Words from the Director

Words from the Director

Dr. Pam Deering, CCOSA/OASA Executive Director deering@ccosa.org

Taking Leadership to the “Next Level”

The theme of the 2022 CCOSA Conference was “Next Level Leadership.” If you attended the conference, you had the opportunity to hear from experts on many timely topics and from Dr. Rick Rigsby, one of the best speakers we have heard! His message of HOPE was inspiring! We wanted to hear more of his message as he recounted his life’s story in the book, “Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout: How the Timeless Wisdom of One Man Can Impact an Entire Generation.” Outstanding!

Other presentations provided research-based, next-level practices for school leaders and encompassed academics, school facilities, school finances and school leadership. Next level school leaders are continually looking for ways to improve opportunities for kids. Sometimes improvement comes through brand new ideas, but many times the best way to take your school to a new level is by revisiting great training from the past and adapting to current circumstances. What are some of the impacts on education that were discussed?

Virtual Education

It would be hard to find anything that has affected academics over the past three years more than virtual education. We didn’t say “positive impact,” but it was certainly an impact that came as a result of EPIC Charter Schools' growth and illegally syphoning state aid from school funding. Another impact was that the pandemic forced schools to adapt to virtual education so that students could stay connected to school while at home or by their choice.

However, some districts were already moving to support students with virtual education for those who chose to work virtually. CCOSA recognized the need for schools to learn from each other about the best way for schools to develop quality virtual education programs. Through this effort, the first Virtual Education Framework was created with school practitioners from around the state with this in mind.

Over the course of these three years and to date, CCOSA members continued to improve their virtual education work and practices. In fact, through a yearlong series of meetings a new CCOSA Virtual Education Network (VEN) was created to develop a new set of “best practices” for virtual education. The VEN consists of virtual education leaders throughout the state who meet monthly to take the researched based CCOSA Blended Framework to another level.

These leaders have set standards for virtual attendance, class sizes, SEL and social interaction for virtual students, TLE training for virtual instructors, distinguishing between alternative education and virtual, and the proper place for virtual education in the future. Over 40 members participate in the VEN, and they will be involved in assisting CCOSA in creating a new Blended Framework 3.0. This network along with CCOSA has a goal to set the standard for the nation in the proper way to implement virtual education in public schools. Look for Framework 3.0 this fall!

Energy Management

Besides staffing, in most schools the next highest budget expense is the cost of energy consumption which includes electric, natural gas, and water. There are a few next level school leaders who have implemented strategic energy efficiency programs within their schools and are saving more than 20% on their utility bills. These leaders have joined together to develop a plan that all schools can utilize to reduce energy consumption, which saves money that can then be used to benefit kids. Many schools utilize LED retrofits or controllable thermostats, but the majority don’t have a comprehensive plan in place to maximize their savings.

The CCOSA Energy Framework outlines the steps a school needs to follow to reach these energy savings goals. A next level leader is a good steward of taxpayer dollars and precious resources. Partners like OGE and CleaResult have been instrumental in supporting CCOSA’s efforts to make Oklahoma schools the most energy efficient buildings in the nation. These partners along with school leaders from energy efficient schools are working together to roll out a challenge to all Oklahoma schools to take their energy savings to another level. Be ready to join the challenge this fall!

School Funding

School finance is always a challenge, but the last two years have been exceptionally difficult. Districts lost students in FY21, experienced state aid increases, then reductions, and received much needed federal funds through CARES and ESSER. While these federal dollars were sorely needed, the strings attached to the money created new challenges that were exacerbated by legislators failing to provide increases to the state funding formula for FY23.

The need for school leaders to take budgeting to another level is greater now than ever. CCOSA developed a budget projection tool that allows school leaders to build better, more accurate budgets for transparency and accountability. With this tool, schools can input their ESSER spending plans to see how they will affect their fund balance through FY25. For more information on how to take your budgeting to another level contact glover@ccosa.org.

Leadership

Last, but not least is the art of leadership. Inspiration for the CCOSA Conference theme was John Maxwell’s book, “5 Levels of Leadership.” This book is not new nor are the ideas within the book. However, great leaders know when to fall back on successful practices from the past. OASA will be stressing Maxwell’s leadership principles throughout this year. Veteran administrators, emerging leaders, early career leaders, and the 58 first-year superintendents, will be able to take advantage of the 5 Levels that will be used as a backbone for trainings. If you want presentation materials or information to take your leadership team to another level, just contact me or Derald Glover.

School leaders should always be searching for ways to improve leadership skills and to build stronger teams who serve students. We promise that with these four areas and more, CCOSA can help you meet these challenges through training in these research based practices along with providing a network of colleagues of support. Next Level Leadership ahead!

Sincerely,

Dr. Pam Deering CCOSA/OASA Executive Director