AN INTERVIEW WITH Harpreet Hora: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BUDGET SERVICES FOR ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

• Author: Mucha, Mike
• Position: IN PRACTICE | INTERVIEW

Mike Mucha, GFOA's deputy executive director, spoke with Harpreet Hora, the executive director of budget services for Atlanta Public Schools, about her experience working in local government, the role of a leader in public finance, the value of relationships, and her involvement in GFOA's Rethinking Budgeting initiative.

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) educates more than 50,000 students, employs more than 5,000 teachers across 91 schools and programs, and has an overall budget exceeding $1.4 billion. At APS, the budget does not simply outline revenue and expenditures--it sets the direction for the district and is designed to increase equity, instructional quality, and efficiency while assuring that the district reaches the mission to graduate every child, prepared for college and career. Since September 2021, Harpreet Hora has been responsible for managing the development of the annual budget and implementing the district's strategic goals. As the executive director for budget services, she also works with the other executive directors in finance to ensure seamless communication of internal processes.

APS is recognized as a leader in school district budgeting--under a previous executive director, it won GFOA's Award for Best Practices in School Budgeting. The award recognized the district's adherence to GFOA best practices in school budgeting that focused on strategic alignment and allocation of resources, collaboration between finance and other parts of the organization, and communication.

When Harpreet took on the role of executive director for budget services, APS represented a new and bigger challenge from her previous role as the budget manager for the City of Roswell, a much smaller organization that serves approximately 90,000 people in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. The APS budget was almost ten times the size of Roswell's. But Harpreet was well-prepared for this opportunity by her previous experiences at Roswell and, before that, working for the City of Atlanta, and in the private sector.

Harpreet said: "To take on any new role, you draw from experiences you've had in the past. When I started at APS, I felt prepared based on my past positions, and also by what I was able to learn pursuing a few certifications and from the colleagues I'd had prior." In fact, the biggest difference Harpreet noted between APS and the City of Roswell was that more people were involved because there are many more departments and communications among all the...