Login
Member Directory
Summer Is a Perfect Time to Schedule a Board Retreat
We are closing in on the end of the school year and planning for the next school year starts in earnest. Things tend to slow down once students are on their summer break, but the works continue for superintendents and governing boards!
Summer is the perfect time for your senior leadership team to schedule a board retreat. Research shows that board-superintendent teams that participate together in professional development are more effective. The training and facilitation team at ASBA is ready to help you plan a productive and educational board retreat.
We have developed workshops that can be combined into full or half-day training. And we’re unique because we both are sitting board members and have extensive experience working with boards from all demographics, from urban to rural to remote. If you don’t see a perfect training session for you, give us a call! We can customize training just for your district. Download our flyer.
Training slots fill up fast so contact us soon to secure the perfect time for your board retreat!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Nikkie Whaley
Board Support Specialist
nwhaley@azsba.org
602-254-1100
Julie Bacon
Leadership Development Specialist
jbacon@azsba.org
602-254-1100
For Whom the Bill Tolls
By Steven Chapman, ASBA President-Elect
We have seen a lot of education, election, and other bills that will have an impact on our school districts and our community at large. Some of these bills do not read as a direct impact to us but will have negative consequences, nonetheless. Citizens and legislators have a responsibility to put forth legislation that will further the direction of our state, however, we constantly see the continued stagnation or reverse.
This year making its way through the legislature is a bill to decrease the minimum wage for some Arizona citizens. This will impact all of us as our graduates who we prepared for college will be facing yet another obstacle. If young adults cannot afford tuition, and then cannot afford to have a job, we are setting a generation of people back.
We also see that our representatives are working to eliminate your ability to drop off your ballot on election day. Many people wait to drop their ballots off to ensure that their candidates or ballot positions are the best fit. Making people vote sooner than they would prefer or subjecting them to longer wait times at the polls could impede voter turnout. As school districts who ask our communities for overrides and bond elections, we cannot afford for our citizens to have obstacles on their way to the polls.
Charter school reform. We know this bill was not about to level the playing field between public school districts and for-profit schools. It was a quick reaction by the charter industry to save face from their continued reports of closing schools with no notice to parents while profiting from our tax dollars. This bill would not have kept them from closing the doors to students after their money was appropriated.
There are many other bills working their way through the legislature, and it is important to know about as many of them as possible. More importantly, we need to remember that when a bill is making its way through the system that will have an adverse impact on any one person or group of people, it will adversely affect us all.
Devin Del Palacio, Tolleson UHSD Board Member Named Chair-Elect for National Black Council of School Board Members
ASBA is proud to announce Devin Del Palacio, a board member at Tolleson UHSD and ASBA Black Caucus Chair was named chair-elect for the National Black Council of School Board Members at the NSBA Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia last week.
School District Consolidation Bill Makes It to Senate, Why It’s Not Good for Schools
A bill could automatically unify existing elementary and high school districts that are currently separate by July 1, 2024. HB2139 would require each governing board to annually determine the cost savings that result from consolidation, unification or both with other school districts, and obligate school districts to retain and use the cost savings resulting from consolidation or unification for classroom expenditures, with at least 25 percent of the monies used for teacher salaries.
ASBA is opposed to HB2139 on the grounds of preservation of local control. Preserving the exclusive authority of communities and local school boards over any measure that would propose consolidation into larger districts was established as a priority in our 2019 political agenda. Arizona is exceptionally diverse along county lines, and local communities know best when it comes to what size and type of school district will be most efficient for them and should be able to implement as such without legislative intrusion.
ASBA’s Certified and Administrator Salaries and Benefits Survey Closes Monday, March 25
Thank you to the 134 districts that participated in the certified and administrator salaries and benefits survey. Results will be released in mid-April and will only be shared with members and not the public. Each year, ASBA surveys school districts throughout Arizona on certified and administrator salaries and benefits and compiles the data to provide a valuable resource for comparative analysis and decision-making on issues related to salaries, benefits and budgeting. All districts that complete the survey will receive a report of the compiled data, plus a sortable Excel spreadsheet.
Cesar Chavez: The Life Behind a Legacy Continues to Impact School Board Members….Hear Their Stories
Did You Miss the Webinar on “How Are Our Native American Students Doing?” Hear It Now!
2019 Annual Conference Call for Proposals Open May 15, 2019
Does your district or school have a success story or program you want to share? Request for proposals will open May 15 and close August 2. More information to follow.
ASBA Events
