Rethinking Middle School Scheduling: What Finance Teams Can Learn from Education Reform

Let’s face it: most organizations struggle with inefficient processes, underutilized resources, and poor alignment between strategy and execution. But what if the solution wasn’t in your finance department — but in a middle school?

In their new work, education leaders David James and Nate Levenson — both former educators and administrators — outline a five-part framework for redesigning middle school schedules to better serve students. While the focus is on education, the underlying principles are deeply relevant to finance professionals looking to optimize operations, improve outcomes, and do more with less.

Here’s what finance teams can learn from their approach.

1. Make Core Activities the Center of the Schedule

In schools, this means prioritizing core instruction — like math and literacy — as the foundation of the daily schedule. Everything else, including electives and interventions, is built around it.

For finance teams, this translates to identifying your core financial activities — budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and compliance — and making them the central focus of your team’s time and resources.

Ask: Are we spending too much time on non-core tasks like manual data entry, redundant reporting, or low-impact meetings? If so, we’re not putting the right emphasis where it matters.

2. Provide Targeted Support Where It’s Needed

Middle schools are shifting from one-size-fits-all instruction to content-specific intervention classes — helping students who are behind in reading or math with focused, data-driven support.

In finance, this mirrors the need for targeted process improvements. Instead of applying broad cost-cutting measures, identify specific pain points — like month-end close delays or high error rates in expense reporting — and allocate resources to fix them.

This could mean investing in automation tools for high-volume tasks, offering training to staff struggling with new software, or hiring a specialist to streamline a complex process.

3. Prioritize Well-Being Through Structure and Expertise

The authors emphasize that emotional well-being is not a side benefit — it’s a core component of student success. Schools are introducing structured wellness periods, trained counselors, and mental health support into the daily routine.

Finance teams can take a similar approach by building in time for mental health and work-life balance. This means setting realistic deadlines, avoiding last-minute “fire drills,” and ensuring teams have the tools and support they need to avoid burnout.

When employees are mentally and emotionally supported, productivity and accuracy improve — directly impacting financial outcomes.

4. Increase Engagement with Voice, Choice, and Challenge

Students are more engaged when they have a say in their learning — when they can choose projects, set goals, and tackle challenges that match their skill level.

In finance, this means empowering team members to contribute to process improvements, suggest new tools, or take ownership of specific financial initiatives. When people feel heard and challenged, they’re more invested — and more likely to deliver better results.

Offering choice in how tasks are completed (e.g., allowing remote work, flexible hours, or tool preferences) can also boost motivation and retention — reducing turnover and the associated costs.

5. Operate More Efficiently with Flexible Teaming

The final pillar is cost-effectiveness — achieved through flexible teaming and staffing models. Instead of rigid departmental structures, schools are using cross-functional teams and rotating staff roles to better match student needs and reduce overhead.

Finance teams can apply this by:

• Using cross-trained staff to handle multiple roles (e.g., one person managing both AP and payroll)
• Implementing shared service models where teams support multiple business units
• Adopting agile workflows that allow for quick reallocation of resources during peak periods

This reduces the need for permanent hires, lowers fixed costs, and increases responsiveness — all key goals for any finance leader.

Final Thoughts

While the original context is education, the principles in this redesign are universal. Whether you're managing a school, a department, or a finance team, the goal is the same: do more with less — and do it in a way that supports people and outcomes.

By rethinking how we structure time, allocate resources, and support people, we can create systems that are not only efficient — but also sustainable and human-centered.

And if schools can do it — so can we.