ASBA Connect E-News

COMMUNICATIONS

Are you interested in running for a County Director seat?

County Meetings

County Directors represent every county in Arizona and are also part of the ASBA Board of Directors. County Directors are elected by membership within each county to two-year terms at the County Meetings. These elections will be held virtually and occur in September and October during Virtual County Meetings. View the roles and responsibilities form.

Election of a County Director will take place for these counties during the Virtual County Meetings:
Coconino, Oct. 22
Gila, Sept. 15
La Paz, Sept. 22
Maricopa, Oct. 29
Mohave, Sept. 23
Pima, Oct. 1
Santa Cruz, Sept. 30
Yavapai, Oct. 28

To participate in these voting processes and ensure your board’s voice is heard, your board must select a delegate to vote on your behalf.

Your delegate name(s) must be submitted via the online delegate form at least one week prior to the voting event. Click here to complete the form. When discussing the item at your board meeting, be sure to assign someone the task of submitting the delegate name(s).

It can be the administrative professional that supports the board, the superintendent or a member of the board. Just be sure the names are submitted! Boards who do not register their delegate(s) in advance via this form will not be able to vote.

Learn more

Participate in the ASBA Annual Awards Program – Nominations open Sept. 14

All award recipients will be honored with a video showcased at the Annual Conference Celebration, Dec. 2-4! It is possible this event will be virtual.

Board Awards

  • Lou Ella Kleinz Excellence in Governance Award – ASBA’s highest honor for a full board.
  • All-Arizona School Board Member Award – ASBA’s highest individual board member honor.
  • The Honor Roll Award – Recognizes board members with at least eight consecutive years of service who are retiring.

District Awards

  • The ASBA Golden Bell Promise Programs Award – Recognizes school programs from throughout the state that have shown outstanding successes in student achievement.

Student Awards

  • The Jack Peterson Scholarship – Awarded to exemplary high school seniors in member school districts who plan to pursue college degrees in education.
  • The Panfilo H. Contreras Honorary Scholarship – Awarded to deserving high school seniors by ASBA’s Hispanic-Native American Indian Caucus.
  • ASBA Student Photography Contest – Recognizes student achievement in photography in grades K-8 and 9-12.

Nominations open September 14, 2020 and must be received by October 16, 2020. School district governing board membership in ASBA is required to nominate/apply for an award and to receive an award.

All information and applications will be available on our website.

Nominations for ASBA Barbara Robey Lifetime Award now open

Tim Carter Robey Award

The ASBA Barbara Robey Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions in support of public education and ASBA’s mission through servant leadership over an extended period of time. This award will be presented at the ASBA-ASA Annual Conference, December 2-4.

Past recipients include Tim Carter, Mike Hughes, Governor Jane Dee Hull, Carolyn Warner, Eddie Basha Jr. and more.

Nominations for the award are now open and close Monday, August 31, 2020 by 5 p.m.

New look for ASBA website launches September 16

new website

A new look for the ASBA website will be unveiled September 16. Members will notice a fresh layout with more visuals including videos and photos, a simplified drop-down menu, consistency use in pay layouts and navigation from page to page plus more.

Cave Creek USD superintendent search begins

Connect Cave Creek

ASBA is leading the search for a new superintendent in the Cave Creek USD. Deadline to apply is September 23, 2020. Apply online

NEW VIDEO! Proposed Political Agenda and Delegate Assembly process

vote

An email was recently sent to all board presidents and superintendents explaining the process for this year’s proposed 2021 Political Agenda and Delegate Assembly process. The ASBA Legislative Committee reviewed and discussed every submitted proposal at its meeting on June 15. Most boards indicated support for items included in the 2020 Political Agenda, and the committee appreciates your overwhelming support of ASBA’s agenda to advance public education statewide.

This year, the committee modified the streamlined political agenda approved in years past to reflect the current public health concerns school leaders face which include:

  1. The draft 2021 ASBA Political Agenda. As with the 2020 agenda, the committee feels this 4-item document will create a simple, readily digestible agenda that will serve as a guide to advocating for legislation aligned with ASBA’s mission and values, but also allow for the expression of more specific related concerns by ASBA member districts. This document will be the one given to legislators outlining ASBA’s priorities.
  1. COVID-19 Appendix. This year, the Legislative Committee created a fifth section to the Political Agenda based on member submissions related to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is challenging to create a document to adequately address a rapidly-changing situation, we feel the items presented strike the right balance between specific enough to be actionable and flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

The Delegate Assembly determines the positions of the Arizona School Boards Association and will consider both documents. Registration for Delegate Assembly will open on August 31. Please get with your school board and identify who will be your district’s delegate and alternate representatives.

The Delegate Assembly will be held remotely this year, with opportunities for non-delegate members to watch as participants. ASBA is in the process of creating rules of procedure to make the process as smooth as possible and will communicate these with delegates and alternates well in advance of the meeting. More information will be found here.

Register today! ASBA takes County Meetings on the road in a digital way!

county meetings

Join board members from throughout your county, along with your ASBA County Director, officers from the ASBA Board of Directors and ASBA staff for this year’s Virtual County Meeting.

Get the latest information on the happenings of the association, plus updates on timely legislative and public policy issues and share your perspective on the pressing issues during the Interactive Power Town Hall. Members in eight counties also will be electing their County Director, who will serve a two-year term on the ASBA Board of Directors.

We’re pleased to provide the content that ASBA members have come to know and expect at our in-person events again this year but through a virtual format! We will be using Zoom.

The topic of this year’s Power Town Hall will be The Top 3 Governance Challenges during COVID-19. Through facilitated discussion and interactive polling, attendees will share the toughest governance issues facing their boards as they navigate the unchartered waters presented by the spread of COVID-19, consider solutions to ease these difficulties now, and reflect on lessons learned to improve their board’s work in the future.

Elections for ASBA County Directors will be held in eight counties this year during the ASBA Virtual County Meetings. County Directors serve two-year terms on the ASBA Board of Directors.

Election of a County Director will take place for these counties:

  • Coconino
  • Gila
  • La Paz
  • Maricopa
  • Mohave
  • Pima
  • Santa Cruz
  • Yavapai

Register today

Submissions extended until August 31 to present for Annual Conference

Annual Conference

The submission deadline to present at the ASBA Annual Conference has been extend until August 31. We are currently looking for breakout sessions for Annual Conference 2020 that fall under the tracks below. If you have an interest in presenting reach out to Nikkie Whaley at nwhaley@azsba.org or 602-254-1100

Wraparound Services: Recent events have made one thing very clear: schools are community hubs that serve a vital role in connecting students with the resources they need. Sometimes those services are provided by district staff and sometimes those service are the result of community partnerships.

Potential topics include:

  • What are community schools
  • Mental health partnerships in schools
  • Social workers, counselors, behavior interventionist
  • Partnering with business- School Connect
  • Rural School- Sharing resources to meet needs

Governing in a Virtual World: While technology has been increasingly used in schools by students and teachers, this past year has forced all of us in education to begin to embrace our virtual world. What modifications has your district made to successfully adjust to these virtual times?

Potential topics include:

  • Approaches to virtual learning
  • Professional development and teacher assessment
  • Meeting SEL needs virtually
  • Impacts to budget with virtual teaching
  • Managing your virtual board meetings

Equity: Ensuring educational equity is the role of every board because inequalities exist in every district. Opportunity gaps or outcome disparities are often exacerbated by factors such as race/ethnicity, sex, gender identity, ability, socio-economic status, immigration status, primary language, special education, trauma, rural/remote location and more. While some may feel that they treat all students equally, equality is not equity. Equity is about ensuring that every student has what they need to achieve equal outcomes.

Potential topics include:

  • Restorative justice or trauma-informed schools
  • How to use an equity lens in decision making
  • Access to resources
  • Pipeline issues- how to grow your own and promote a more representative teaching staff
  • Address Bias and Racism

Communications & Engagement: Ask anyone and they will tell you that communication is key, and many feel they are excellent communicators. Still, miscommunication, lack of communication, or unclear communication is a constant struggle for districts. Engagement seems to be another one of those things we as education leaders, value but cannot seem to master. How can we foster effective, authentic, and meaningful communication and engagement in our district?

Potential topics include

  • How to engage with your community-virtually
  • Communicating changes in fluid times
  • Beyond Obligation- Going above and beyond to effectively communicate or engage
  • Avoiding educationese: How to share your message so people understand

Promising Practices Spotlight: The promising practices breakouts are about more than showing off a cool program or tooting your own horn (though it can be that too). They are about things that others can take and realistically replicate in their own districts to achieve similar results. If your district has a program or practice in place that others could do with some effort and not much money, we’d love to hear about it.

Potential topics include

  • Effective uses of Title funds
  • Strategies for involving students
  • Climate and culture
  • Effective teaching strategies

Note: Sessions will be 50 or 25 minutes as determined by ASBA.

Submit now.

Did you miss the August 25 Webinar: How LEAs can Maximize Federal Assistance Funds Resources (FEMA, ESG, ESSER)

webinar

View the recorded webinar now with the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona School Administrators and the Arizona School Boards Association for more information on federal assistance funds.

ASBA posts all recorded webinars on its website under the webinar archive section. Register and receive the recording directly to your email.

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