Director, Charter Schools - Finance
- 📁
- Central Office
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- 4 days ago Post Date
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- 145 Total Views
Title: Director, Charter School Finance
Department: Charter Schools Office
Reports To: Deputy Chief, Data & Reporting, Charter Schools Office
Union: This Position is NOT Represented by a Union
Salary Range: $86,025 - $111,454
The School District of Philadelphia is committed to becoming the fastest improving District in the country and transforming the educational opportunities it offers to our city’s more than 200,000 students. The District seeks leaders who have a passion for working with schools and communities who are committed to ensuring all students achieve. Serving a population as diverse as ours requires creativity, commitment and vision. Will you join us?
Introduction
The Charter Schools Office of The School District of Philadelphia oversees brick and mortar charter schools in the City of Philadelphia on behalf of the Board of Education, the charter authorizer. In addition to monitoring, evaluating, and assessing charter schools authorized by the Board of Education, the Charter Schools Office also conducts the review process for new charter applications and evaluates charter amendment applications. Apart from charter authorizing activities, the Charter Schools Office supports all operational functions of charter schools and serves as the liaison with District departments in the areas of facilities, transportation, charter payments, grants, food services, and information technology.
Job Summary
The Director, Charter School Finance leads and manages the ongoing assessment of the financial health and sustainability and fiscal management of the charter schools authorized by the School District of Philadelphia. Analyzes charter schools’ financial reports and budgets; calculates financial metrics and sector averages; evaluates sound business and fiscal practices and internal controls; and develops written reports to communicate findings to charter school Boards of Directors and school leaders. Interacts with local auditors and business management firms engaged by charter schools authorized by the District on a regular and routine basis and serves as the primary liaison with the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding charter school financial audits and required payments to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS). In addition, the Director of Charter School Finance will lead the assessment and evaluation of key organizational areas for charter schools including food and health services and charter school safety, in accordance with the requirements of state and federal law.
Essential Functions
• Informs the ongoing development and refinement of the Charter Schools Office’s (CSO) Financial Health and Sustainability Domain for assessing and evaluating the financial health and sustainability, and fiscal management of charter schools.
• Evaluates the financial health and sustainability of charter schools, calculating standard ratios and metrics as well as charter sector averages.
• Conducts ongoing research and regulatory reviews to ensure that established financial measures of performance and standards for performance are consistent with authorizing best practices, public finance requirements and non-profit generally accepted financial practices; makes recommendations to senior leadership minimally on an annual basis regarding industry trends.
• Assesses adherence of individual District-authorized charter schools to generally accepted standards of fiscal management, including internal controls, conflict of interest, and the appropriate exercise of fiduciary duties.
• Develops written, publicly available reports detailing financial outcomes of charter schools based on the Charter School Performance Framework.
• Evaluates critical areas of charter school organizational compliance, including food, health, and safety, through assessment of various charter school reports, data and policies.
• Communicates regularly with charter leaders, auditors and business managers regarding financial and organizational outcomes and areas of concern; reviews, evaluates and calculates sector-level performance based on annual audited financial statements of individual charter schools and leads follow-up with charter schools regarding audit findings.
• Develops recommendations on charter school outcomes and compliance.
• Briefs senior leadership on charter school financial performance and areas of concern regarding financial or organizational performance.
• Supports implementation and ongoing development of an intervention system including notices of concern, probationary status, et cetera; identifies charter schools warranting escalation and develops preliminary Notices of Concern or Deficiency based on financial performance or certain aspects of organizational compliance.
• Tracks and reports on unmet PSERS obligations and works directly with Special Finance to ensure appropriate withholding from charter schools to support the District’s financial health and ensure timely recoupment of funds.
• Serves as the primary CSO liaison to the District’s Finance Office.
• Helps develop and disseminate best practices to educate internal and external stakeholders.
• Participates in efforts to promote equity and transparency in charter school operations.
• Provides key supports for general authorizing functions, including new charter applications, annual monitoring, renewal evaluation, and charter amendments.
• Assumes the lead responsibility for financial and budget review and evaluation of all new charter applications and charter amendments, as necessary.
• Participates as a team member in charter school renewal and monitoring visits primarily to assess and evaluate organizational compliance and financial health and sustainability performance of a charter school.
• Serves as the CSO’s subject matter expert in charter school financial monitoring and keeps abreast of related current research, trends, methods and practices; when appropriate, provides internal training for authorizing staff related to financial performance metrics or the CSO performance framework and generally accepted standards of fiscal management.
• Performs other responsibilities within charter monitoring and oversight as required.
Minimum Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major concentration in education, education leadership or policy, public or urban policy, finance, accounting, or business.
• Seven years of full-time, paid, professional experience, three of which have included working with or in schools and has involved at least one year of supervisory responsibilities.
OR
• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major concentration in education, education leadership or policy, public or urban policy, finance, accounting, or business.
• Five years of full-time, paid, professional experience, three of which have included working with or in schools and has involved at least one year of supervisory responsibilities.
OR
• Any equivalent combination of training and experience determined to be acceptable by the Office of Talent.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities • Demonstrated knowledge of:
o public school funding and the PA charter school funding formula. o the principles of fiscal and business practices. o the principles and practices of budget formulation, evaluation and administration. o office management methods and record keeping practices and procedures. o standard indicators of financial health. o generally accepted standards of fiscal management/GAAP.
o Excel and/or other software applications to create financial spreadsheets.
• Demonstrated ability to:
o prepare accurate, succinct and complete narrative and statistical reports.
o work on multiple projects and issues concurrently.
o support administrators in the attainment of District goals and objectives. o prioritize and manage competing assignments. o write technical/analytical documents as well as translate these documents for layperson audiences.
o analyze financial statements, including CAFRs.
o develop solutions to complex problems. o create new systems and processes with or without technology. o exercise sound judgment and discretion in applying and interpreting policies and procedures. o meaningfully interact with a variety of stakeholders, internal and external, with a range of knowledge regarding financial and organizational school performance.
o communicate and display data sets through multiple avenues and formats. o communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
o establish and maintain effective working relationships.
Disclaimer
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.
Nondiscrimination
The School District of Philadelphia provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, age, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, disability, pregnancy, marital status, gender identity, or genetic information. Please refer to Board Policy 348 for further information regarding the District's commitment to Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices.
