California School Business News - April 26, 2022.pdf

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April 26, 2022

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CONGRATULATIONS TO 2022 SKY JOYNER AWARD WINNER MOLLY SCHLANGE p. 7

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California Association of School Business Officials The Foremost Authority on School Business

SCHOOLbusiness news WITH HALF OF DISTRICTS FACING SHORTAGES, IT’S TIME TO RETHINK SCHOOL JOBS

CBO / HUMAN RESOURCES / PAYROLL A new analysis by the Center on Reinventing Public Education finds 93 of 100 large and urban districts have talked about staffing shortages in the 2021-22 school year. About half of these districts — 48 of them — are experiencing shortages across multiple departments and positions.

While some have gotten creative in filling open jobs, many have struggled to hold onto dissatisfied educators and compete against a flourishing gig economy and new remote working conditions that offer more flexibility and options to workers, often for more pay, according to a report from The 74.

Experts say this moment calls for bold reconsideration of some assumptions about the teacher workforce and coordinated action across the local, state and federal levels. Failure to act could cause public education to become a second-rate profession with schools acting as a destabilizing force in children’s development.

Here are some possible courses of action according to The 74’s research analysts: Expand grow-your-own pipelines that attract a broader, more diverse pool of talent. Districts or states must create a formal path for new employees who may not meet certification thresholds to start as hourly staff and progress into school and central office leadership roles as they gather experience, certifications and responsibility. Such programs could provide introductory courses in high school, paid summer internships in college and financial incentives to recruit graduates back to work in the schools they once attended.

Districts could also increase the appeal of harder-to-staff positions, like substitute teachers and bus drivers, by offering these workers clear pathways to better-paying jobs as professional educators. The U.S. Department of Education, which has sympathized with the plight of districts and teachers, could play a greater role in incentivizing pipeline programs or coordinating best practices across states.

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April 26, 2022 Demand that state leaders and labor agreements reduce barriers to entering the profession.

Districts need more flexible teacher certification requirements and school-day scheduling options. Certification standards should reflect an updated understanding of what teachers must know and be able to do to provide students with a well-rounded and holistic education.

State certification requirements should especially acknowledge the work logged by “informal educators” who stepped in during the pandemic — community organization staff and parents who led their children’s education outside the classroom.

Similarly, while well intended, rigid instructional minute and daily schedule requirements prevent districts from shaping a work environment that offers the autonomy and flexibility more students and teachers alike have come to expect as remote collaboration transforms other aspects of work and life. Adolescents are at the same risk of leaving school as teachers are, as employers now offer $15-an-hour minimum wage jobs that compete for their time during the traditional school day. Districts have to be able to move from the standard 8-to-3 school day to offer attractive options to teachers looking for flexible schedules and students looking to join the workforce while completing high school.

Create more diverse working environments that in turn create more diverse learning options for students. The role of the teacher must be re-examined. Arizona State University and its partner districts are reconfiguring the role of a singular “teacher” into coordinated teams with specialized positions, reflecting the diverse array of skills needed to holistically support the whole child. Districts have the opportunity now to pilot long-term, high-quality remote school options, creating new working and learning environments that can appeal to educators who have developed new preferences and might otherwise leave their classrooms.

Indianapolis Public Schools began this work last spring, authorizing two new district-affiliated public charter schools, partnered with community-based organizations to reflect student and community needs, to provide a permanent high-quality remote learning option. Guilford County Public Schools has established after-school learning hubs that provide personalized academic and social-emotional support to disengaged high school students and compensate them for their time. Such approaches, currently an exception to the norm and requiring vision and bold leadership, would gain more traction were there more attention and endorsement from national education leaders.

Districts have unprecedented stimulus funds and two years to invest them in pilot ideas like these. State leaders must step in to provide the flexibility for them to do this and reward and promote innovative approaches. Universities must be willing to rethink educational training and recruitment to meet the changing needs of the schools they support. And the federal government must encourage state- and district-led innovations that build a quality pool of future educators who can build the next generation of leaders equipped to confront the challenges that await.

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SCHOOLbusiness news FOUR COMPONENTS OF A VIABLE SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION PLAN CBO / RISK MANAGEMENT School leaders everywhere will likely remember last December’s TikTok challenge that encouraged students to make threats of shootings, bombs and violence against schools. Some schools enhanced security protocols while others canceled classes entirely. Many of the threats were ultimately unverified, but even rumors of potential school violence were enough to incite major panic for parents and put school leaders across the country on high alert, eSchool News reports.

Though many students see social media challenges as a rite of passage or a way to fit in with their peers, what they may not realize is that students caught participating in those that make threats of violence or engage in destructive behaviors face severe consequences — including criminal charges in some cases.

Schools must work with parents to inform students of the consequences associated with participating in these dangerous viral challenges. And with the spike in school violence over the last year, every threat should be taken seriously. So, what can schools do to ensure students and staff remain safe?

Early prevention Districts can start by monitoring social media posts to understand and anticipate which ones may be relevant. And teachers and school site staff should be hyper-vigilant in observing student behavior, taking note of students who are quicker to get angry and trying to understand what those triggers are to avoid pushing them past their breaking point.

We also need to understand that although it may be necessary under certain circumstances, the purpose of threat assessment is not to punish students or send them to jail, but rather provide them with assistance — like mental health support — and prevent situations from escalating.

Analyzing future threats and long-term prevention planning In an analysis of targeted attacks of school violence, the U.S. Secret Service found that plotters showed six common concerning behaviors in the months — and sometimes years — prior to acting on their plan. Those six behaviors are:

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April 26, 2022 Threats indicating intent to attack Interest in violence or topics associated with violence Weapons-related behaviors Harassing or threatening others Exhibiting a concerning mental status Extreme changes in behavior It’s important that every student has at least one adult within the school that they trust and feel safe disclosing information to. These existing relationships are necessary for students who observe dangerous behavior in their classmates, as well as those displaying the signs.

Another important part of prevention is cultivating relationships between the school and the community — this is a case where schools can use social media to their advantage. If the community is involved in the school and aware of positive news, they’ll be less apt to believe unverified rumors or be overly critical of school policy (which can be a hindrance during the emergency response process).

Strategies and tips for coordinated school emergency response A coordinated response to any crisis requires preparation. Here are the plans districts must have in place to be able to respond effectively when a crisis strikes: School emergency operations plan. A school emergency operations plan (EOP) is a multihazard plan that is intended to be used for all emergency events. The plan should include details for prevention, response and recovery. An EOP needs to be dynamically tested through regular drills and exercises and revised as needed. Emergency situations are fluid, and you can never truly plan for every contingency, but if you have a basic plan that has been practiced, the intent is that it can be easily modified as needed to fit the given situation.

Crisis communication plan. Crisis communication plans are needed for both internal and external communication. Information needs to be released strategically, presenting only necessary facts without bias or speculation. There is a fine line between being transparent and providing too much information that becomes counterproductive and can escalate the crisis situation.

Tools for coordinated response/recovery. Schools should use technology and rapidcommunication tools to streamline emergency response and recovery procedures. A key advantage for response teams is a mobile panic button that seamlessly integrates with their existing emergency management system and alerts essential school personnel to initiate the response plan.

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SCHOOLbusiness news DATA BREACH EXPOSES 820K NYC STUDENTS’ INFORMATION CBO / RISK MANAGEMENT / TECHNOLOGY The New York City Department of Education discovered a malicious actor gained unauthorized access to the personally identifiable information of about 820,000 current and former public school students. The compromised data includes students’ names, birthdays, gender, ethnicity, home language, special education status, socioeconomic status and some academic information, according to a report from K12 Dive.

The breach occurred as part of a January cyberattack on vendor Illuminate Education, a California-based company that provides software to track grades and attendance.

Illuminate promised the department it would encrypt student information in a data privacy and security agreement with the district, but the department said Illuminate had not done so during the January breach. The alleged contractual and legal violation is now under investigation by the New York State Education Department’s chief privacy officer.

The breach is one of the largest to affect a single district, according to the nonprofit K12 Security Information Exchange, which works to protect K-12 schools from cyberattacks.

In a statement, Illuminate said it is notifying customers who may have been affected by unauthorized access to personal information. The vendor said there is no related evidence of any fraudulent or illegal activity and added that it does not store financial information or Social Security numbers.

The New York City Department of Education says it will work to independently verify claims that Illuminate has increased its security protections.

The incident is an indicator of a trend in which vendors providing services to schools are at greater risk for cyberattack. In fact, school district vendors were “responsible,” as the entry point, for 55% of K-12 data breaches between 2016 and 2021.

Given the frequency vendors are found responsible for these attacks, the report recommends suppliers and vendors in the K-12 sector improve their cybersecurity practices. Some districts have looked out for certifications or included addendums to contracts to ensure vendors follow certain data privacy practices. And many states have student data privacy laws to address this issue.

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CASBOinsights CONGRATULATIONS TO MOLLY SCHLANGE, OUR 2022 SKY JOYNER AWARD RECIPIENT! SCHUYLER C. JOYNER AWARD On March 29, 2022, in Sacramento, Molly Schlange was named the 2022 recipient of the Schuyler C. Joyner Award. The award was presented during the President’s Leadership Recognition Dinner at CASBO’s 2022 Annual Conference & California School Business Expo by Harold Freiman, longtime member of CASBO and our Associate Member Committee, and a partner with Lozano Smith, a CASBO Premier Partner.

Since 1987, CASBO’s Associate Members have presented this annual award to a CASBO member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, service and commitment to school business and to our association. In addition to this individual recognition, a scholarship of $5,000 is awarded to the high school or community college of the recipient’s choice. This year, the Sky Joyner Award was presented to a CASBO Honorary Life Member who epitomizes the characteristics of dedication, passion and professionalism in school business!

Molly Schlange is a CASBO past president who has played key roles in both her professional life and here at CASBO. Currently serving as school business manager for University Preparatory School in Redding, Molly has devoted almost 23 years of both her personal and professional lives to serving California’s public schools, students and communities.

And those years have been almost the entirety of Molly’s adult life! As she said that evening in her acceptance remarks, she “never would have guessed that what started out as ‘just a job’ in school business at the age of 21 would turn into a career.” It was at that young age that she accepted an account clerk position with the Shasta Union High School District in Redding.

Though born in Sacramento, she moved to this Shasta County locale with her parents as an infant and considers herself a Redding native through and through.

Following her account clerk position, Molly moved from the district office to a school site where she served as finance clerk for the associated student body. In 2005, she joined the staff at University Preparatory School, a charter school in Redding with more than 900 students spanning grades 6 through 12. She first served as executive assistant to the superintendent/principal and then, in 2012, was promoted to school business manager. She also serves as board liaison to the University Preparatory School Educational Foundation.

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April 26, 2022 Because her school operates like a small, single-site district, Molly believes it gives her the opportunity to wear many hats. From fiscal responsibilities, to master schedule planning, to answering phones, to taking attendance or cleaning cafeteria tables, she's done it all, and she relies on that experience each day. "Working within such a broad scope allows me to analyze the organization as a whole and evaluate how we move forward,” she says.

For Molly, planning that forward progress includes listening to the stories of her district’s students and educators, which she then shares with elected leaders in Sacramento through her involvement in legislative advocacy. It all pays off when she sees the students walk across the graduation stage. "Knowing I played a part in their success — even if behind the scenes — is the best reminder of why I do what I do. It’s more than a job: it’s an investment in the future.”

Molly is diligent about investing in her own future as well, having served in many leadership roles in school business. A member of the California Association of School Business Officials since 2000 and a certified graduate of our CBO training program, she has served as our president and in various roles on several of our operational committees. She also was instrumental in the creation of the Shasta Cascade Section and served as its first section board president.

Molly is also a member of the Association of California School Administrators and a 2015 graduate of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team CBO Mentor Training Program.

Throughout these years of service, she's built a statewide professional network that gives her the ability to call on any individual working in school business with knowledge or expertise different from her own, which she believes is vital to her success as a school business leader.

Molly and her husband Josh live in Redding, and they have two sons, Trey and Spencer. When she isn’t at work managing daily office operations, coordinating events and handling school finances, she can usually be found spending time with her family.

As part of Sky Joyner Award winner honors, recipients receive a $5,000 scholarship which they are allowed to award to the high school or community college of their choice. Molly has chosen to confer her scholarship award on University Preparatory School to support their Peer Mentor Program.

Congratulations to Molly on your well-deserved honor, and thank you for all you do for CASBO and our profession!

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CASBOinsights CASBO PAYS TRIBUTE TO 2021-22 MEMBER VOLUNTEERS ANNUAL RECOGNITION According to our early survey reports — not to mention onsite word of mouth — the verdict is in: After a too-long hiatus, our 2022 Annual Conference & California School Business Expo in Sacramento last month was a welcome experience!

We want to thank all of the many attendees who grabbed us in the hallways, at the Expo and during the social networking events to personally tell us how much you were enjoying the event and being together in person for the first time since 2019. For our part, we relished the smiles, the hugs, the fist and elbow bumps, and everything else that only a person-to-person meeting can engender. It was so great to see you all.

As you can imagine, to deliver an event we usually know by heart, we reached deeply into our history and tradition to access our conference “muscle” memory and provide you with three days that warranted your efforts of traveling, vaccination screening and sore feet! And there is no way we could have ever pulled it all off without the help and support of our many volunteers.

Let’s First Honor Our 2021-22 Award-Winning Leaders For their contributions, we had several outstanding members who were recognized at our President’s Leadership Recognition Dinner in Sacramento on March 29 with CASBO awards. We congratulate and thank every one of these devoted, award-winning members for their service to CASBO! Then, Put Your Hands Together for Our 2022 Annual Conference Committee For all of the tireless and selfless work they did planning the 125 professional development sessions that ensured an unparalleled return to an in-person Annual Conference this year, we applaud with gratitude our 2022 Annual Conference Committee.

And Close the Recognition Loop With a Shout Out for Our 2022 Annual Conference Volunteer Task Force!

In recognition of their encouraging positivity and “can do” attitudes onsite in Sacramento, making certain each individual workshop and social event functioned as smoothly as possible, we gratefully acknowledge our 2022 Annual Conference Volunteer Task Force.

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April 26, 2022 The grass-roots nature of our organization, and our members’ dedication and willingness to serve, are at the heart of what we do. It is for that reason that we annually acknowledge the steadfast member volunteers who have made a significant contribution to CASBO during the past year.

We thank all of you for the role you played on behalf of CASBO. You made a significant contribution to our association and our premier event, or were a source of critical support to someone who did. Without you, our volunteers, bringing Annual Conference back to Sacramento in person — and guiding CASBO through the past year of lingering COVID challenges — would never have been the successful and satisfying experience that it truly was.

It was such a joy to see you all again … and that makes us look forward even more with anticipation to Long Beach 2023. Well done, everyone!

This complimentary symposium offers guidance on “going green” with an emphasis on campuses, curriculums, culture & communities.

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CASBOinsights CONGRATULATIONS TO KEITH BUTLER, OUR NEW SOUTHERN SECTION STATE DIRECTOR STATE LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENT We are pleased to announce the appointment of our next CASBO Southern Section State Director, Keith Butler, chief business official for the Torrance Unified School District. Congratulations, Keith!

Keith has been involved in CASBO for more than 11 years, including serving as president of the San Diego/Imperial Section Board of Directors and a previous turn as the San Diego/Imperial Section State Director, so he already is experienced in this role! (Learn more about Keith.) He is also the current facilitator of CASBO’s CBO Morning Roundtable, held on the first and third Fridays of each month.

Keith volunteered to serve out the remaining term of the previous director, Thomas Tan, who had to vacate the post due to his recent change in CASBO regional sections. His term of service begins immediately and extends through the close of our Annual Conference in 2024 (Palm Springs). We wish him well in his new leadership position.

Thank you, Keith, for your willingness to step into this role and carry your section through this transition. We’re happy to have you back as a member of the CASBO board!

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LEADERSHIPtrends HOW TO SPRING CLEAN YOUR LEADERSHIP CLOSET EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

really important.

There’s undeniable satisfaction in being able to toss out a rag-tag pair of socks you haven’t worn in years or those suit jackets that have seen better days. But the value of spring cleaning isn’t just getting rid of old things — it’s about making space for what’s

That’s also true for leadership. Spring is the perfect time to consider what dusty old practices just don’t fit anymore. Here are ideas to welcome new techniques, tactics and ways of engaging your team from livingasaleader.com.

Scrub out the negativity After the difficulty of the past two years, leaders may be persistently negative without even realizing it. Consider the example of one leader who treated their employees terribly but who also had a sign hanging in their office that read, “Honesty, Respect, Integrity … Always.” Until this sign was brought to their attention, they had not consciously thought about their treatment of people. Like most people, leaders can be keenly aware of when they are being mistreated but are blind to their mistreatment of others. Pay attention to areas where you can clean up your act.

Freshen up your praise Select someone on your team or someone with whom you work closely who is overdue for some positive feedback from you. To ensure that the conversation goes beyond thought to action, make a plan for how you will deliver the feedback. Determine if it will be via email, phone, or handwritten note; whether it will be privately or publicly; or if you’ll jump into it “on the fly” or in a scheduled conversation. Think ahead about the specific examples you’ll cite to praise their effective behavior or performance, then use all of this to brighten someone’s day.

Touch up your skills Your technical expertise can be the very thing that helps you coach, guide and grow the members of your team. At the same time, to be effective as leaders, we need to learn and develop our own additional skills and behaviors in order to get the results we desire from them.

What leadership skills do you need to add to your repertoire? Take inventory of key actions, like whether or not you ask questions to involve others in problem-solving and decision-making, or listen to people when they speak in order to not just hear but understand.

Of course, cleaning and tidying are jobs that are never done, and the same goes for leadership practices. But now that spring is here, it’s a good idea to take a deep dive into where you can scrub up and throw out practices that no longer work and instead bring forth what needs to see the light of day!

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NOTE THESE FACTORS TO ENSURE EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING HEALTH & SAFETY If you want your employees to feel inspired, engaged and focused on your organization’s mission, you’ll need to focus on the key factors that are involved in everyone’s well-being.

According to Martin Zwilling for Inc.com and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, employee wellness encompasses these eight areas: Physical health. You probably already understand this dimension, which includes how well your team members observe healthy living habits, including nutrition, exercise and rest — both on the job and outside the workplace.

Emotional stability. This relates to every team member's ability to manage stress, control emotions, and cope with business and personal challenges.

Financial strength. Financial well-being is the ability of every team member to feel comfortable with the financial rewards provided by your organization.

Social interaction. Every person requires some level of positive human interaction with coworkers and others to be satisfied and productive. For you, this means providing a positive team culture, being a role model for good communication and creating a support network of colleagues.

Spiritual connection. This is all about the company values and purpose that give meaning and direction to your team. You need team members who understand and share these values if you want commitment and accountability from them.

Environmental safety. This begins with making every team member's work environment a safe and enjoyable place to be, complete with a feeling of order and harmony.

Occupational satisfaction. As a leader, you can greatly influence this factor by not only providing the resources and training that allow team members to do their jobs better, but also appreciate the importance of their work.

Intellectual stimulation. Let your team members feel that they are constantly learning new things and allow them to share their talents through coaching and mentoring assignments.

Delegate decisions and support their creative efforts through positive feedback and creative compensation. Ask for creative thinking and listen to feedback.

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LEADERSHIPtrends THREE WAYS TO CREATE STABILITY IN UNCERTAIN SITUATIONS THIS WEEK’S LIST There’s no denying it, these are still unstable times. But Marlene Chism, author of “No-Drama Leadership,” says we can use this period of instability and uncertainty to define the leadership of the future. Hint: For some roles, this may include a hybrid work model or communicating with team members you don’t see regularly face to face.

Here are the three methods she suggests in an article for Fast Company.

1. Clarity. In-person and hybrid leaders use clarity as their No. 1 tool for getting results. Clarity can be as simple as guiding an employee to the next right step, sharing a big vision for the future, or accurately describing a particular situation and desired outcome.

2. Communication. It’s no longer possible to rely totally on off-the-cuff conversations, hallway encounters or scheduled meetings held in a physical room. Today’s leaders must acquire good writing and speaking skills as well as competency on various platforms. They must excel at using digital communications, such as email and text, and should adapt to using various tools and meeting platforms. Remember: It’s ok to text for brief updates or requests.

Keep emails simple and short with the action item as the end.

Space and format emails for easy reading.

Use videoconferencing or in-person meetings for difficult conversations.

The phone trumps email for complex issues.

3. Conflict capacity. “Out of sight, out of mind” is not a good strategy for managing conflict in any work environment. Leaders must have the capacity and competency to manage conflict among in-person teams, remote workers, and virtual vendors, partners and contractors — not to mention any combination of working arrangements. A key skill for expanding conflict capacity is learning how to self-regulate before engaging in difficult conversations. Here are some ways to practice self-regulation before handling difficult situations: Feel the emotion, but don’t act until you have calmed down.

Instead of sending that email, send a calendar invite for a one-on-one meeting.

Plan your conversation and think about what want the result to be.

Clarify the situation by stating what’s happening that should not be happening.

Initiate a one-on-one private conversation in person or by videoconference.

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ONE-TIME COVID FUNDING TOOL

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Created by Maria Isabel Alatorre, CASBO member and Interim Fiscal Director at Lancaster School District, the One-Time COVID Funding Budget Tool can save countless hours of labor for your accounting and financial services staff.

This tool was built with the intention of allowing one-time CRF and ESSER funds to be easily accounted for in your year-end reporting.

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April 26, 2022

What Do You Think?

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TATIA DAVENPORT

Previous Issues EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOYCE TRIBBEY

FEATURES EDITOR JULIE PHILLIPS RANDLES

DESIGNER CHRISTINA NORDIN

CONTRIBUTOR JENNIFER SNELLING

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