The Impact of Financial Resource Management Practices Among School Heads in Career Stage 1 on School Operation Across its Core Pillars

This study examined the impact of financial resource management practices among Career Stage 1 school heads on school operations across the core pillars: access, quality, equity, resilience, and well-being. Specifically, it assessed the level of financial resource management practices in terms of planning and allocation, utilization and spending, documentation and reporting, and monitoring and evaluation; determined their impact on school operations; identified practices that demonstrate transparency, accountability, alignment, and efficiency; explored the challenges encountered by school heads in managing financial resources; and developed a proposed training program to address identified concerns. A mixed-method research design was employed involving 21 selected Career Stage 1 school heads from the districts of Bulusan, Barcelona, and Bulan. Data were gathered through a researcher-made questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions and analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the respondents demonstrated a very high level of financial resource management practices across all four dimensions. These practices positively influenced school operations by improving access to learning resources, enhancing instructional quality, promoting equity through responsive resource allocation, strengthening school resilience, and supporting the well-being of learners and personnel. Transparency, accountability, alignment, and efficiency were found to be strongly embedded in the financial management practices of the respondents. Although challenges related to limited MOOE funds, stakeholder participation, documentation requirements, reporting timelines, procurement regulations, and administrative workload were identified, these were generally manageable and did not significantly hinder effective financial management. Based on the findings, a training program entitled Financial Leadership Excellence: Addressing Challenges in School Financial Resource Management was developed to further strengthen the competencies of Career Stage 1 school heads in planning, resource utilization, financial reporting, and monitoring and evaluation. The study underscores the importance of sustaining sound financial management practices to promote efficient resource utilization and improve school operations across the core pillars.