The Moment Every School Leader Gets Stuck (And How to Move Forward)
- Peggy Downs
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
I was on a call recently with a school leader, asking what should be a simple question:
What’s your priority project right now?
There was a pause.
Then I could see it. The mental list forming:
academic gaps
staffing needs
facilities issues
program ideas
things they’ve been meaning to fix for years
And then the real question behind the question:
Which of these would make a good grant?
That’s where most schools get stuck.
The Backwards Starting Point
When schools begin by trying to match problems to funding opportunities, the work quickly becomes reactive.
You end up with:
scattered efforts
partially developed ideas
projects shaped by funder priorities instead of school priorities
Even worse, it creates hesitation. Leaders don’t want to choose the “wrong” project, so they don’t choose at all.
It’s not a lack of ideas.
It’s a lack of clear priorities.
A Better Question
Instead of asking:
What could we get funded?
Start with:
What is most important to build or solve right now, and worth doing well?
This is a leadership question, not a grant question.
And it requires something schools often skip: a clear, focused look at current needs and priorities.
Start With What You Already Know
In my work with schools, this is often the turning point. A long list of needs becomes one clear, fundable direction.
The shift is not about gathering more information. It is about stepping back and making sense of what you already know.
You do not need a massive needs assessment.
You already have:
performance data
strategic plans
daily operational insight
conversations with staff and families
The work is not gathering more information.
It’s deciding what matters most.
When you narrow to one or two clear priorities, something shifts:
decisions get easier
programs become more defined
funding becomes more aligned
From Need to Program
Schools that are successful in securing funding support start with a clear need.
It might sound like:
We need new safety equipment
We need stronger math support
We need to expand our program
These are valid starting points, but they are not yet fundable programs.
Strong leaders pause and ask a more important question:
What problem are we actually trying to solve?
A need, on its own, is incomplete.
It becomes fundable only when it is clearly defined, structured, and connected to outcomes.
This is where many schools stop too early.
Instead of moving from:
need → grant
Effective leaders move through a more intentional sequence:
clarify the priority
define the problem
design a coherent response
then pursue funding to support that work
For example, “we need safety equipment” becomes:
a clearly defined safety priority
an understanding of the underlying risks or gaps
a coordinated approach (equipment, training, protocols)
a clear explanation of how this improves student and staff safety
At that point, funding becomes much easier to pursue, because the program is clearly defined.
Why This Matters
When schools skip this step, they chase funding and often miss the opportunity to solve the real problem.
When schools take this step, they build programs.
And that difference shows up everywhere:
in the strength of the application
in the clarity of the work
in the sustainability of the results
A Simple Shift
The next time you find yourself asking:
What should we apply for?
Pause and ask instead:
What problem are we actually trying to solve?
Start there.
It’s easy to begin with a funding opportunity. A grant shows up in your email, and you start thinking, “We could probably use this.”
That’s the moment to pause.
Start by identifying your top 2–3 priorities and asking, for each one:
What problem are we actually trying to solve, and what would it look like to solve it well?
Then build from there.
Funding becomes much easier when the program is clearly defined.
Once the program is clearly defined, you can return to that opportunity and decide if it truly fits.