I am trying to find out if there are any state commissions that work with their districts using a team-based model by utilizing a small staff to offer technical, engineering, training or even grant writing assistance.

I’m looking at a scenario where the districts would apply to the state commission for support and services; then the commission would rank or prioritize each request based on staff time and priorities.

As our budgets shrink, our ability to meet state and federal mandates AND provide individual assistance and support to the districts just isn’t possible. We are looking at major reassignments to our workloads and priorities and so we are looking for examples of what might or might not work based on what is already out there.

We obviously want to be able to give the districts as much support as they need, but we have to be responsible for our agency as well. So, if there are any suggestions from states that might use a model similar to this, I would appreciate the feedback.