6 Ways to Spend Your School’s Year-End Budget Wisely

Are you tired of spending your school’s end-of-year budget on tools that just sit on the shelf?

Your annual budget may wrap up on June 30, but you still have time to unwrap effective safety tools. To help you make the most of your end-of-year dollars, here are six ways to amplify professional development for your staff and Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security℠ for your school.

1. Try out a blended training program.

If you haven't experienced the benefits of a blended Nonviolent Crisis Intervention program, now's the time to attend. Shorter instruction time and engaging online modules, in addition to a classroom portion, make blended learning more efficient and potentially more effective. Whether you're looking at

See which programs are offered as blended options. 

2. Attend an autism-specialized renewal.

If you’re certified to teach the enhancements (and you are if you’ve had training since July 2015), you will love the benefits of CPI’s new blended learning delivery option. With a blended program, your participants are introduced to the basic concepts of training through eLearning. Once they’ve completed the online portion of the course, you take it from there in the traditional classroom setting. You and your staff get more convenience, more ability to focus your classroom learning on applying skills, and you save time. And with the cost-savings opportunities, you can get more staff trained and really optimize your in-service days before the next school year starts. Plus we’ve got special introductory pricing for you. Order blended participant seats by June 30 and save 25%!

3. Host a program.

Ready to dive deeper into a topic like ASD, Trauma-Informed Care, or enhancing staff’s verbal intervention skills? With hosting opportunities, we bring training to you, at your convenience and customized to your school. This is a great way to build skills for handling specific issues. And you can invite other schools and organizations to your program to share your commitment to best practices in school care and safety.

4. Add to your training team.

So many of you tell us that you’d love to roll out training for all staff in your school or district. Many of you do, but it’s not easy if you have few Instructors. But you can do it when you have enough trainers! Whether you choose hosting or a public program, now is the time to develop more staff as Certified Instructors so you can train more professionals in your school or multiple buildings—and more often. With additional in-house experts, you can do more trainings, refreshers, drills, microlearnings, and debriefings for more employees—from office staff, TAs, counselors, cafeteria staff, and maintenance staff to security, social workers, general education teachers, and everyone who can benefit from prevention and de-escalation skills.

5. Stock up on workbooks.

From the Foundation Course workbook to workbooks on all kinds of challenges your staff face, you always need workbooks! Looking for ways to spice up your refreshers? Among loads of topics to choose from are bullying, PBIS, breaking up fights, setting limits, workplace substance abuse, school bus safety, managing anger, documenting incidents, the power of listening, and much more. Buy workbooks now (and be sure to log in so you can see all your options).

6. Give staff an overview of CPI concepts. 

Want a quick way to share key strategies with more staff? With CPI’s Professional Development Series for Educators, you can teach 30-minute to two-hour workshops to staff who haven’t been trained in the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® program. Session topics include defusing difficult situations, facing escalating situations alone, and promoting positive behavior using person-centered supports. As our own Gary Weber says, “Who knows, maybe the sessions will stimulate so much interest that you’ll have staff begging to come to your full training classes!”

Not sure where to start? No problem!

We know it’s a frenzied time of year, so as always, we’re here to help. Email us or give us a call at 888.426.2184. You can also always reach us in the Instructor Community on Yammer, where you can get in touch with your fellow Instructors too. What do other educators find helpful? Ask and find out in your professional learning network!

We all feel the pressure when our fiscal year comes to an end—the pressure to “use it or lose it.” Don’t miss the opportunity to make the most of what’s left and invest in #CWSS.