training session designed specifically for School Business Administrators. The morning offers an immersive introduction to the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and its practical applications in school business operations. You’ll learn the core concepts behind AI tools, explore prompt engineering, and see firsthand how AI can streamline your daily tasks—from automating routine communications to enhancing data analysis and decision-making.

Throughout the session, we’ll combine clear, step-by-step demonstrations with engaging real-world examples that illustrate the transformative impact of AI in school settings. Whether you are completely new to AI or looking to deepen your understanding, you’ll gain valuable insights and practical skills to integrate AI into your operational workflow. We encourage you to bring your documents—such as budget reports, policy manuals, or communication materials—so you can start testing the AI technology during our live demo session using your own data.

AI Catalyst

In the afternoon, harness AI and transform school business operations. You will explore innovative AI tools and techniques that streamline everyday tasks—from advanced data analysis and document revision to creating custom chatbots based on your own documents.

This hands-on experience invites you to bring your ideas and documents—such as budget reports from the past two years, policies and procedure documents, current communication materials, financial statements, or board meeting minutes—to work on real-world projects that directly impact your school district. Learn how to apply AI to enhance data insights, automate routine tasks, and elevate operational efficiency.

Whether you’re looking to spark innovation in your current processes or are simply curious about the potential of AI, this session is your launchpad. Prepare to dive in, collaborate with peers, and bring your vision to life with actionable insights and practical tools.

Before May 13, please ensure you have activated the following:

• Sign up for a ChatGPT account (a free account will suffice, though we’ll demonstrate some capabilities of the Plus subscription).
• If you are part of a Google district, ask your IT department to enable Gemini, Gemini extensions, and Notebook LM for your Google account.
• Request that your IT team enable Gemini, allow Gemini extensions, and NotebookLM for your Google account to fully participate in the hands-on activities.

Note from the presenter: During the training, I'll primarily demonstrate the free version of Gemini. To fully participate, attendees should enable extensions in Gemini so they can access their Google Workspace. I'll also show how to train a custom chatbot. These custom chatbots are called "Gemini Gems" in Gemini and "My GPTs" in ChatGPT, and the paid subscription also grants access to many AI models. While I'll focus on the free version, I recommend attendees have a paid subscription to either ChatGPT or Gemini for the best experience.