4 minute read
OASA
Dr. Pam Deering, CCOSA/OASA Executive Director Derald Glover, OASA Assistant Executive Director
Mid-Term Funding
Mid-Term Funding allocations were recently released with the factor increasing a whopping $106 bringing the factor to $3,623/ WADM! This is the first time that many can remember that the WADM growth actually dropped for the mid-term due to a law change that CCOSA supported regarding virtual student counts and the SDE holding out 2% of state aid at the start of school.
OASA hosted a discussion explaining the funding changes in detail in a free workshop on January 18th.
Bus Driver Shortage
Finding bus drivers is a major problem for schools and the requirements to obtain a bus driver license can complicate getting drivers even more. We were recently pleased that the federal government offered a waiver to states for the “under the hood” portion of the test. Lieutenant Preston Lay, Legislative Liaison, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, provided CCOSA the following statement: "The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety confirmed that Oklahoma will be compliant with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) regulation waiver on school bus driver testing requirements.”
While this is good news, there are still concerns about the short three month window for the waiver and the fact that the federal government has added more training components.
OASA Elections/Executive Committee Seats
OASA had several district executive committee seats open this year. The OASA Vice-President position is the only officer position that requires a statewide election. The new board members, new Vice President, and AASA Representative are:
Vice President - Scott Farmer, Fort Gibson Supt.
District 7 Director - Dr. Nick Migliorino, Norman Supt.
District 12 Director - Jason Goostree, Sentinel Supt.
District 15 Director - Jimmie Dedmon, Walters Supt.
District 18 Director - Rachel Pugh, Wister Supt.
AASA Representative - Dr. Melonie Hau, Supt., Newcastle
OASA Expanding Services to Central Office Groups
OASA is continuing to reach out to central office administrators to introduce them to the networking power of OASA. Recently, OASA started monthly zoom networks for virtual education directors and leaders. A new Facility and Operations Network zoom group began as well. These consortiums along with the already popular
federal programs, student information, and Indian Education consortiums are expanding the reach of OASA to hundreds of members and potential members and also providing an avenue to share great information between schools.
Ongoing training areas include:
■ Finance Bootcamp III is a spring workshop that guides a school in projecting the budget for the upcoming school year and assists in making wise decisions on hiring. Look for registrations for Bootcamp I in your email soon.
■ McRel Principal Evaluation is just one of the state required trainings that CCOSA/OASA facilitates. Hundreds of administrators have already had intial training or attended our refresher sessions.
■ CCOSA partners with OSSBA to provide training for emerging leaders who are seeking to someday become a school superintendent. Approximately 20 administrators are attending this valuable training this year and those who have attended in the past attest to the quality of this unique opportunity.
Membership
OASA is working to help CCOSA reach our goal of 3,000 CCOSA members!! Currently 93% of our superintendents are members. ■
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