The Journal
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– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2012
Report to the Membership 2010-2011 CABE: Dedicated to strengthening public education through advocacy, professional development and service to boards of education. school districts. We continue to work with seven of the original Lighthouse districts and look forward to adding between three and five new districts this year.
Ensuring members receive the most up-to-date communications Board Chair Listserv CABE has seen a very successful continuation of the Board Chair listserv. This listserv began in the late spring of 2009 and has provided board chairs with a new means of communicating ideas and concerns with each other and CABE. Topics of discussion and sometimes friendly debate have included special education and board budgets. We aim to track budget developments from around the state on an ongoing basis during budget season and provide districts with a spreadsheet of budget information. CABE looks forward to continuing this excellent means of fostering communications between member board chairs and CABE. Customized Policy Manuals Four districts entered into contracts for customized policy manual development. New manuals were completed for two districts. Four additional districts have new manuals close to completion. CABE Policy Reference Core Manual The CABE Policy Reference Core Manual, containing over 550 sample policies and regulations, was continuously revised throughout the year. Moreover, new policy topics were added. It is easily “searchable” and remains accessible for CABE members on the CABE website in a multi-searchable user-friendly format. Policy Audit Service Three districts had audits completed of their existing policy manuals. This service provides the district with a report of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing manual with recommendations to update the manual. Two of the audit districts then engaged CABE to update their manual based upon the audit findings. Policy Update Service Ninety-three districts subscribed to the Policy Update Service publication. Subscribing districts received four mailings which reflected current and timely policy issues, including the need for new and/or revised policy topics based upon legislative action or judicial rulings or contemporary policy issues, especially in the areas of technology, health, student discipline and personnel issues. Fifty-eight districts also received this publication electronically to facilitate local district usage of the sample material. Custom Policy Update Service Twenty districts subscribed to the Custom Policy Update Service. In this service, CABE assumes the responsibility for updating the district’s policy manual. Major focus was placed on providing needed policies, administrative regulations and infor-
Photo courtesy Groton Public Schools
mation. Some of the topics pertained technology, workplace climate, student health issues, evaluation of personnel, staff development and various personnel issues. Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S) Twenty-nine districts subscribed to the Connecticut Online Policy Service (C.O.P.S.). Districts appreciate that their manuals are easily accessible and searchable online and are kept current through CABE.
Promoting public education Awards CABE Board Recognition Awards are presented to boards of education which exhibit the most effective leadership, characterized by their ability to work together as a “team.” CABE Board Leadership Award Level One – In 2011, 11 boards of education received the Board Leadership Award for their continued work on their leadership skills. Boards need to fulfill 22 of 34 Level One criteria to earn this Award. CABE Board of Distinction Award Level Two – In 2011, 11 boards of education received the Board of Distinction Award. This Award was granted to boards who have achieved Level One at least twice in the prior four years and meet the eligibility criteria. Student Leadership Awards – The CABE Student Leadership Awards program continues to be very popular, with 348 students from 96 CABE member school districts earning the award. This program enables each high school and middle school in member districts to nominate a boy and a girl to be honored for their leadership qualities. Awards of Excellence for Educational Communications – This year CABE presented 33 Awards of Excellence in Educational Communications and 42 Honorable Mentions. Effective communications with parents and taxpayers are extremely impor-
tant in school district operations. Affiliate Membership Program — Business Affiliates – CABE invites private sector companies, institutions and firms with an interest in public education, to become our partners and to show their support. The program grew to 32 partners in 2011-2012. Membership consisted of: 1 Diamond, 5 Gold, 7 Silver, 11 Bronze Plus and 8 Bronze Members. Education Affiliates – This program helps provide education-related organizations with a closer relationship with CABE. In 2011-2012, we had 12 Education Affiliates. A current list of Business and Education Affiliate members can be found on page 3.
Providing services to meet member needs Advocacy CABE’s positions on a broad range of local, state and federal issues are adopted each year at the Delegate Assembly. The State Relations Committee then develops CABE’s Legislative Priorities, and board members and staff implement the advocacy agenda. In this “year of education” at the legislature, CABE was involved in an unprecedented number of discussions with legislative leaders and the Governor’s office, and partnered with numerous other organizations to promote public education. Highlights of CABE’s advocacy efforts were: • Relentless efforts to maintain current levels of education funding. • Defeat of numerous proposed new mandates. • Participation in meetings with legislators around the state. Board members were able to give legislators factual and anecdotal information on issues
to be debated in the General Assembly. • CABE staff reviewed all pending legislation, and monitored, provided testimony and lobbied those with an impact on education. The focus of CABE’s legislative efforts centered on increasing flexibility for school districts, defeating numerous new mandates, and working with other organizations on issues of mutual interest. • A successful Day on the Hill program, which included the participation of many high school students and school business officials. • The Advocacy Action Center, which makes it easier for board members to communicate with their legislators and to access more information on pending legislation. During the session emails were sent out on a weekly basis to all members who requested the most current legislative information. • Participation in and monitoring of numerous task forces, including those addressing the achievement gap, the Education Cost Sharing formula, implementation of high school reform, and teacher and administrator evaluation. Federal Relations Program Our Federal Relations Committee lobbied the Connecticut Congressional delegation on several key issues: the reauthorization of ESEA, increasing funding for special education, modifying federal special education requirements, investing in early childhood programs, and providing resources for Title I programming. Legal Issues Over the last year, CABE’s attorneys have responded to hundreds of requests from board members and superintendents asking for individual assistance on legal issues involving student discipline, teacher tenure, contract issues, personnel practices, freedom of information, parliamentary procedure, meeting procedures, grievances, referenda, special education and other issues. Other legal services to school districts included: workshops for board members and other organizations on such issues as referenda, freedom of information, collective bargaining, student discipline, board roles and responsibilities and parliamentary procedure. CABE also participates as amicus curiae in cases of statewide impact. In the last year, we’ve conducted several workshops on teacher compensation and student achievement, including CABE’s annual Collective Bargaining workshop. Legal Issues workshops included Roles and Responsibilities of Board of Education Members, freedom of information, religion in the public schools and the annual Negotiations Workshop at the CABE Convention. In addition to legal issues, CABE has also been collecting and distributing information on district budgets each season. (please see page 12)
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The Journal
– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2012
Report to the Membership 2011-2012 CABE: Dedicated to strengthening public education thorugh advocacy, professional development and service to boards of education. This past season marks the 3rd year CABE has been collecting data and sharing districts’ budget information on our Board Chair Listerv. Negotiations and Labor Issues CABE redesigned its surveys for collection of the salary and benefit information of superintendents, administrators, teachers,
bers to receive information on areas of interest with no additional membership fee. By providing us with an email address members receive: Advocacy, Policy, Program and Labor Relations Highlights and the weekly (biweekly during July and August) e-newsletter, What’s Going on at CABE. CABE CONNection
Photo courtesy Wallingford Public Schools
paraprofessionals, and custodians. CABE has now started the redesign of its database file system to enhance the organization of the data and promote efficiency. The report formats are designed to be more userfriendly. Many individual data reports were also provided upon request to assist individual boards with their negotiations. Data and surveys are also available online to members at the CABE website. CABE e-Services CABE Website — (www.cabe.org) – The CABE website, “powered” by finalsite, is provided to keep board of education members and the general public up-to-date about various services and information provided by the Association. This past year we updated our look to make our website more attractive and to make navigation easier. Through our website, members have access to: policies and regulations from the CABE Core Policy Manual; The CABE Journal; superintendent/administrator data; a NCLB Resource Page; and much more. Webinars – CABE has begun using webinars to provide timely information to more people. Some of these are presented live and others are recorded and placed on the CABE website for review at our members convenience. To see our growing selection of Webinars, visit our website and click on Podcast/webinars from our Education tab. CABE Email Service – We provide CABE Email Services as a way for our mem-
In 2011-2012, 25 school districts took advantage of this communications service. CABE offers this service to school districts to assist them in communicating with their many publics. Ten times a year, a packet full of communications ideas, tips, and articles is mailed or emailed to subscribers. CABE-Meeting This program allows your central office to create and deliver board packets in a paperless environment. This program saves districts time and money, and allows board members easier access to data before and during meetings. We have added 5 districts since the last annual report and currently have 16 districts enrolled. This reflects an increase of 45%. We demonstrated CABEMeeting to an additional five districts and two municipalities that inquired about the product but have not yet made a decision about using CABE-Meeting. CABE Search Services As part of CABE’s ongoing effort to provide local boards of education with the resources they need to carry out their most important responsibilities, we continue to strengthen our Search Services program. Our consultants Jacqueline Jacoby, Randall Collins, Paul Gagliarducci and Robert King are uniquely qualified to assist boards in recruiting and retaining key personnel such as superintendents, principals and other critical members of your district staff. This year CABE Search Services sent 19 proposals to Boards of Education looking
to hire key personnel. In 2011-2012 CABE Search Services has performed 12 successful searches or is conducting searches for the following Boards of Education: Bethany – Superintendent of Schools, East Hartford – Superintendent of Schools, Enfield – Superintendent of Schools, Manchester – Superintendent of Schools, Oxford – Superintendent of Schools, Region #5 (Amity) – Superintendent of Schools, Region #12 – Superintendent of Schools, Rocky Hill – Superintendent of Schools, Scotland – Principal, Simsbury – Superintendent of Schools, Stamford – Superintendent of Schools and Stratford – Superintendent of Schools. Unemployment Cost Control Our Unemployment Cost Control Program membership totaled 21 districts in 2011-12. This program, which is administered by CCC, offers consultation, claims processing and full administration of all unemployment compensation claims for a district. Business Travel Insurance CABE contracts to provide Business Travel Insurance to all school board members whose boards are CABE members. This policy provides $25,000 of Accidental Death coverage and is free of charge to CABE members. Coverage is for any school board member traveling on school board business, whether it is local commuting to school board meetings, meetings sponsored by CABE, or any state or national meeting related to being on the board. Media Assistance for Member Districts CABE continues to offer this service to
members who need the services of a communications experts: • To improve internal communications with political leaders, parents, students and taxpayers • For member boards to get help in times of crisis communications • To learn about timing your message to rally support for your budget • To help member boards get the message out on the good programs in their district. This work, in conjunction with Baldwin Media, will continue over the next year.
Providing services to meet members needs State CEUs As part of our professional development activities, CABE continues to be a stateapproved provider of continuing education units (CEUs). CEUs were awarded to approximately 171 superintendents, administrators and teachers for their attendance at CABE professional development programs. School Governance Councils CABE continues to provide training for those School Governance Councils that request our support. We view this collaboration between local boards of education and Councils as a way to help transform schools, as well as galvanizing the community on education issues. We provided training for School Governance Councils in four districts and are glad to help out when other members desire the training for their councils..
Photo courtesy Newington Public Schools
Coming in 2012-2013 Revised Glossary of School Board Terms
The Journal
– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2012 CABE and Baldwin Media: Partners in Managing Communications
The
New Collective Bargaining Handbook available
Media Message
from Ann Baldwin, Baldwin Media Marketing, LLC Even though the new school year has just begun, some districts were still busy over the summer dealing with some pretty high profile media stories. Due to the confidentially of these situations, I can’t speak to the details, but from a public relations perspective, I can speak to what was done right to minimize the media impact and more importantly the public perception of the issues.
Step One: Know the benefits of CABE membership
Step Four: Bringing in Hands on Expertise In two of these situations the media was heavily interested in telling the story. The problem was initially that; 1) they didn’t truly understand the issue and 2) the media was getting their information from the wrong people. How many times have you seen or read a story where the reporter merely stops at a gas station or any public place and asks a totally random person a question, who doesn’t know the details, but wants to say something for that ten seconds of fame? It happens ALL the time. That is why it is important that media inquiries are not
All three districts are CABE members and were aware of the fact that one of the benefits of their CABE membership is the immediate services of Baldwin Media. They called and spoke to me and in one of the three situations, we were able to deal with their issue with just a couple of phone calls and the approach worked. In the case of the other two situations, a more comprehensive plan and strategy was needed. Baldwin Media was then contracted via CABE by these districts to put together a more extensive communicaCABE recently mailed to member board tion plan for some pretty big issues. chairs a copy of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) publication, Telling Your Story: A Communications Step Two: Guide for School Boards. Coordination of The Guide is a quick read full of valuable information that will assist you and communications between your Board in understanding and improvthe Superintendent ing your communications strategies and the Board Chair throughout the course of the school year. It is important in sensitive situations While the guide gives you a lot of usethat the Superintendent and the Board are ful information and strategies for a more on the same page as far as what informasuccessful communications initiative, oftion can (or will) be released to the media ten additional resources and expertise are and to the public as well as strategically needed, especially in a crisis communicafiguring out who the best spokesperson is tions situation. in these particular cases. For example, in Over the course of the past couple of one scenario, which was an issue involvyears, several boards of education and ing an administrator, it was appropriate for superintendents have taken advantage of the Board Chair to speak to the press CABE’s contractual affiliation with Baldinitially and then as the situation evolved, win Media Marketing (see above), proit was the Superintendent who released viding hands-on assistance, professional information.
ignored and that the correct information gets out there on your district’s behalf. Oftentimes what Baldwin Media will do is filter the media calls and inquiries and prepare our “spokesperson” in advance of talking with the reporter. We may have five minutes or five hours but whatever it is, it is always beneficial to be prepared. Editorial Note: CABE and Baldwin Media partner to provide crisis management services in the initial phase of a media emergency to all CABE members. In addition, we now offer communications services through CABE and delivered by Baldwin Media. For further information, contact Executive Director Robert Rader at 860-571-7446 or rrader@cabe.org.
CABE is pleased to introduce the newly updated Collective Bargaining Handbook. This handbook contains practical information that we believe will enable you to better understand the collective bargaining process and be a more prepared member of your board of education. There is no substitute for careful preparation. New in this revision is an explanation of the Teacher Negotiation Act and the Municipal Employees Relations Act. There are sections on: ground rules, preparing for negotiations, bargaining strategies and techniques, provisions a public employer should try to obtain, common board mistakes in bargaining, and collective bargaining terms. This handbook is designed as a reference guide to the negotiations process for school boards. The handbook is not intended to provide specific or direct advice regarding the legal responsibilities of the school board or school officials. For specific legal advice or if assistance is required, please contact CABE at 860-571-7446 or your district’s negotiating attorney. The handbook was mailed to board chairs in August. If you would like additional copies they are available for $7.95 each by calling CABE at 800-317-0033 or 860-5717446.
New publication provides communications strategies
Step Three: Development of “Key Messages” Regardless of who is speaking to the “issue,” it is imperative that key messages are developed. Despite what questions the media or the public asks you, what is the message that you want to disseminate? This process is especially valuable for educators, who with all due respect, don’t always speak in layman’s terms. While we all realize that due to legal issues and confidentiality there are certain things that can’t be discussed, there are ways of saying something that will hopefully calm the fury and let people know that the situation is being dealt with in an appropriate manner.
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development and expertise to CABE member districts. The ultimate goal for all of us is to get the good word out on the positive things that are happening in public education. You can contact CABE at 860-571-7446 or Baldwin Media directly at 860-408-1580. If you would like to purchase additional copies of Telling Your Story, A Communications Guide for School Boards, they are available for $8.95 each by calling CABE at 860-317-0033 or 860-571-7446.
State Election Enforcement Commission rules in Board favor A board of education member may express support for a pending referendum during a televised board of education meeting without violating the law as long as members of the general public are allowed to express opinions. A complaint was filed by George Ruhe alleging that Martin Walsh, a member of the Wethersfield Board of Education, expressed support for a referendum during a televised meeting of the board of education in April of this year. Connecticut General Statute Section 9-369b(a) provides that “No expenditure of state or
municipal funds shall be made to influence any person to vote for approval or disapproval of any such proposal or question.” The State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) found that Mr. Walsh’s opportunity to make comment was, in effect, no greater than any member of the public wishing to speak and, as such, the nature of his municipal office was immaterial. The SEEC also ruled on a separate complaint filed by Mr. Ruhe regarding a flyer that allegedly supported the referendum to renovate the high school. The
SEEC found that the Town of Wethersfield and its agents wrote the flyer with help from an architectural firm, consulted the town attorney, and then sought advice from SEEC employees. Edits that the SEEC’s employees recommended were included in the flyer and the amended flyer was submitted back to the SEEC for additional review. The SEEC found that the law was not violated in either instance. CT Law Tribune, August 6, 2012 Kelly B. Moyher Senior Staff Attorney, CABE
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The Journal
– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2012
Schools can’t reject blueberries Editor’s Note: Jamie Vollmer was the Friday morning speaker at the 2010 CABE/CAPSS Convention. We thought you’d enjoy this story! “If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn’t be in business very long!” I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of inservice.Hence their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife. I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the
middle1980s when People Magazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.” I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and
out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society.” Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure, and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement! In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced – equal parts ignorance and arrogance. As soon as I finished, a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant – she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload. She began quietly, “We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.” I smugly replied, “Best ice cream in America, Ma’am.” “How nice,” she said. “Is it rich and smooth?” “Sixteen percent butterfat,” I crowed. “Premium ingredients?” she inquired. “Super-premium! Nothing but triple A.” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming. “Mr. Vollmer,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of
blueberries arrive, what do you do?” In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap…. I was dead meat, but I wasn’t going to lie. “I send them back.” She jumped to her feet. “That’s right!” she barked, “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s school!” In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians, and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, “Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!” And so began my long transformation. Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America. Jamie Robert Vollmer © 2011 Jamie Vollmer is a former business executive and attorney who now works to increase public support for America’s public schools. His new book, Schools Cannot Do It Alone is available at www.jamievollmer.com
CABE-Meeting CABE-Meeting is a user-friendly, web-based service specifically designed to assist the board, superintendent and central office staff in preparing for and running board of education meetings. An exciting feature designed for use by committees, in addtion to boards of education, was recently added to CABE-Meeting. Now all your board work and committee information is conveniently located in one place!
Is CABE-Meeting for you?
Learn more:
• Do you want to save your district money? • Do you want to utilize technology to enable staff to be more efficient? • Do you want to focus more of your human and financial resources on increasing student achievement in your district? • Do you want to enhance communication with your community? • Do you want to model the methods that should be used to infuse technology in your schools? If you answered “yes” to at least one of the above questions, read on. CABE-Meeting can help you!
Take a few minutes and go to http://www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=158 to complete our CABE-Meeting cost analysis worksheet (located at the bottom of the page) and see how much your district can save in one year. Districts can save thousands of dollars each year by using CABE-Meeting. For more information, a list of districts currently using CABEMeeting or to schedule a demonstration for your board, call Lisa Steimer at 800-317-0033 or 860571-7446 or email lsteimer@cabe.org.
CABE-Meeting Lisa Steimer Connecticut Association of Boards of Education 81 Wolcott Hill Road Wethersfield, CT 06109 www.cabe.org
The Journal
– Connecticut Association of Boards of Education • September 2012
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Education Reform update (continued from page 1) rated into the model a great deal of room for professional judgment, as well as flexibility based on the needs and priorities of particular districts and schools. While some members of the Working Groups reacted negatively to the “speed” of this process, we were impressed that the Commissioner, the State Board of Education and the SDOE took advantage of the Governor’s focus on education reform to push forward changes to performance evaluation standards at a pace generally not seen in government actions. The consulting groups that facilitated this process made us aware of best practices from other states, and we were able to contribute similar best practices from our own school districts. The consultants also encouraged
1. CABE Board and Staff Members Who Served on Committees: Teacher - James Marpe (Westport) and Patrice McCarthy (CABE Staff) Administrator - Elaine Whitney (Westport) and Bob Rader (CABE Staff) Pupil Personnel Services - Richard Murray (Killingly), Anne Gruenberg (Hampton) and Sheila McKay (CABE Staff)
dialogue and feedback from all the stakeholders represented in the Working Groups, but they were also very effective in limiting redundant discussion and creating closure on key points.
Where Do Things Stand? The pilots of the new Connecticut State Model for Educator Performance Evaluation and Support are underway in ten districts. Even more importantly, every district in Connecticut will be required to implement either the State Model or its own Commissioner-approved plan starting on July 1, 2013. Yes, things are moving fast. And yes, the changes will be substantial for every district in Connecticut – and huge for some. But, ready or not, districts need to act now.
2. List of pilot districts: Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge; Branford; Bridgeport; Capitol Region Education Council (CREC); Columbia, Eastford, Franklin, and Sterling; Litchfield and Region 6; Norwalk; Waterford; Windham; and Windsor. Additional Information is available on the SDE website (http://www.sde. ct.gov).
What Role Should Board Members Play? As a starting point, if they have not already done so, boards should consider adding preparation for the new system of teacher and administrator evaluation and support to their goals for 2012-13. Next, each board member should become familiar with two key outputs from PEAC and its Working Groups: 1. The Core Requirements: The minimum standards each district must meet. This set of standards was asopted as guidelines by the State Board of Education. 2. The State Model: A pre-approved, flexible plan and set of resources which meets the Core Requirements and is being piloted this year. The State Model can be seen as an “off the shelf” plan for addressing the new requirements. It is targeted to be both flexible enough to meet the needs of a large majority of Connecticut districts and rigorous enough to incorporate incentives and opportunities for the continuous professional growth of our educators. During the course of the 2012-13 school year, boards and their districts will need to: • Follow the pilot implementation process and any associated lessons learned (CABE will provide updates
and seminar opportunities, including a session at the CABE/CAPSS Convention to facilitate this); • Compare the Core Requirements and the State Model to your district’s current approach. • Decide what part(s), if any, of the State Model your district will adopt. • Develop a district-specific plan for any components of the new system where your district will diverge from the State Model (if anywhere). • Obtain approval from the Commissioner of any district-specific plans. • Assess the budget implications of how your district will implement the new system (e.g., administrative staffing levels; where to allocate your district’s professional and curriculum development resources). To prepare for the 2013-14 budget cycle, we suggest that districts should at least begin this discussion this fall. • Conduct corresponding profesional development in advance of the 2013-14 launch (i.e., by summer 2013). As much work as there is ahead, we are hopeful that this new system will be a model for other states and will help Connecticut to close its achievement gap through raising the achievement of all of its students.
Running a district is hard Lighten your load with an updated policy manual
You need an up-to-date policy manual to run your district effectively. CABE can help. Our policy specialists will assist in updating your manual, ensuring your district’s policies are current and up-to-date with the Connecticut statutes. Call Vincent Mustaro, Senior Staff Associate for Policy Service (860) 571-7446 or (800) 317-0033 to begin updating your manual today.