By BJ Ryan, Chief Financial Officer, Moore Public Schools (OK), and the LINQ Finance Team
The Pulse of K-12 Finance Leadership
As a district CFO, I know firsthand the pressure our finance teams are under. Relief funding has expired, costs continue to climb, and scrutiny from boards, auditors, and the public has never been higher. The question we all keep asking is: How do we keep schools running efficiently while every dollar (and every decision) is under the microscope?
During the Innovation Hour at ASBO International’s Annual Conference & Expo, I joined other CFOs and business leaders to talk about exactly that challenge. The conversations were candid, familiar, and, at times, sobering. From staffing costs to compliance fatigue, the themes echoed across districts large and small and across every level of experience.
LINQ’s K-12 Education Business Leaders Pulse Check, a survey conducted during the same event, validated what we all felt in that room. It captured how CFOs and business managers across the country are preparing for FY26—and where the greatest pain points lie.
1. Rising Costs, Shrinking Margins
At many public schools, labor and benefits account for nearly 80-90% of the budget, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Each year, those costs rise faster than our funding formulas can adjust. That gap forces difficult trade-offs between retaining great staff, investing in classrooms, and keeping up with technology. Unfunded mandates and additional costs related to mental health emphasis add strain to the fiscal environment that is dealing with declining student enrollment.
Those pressures aren’t unique to any one district. Nearly 60% of CFOs in LINQ’s K-12 Business Leaders Pulse Check named rising labor and benefit costs as their top financial pressure. Another 43% pointed to uncertainty in state and federal funding, while 38% cited inflation and operational costs. ESSER dollars once provided temporary relief, but that cushion is gone. The fiscal landscape we’re entering demands tighter forecasting, earlier scenario planning, and a willingness to make small, smart moves that add up over time.
2. Efficiency and Trust Go Hand-in-Hand
If you ask most CFOs what they need more of, the answer isn’t always funding, it’s time. Audit cycles, compliance reporting, and manual reconciliation consume hundreds of hours a year.
In the survey, 47% of respondents said they spend more than 100 hours annually preparing for audits, and 70% still rely on manual processes.
Every hour spent chasing paperwork is an hour not spent building strategy or communicating with stakeholders. Efficiency isn’t about cutting corners, it’s about creating capacity for leadership.
Trust follows efficiency. When financial data is reliable and accessible, it strengthens credibility with boards and communities. That’s why more than half of CFOs said they lean on professional associations like ASBO and peer networks for collaboration and benchmarking. Shared insight builds shared confidence.
3. Modernization is a Mindset, Not a Milestone
Modernization doesn’t start with software—it starts with vision. At Moore Public Schools, our goal is to connect the dots across finance, HR, nutrition, and payments — building vertical alignment that saves both time and money.
Across the country, 85% of survey respondents said they manage operations using three or more disconnected systems. Fragmentation limits visibility, increases risk, and slows down forecasting, the exact areas 52% of CFOs named as their top modernization priority.
To me, modernization means giving our teams clarity and control so they can focus on what matters most: supporting students and staff. It’s about building systems we trust and that our communities trust, too.
Modernization isn’t technology alone. It’s the discipline of aligning people, process, and purpose.
A CFO’s Takeaway
The 2025 K-12 Education Business Leaders Pulse Check made one thing clear: district finance leaders aren’t waiting for relief—they’re building resilience. We’re confronting rising costs, compliance fatigue, and complexity head-on, together.
Whether it’s consolidating vendors, streamlining audits, or strengthening forecasting, our collective goal is the same: to make every dollar work harder for students.