Public Hearing Preparation: Building the Crosswalk-Centered Community Forum
March 21, 2028
The public hearing is in early to mid April. That is three to four weeks away. If you start preparing today, you will be ready. If you wait until the week before, you will be presenting a budget without the story behind it.
The difference between a good public hearing and a bad one is preparation. Here is what to prepare.
Three pieces to prepare
1. The Crosswalk Presentation — one page
One page. Goals on the left. Allocations in the middle. Percentage on the right.
That is the entire presentation. One page any community member can read in 60 seconds and understand where their tax dollars are going.
Adams 14 (CO) uses this exact model. Their crosswalk presentation is a single 11x17 sheet. Goals listed vertically down the left column. Dollar allocation in the center. Percentage of total budget on the right. A row at the bottom shows the fiscal guardrail check.
If the community can see that 65% of the budget goes to Goal 1 (reading proficiency) and 20% goes to Goal 2 (math proficiency), they can ask an informed question. That is the point.
2. Progress Monitoring Data Summary
The March PM data is now available. Your community deserves to see it alongside the budget.
The format: one page, one goal per row. The column headers: Goal, March 2028 Data, Same Quarter Last Year, Trend (Up/Flat/Down).
The community should be able to see: “We are spending X% of the budget on Goal 1, and Goal 1 data is trending up. That connection makes sense.”
3. Community Engagement Summary
You held listening sessions in the fall. You held one in February. Now you show the community what they told you and how it shaped the budget.
The format: two columns. Left column: “What we heard from the community.” Right column: “How it shaped the budget.”
If the community said “we need more mental health support” and the budget allocates new funding to Goal 5 (student well-being), that connection is visible.
The community budget forum
Schedule the forum two to three weeks before the formal hearing. That gives you time to incorporate feedback.
The forum structure:
- Board president opens with the goals (not the tax rate)
- Superintendent presents the crosswalk (one page, five minutes)
- PM data presented alongside the budget (one page, five minutes)
- Community engagement summary (one page, five minutes)
- Directed questions from the board to the community
- Open testimony
Board rehearsal
The board should rehearse the hearing. Not the superintendent. The board.
The most important rehearsal item: the president’s opening. It should start with goals.
“Good evening. Tonight, we present a budget that funds our five adopted goals. Every dollar you see tonight is attached to a goal that this board and this community agreed is a priority. Let me show you how.”
Compare that to: “Good evening. Tonight, we present the preliminary budget. The tax rate is…”
Which opening tells your community that governance works?
Your free CTA: Reply with keyword ForumPrep and I will send you the Public Hearing Preparation Kit — the Adams 14 (CO) one-page crosswalk template, the PM data summary worksheet, the community engagement connection matrix, and the board president’s hearing script.
Your paid CTA: I offer a Public Hearing Preparation Coaching Session — a single virtual session with your board president and superintendent to build the crosswalk-centered hearing presentation, prepare for the community forum, and rehearse the specific questions the board will ask.
This is the third piece in the March 2028 arc. It builds on the budget alignment review (read piece 1) and the Q1 governance health check (read piece 2). Next week: April Budget Adoption Preview — the three findings your board needs before it can adopt. Subscribe at effectiveschoolboards.com to continue the series.