Charles Warren is the Chief Financial Officer for the Fort Smith Public School District. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He earned a Masters of Business... Read More →
Tuesday July 28, 2026 10:15am - 11:15am CDT Miller (SCC)
This session looks at how school systems are actually held together through decisions about finance, facilities, staffing, technology, and risk. It uses a simple systems lens to show how these pieces connect and how they shape what a student’s day feels like in real, practical ways. The focus is not on compliance or reporting, but on how business and finance decisions create the conditions for stable, predictable learning environments. A central theme of the session is declining enrollment and why it changes the rules of the game. Fewer students do not automatically mean fewer costs. Buildings, transportation systems, contracts, and long-term assets do not shrink at the same pace as revenue.
This session looks at how school systems are actually held together through decisions about finance, facilities, staffing, technology, and risk. It uses a simple systems lens to show how these pieces connect and how they shape what a student’s day feels like in real, practical ways. The focus is not on compliance or reporting, but on how business and finance decisions create the conditions for stable, predictable learning environments. A central theme of the session is declining enrollment and why it changes the rules of the game. Fewer students do not automatically mean fewer costs. Buildings, transportation systems, contracts, and long-term assets do not shrink at the same pace as revenue.
