This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" looks at the role of the school business official in an era of declining enrollments. Following an introductory review of national enrollment trends, the chapter discusses the use of the cohort survival technique for enrollment projection. The focus then shifts to the impact of enrollment…

Chapter 2 in a book on school law discusses the reasons for reduction in force (RIF) and presents a set of model regulations for school districts as the best means of minimizing legal problems resulting from RIF. The reasons for RIF include declining student enrollments; reduced turnover among teachers; changes in programs; and more constrained…

Starting from a survey of research literature and court cases, researchers conducted a study of South Carolina school districts' policies and procedures concerning reductions in force (RIFs). The literature review indicated some of the conditions necessitating RIFs (such as state financial problems), methods of avoiding RIFs, and criteria for RIF…

The first half of this paper reviews the school enrollment trend in the state of Wisconsin and discusses the implications of school closings. It offers planning suggestions to local districts in light of statewide declining enrollments. The second half of the paper--a review of recent literature related to "cutback management"--is…

In this paper a review of the Wisconsin declining enrollment trend is presented and implications are noted for Wisconsin districts involved in school closing efforts. The author suggests that districts can best meet the challenge of declining enrollment by considering local enrollment projections, taking a facilities and program inventory,…

The suspension of Pennsylvania's educational employees due to declining enrollment is examined in this paper. The controversy over whether teacher suspension should be based on seniority or on evaluation criteria has resulted in intervention by the judicial system to establish legal precedents for reduction-in-force policy. Methodology is based on…

American schools, after two decades of expansion, are now in the midst of an enrollment decline and inflation. The impact of the shift from growth to retrenchment and streamlining has been severe. An effective approach to this situation requires an understanding of the new conditions and of available alternatives for action. An overview of the…

This textbook of 24 chapters provides administrators and students with information on the role, activities, and responsibilities of the school business administrator. The independently authored chapters are titled as follows: (1) "Introduction to School Business Management" (F. Mike Miles); (2) "Legal Context of the Public School District" (Paul…