OASA Association Updates

Dr. Pam Deering, CCOSA/OASA Executive Director Derald Glover, OASA Assistant Executive Director

Hope the start of school was the best one yet! On the first OASA Touch Bases of this school year on August 17, school leaders shared their stories about the start of school, run-off election concerns and other topics. In particular, the actions of the State Board of Education at their July 28, 2022 meeting were noted as “concerning” for how two traditional public schools were treated with accreditation deficiencies without the opportunity to discuss the rating as outlined in administrative rules. We will continue to keep you informed with our reports from each State Board of Education meeting.

OASA Executive Committee Retreat

The OASA leadership, OASA Officers and the OASA Executive Committee have been busy working for you this summer. Derald and I met with state executives from across the nation for professional learning, discussions regarding national education issues, and ideas for improving our associations. The OASA Officers had met earlier in the year to outline a plan that included a retreat with the OASA Executive Committee. These school leaders met in late July to learn more about how CCOSA works as an organization; to identify Oklahoma legislative challenges and solutions to engaging our communities in the support of public education; to discuss CCOSA’s Professional Liability insurance and the possibility of a new plan to serve school superintendents; and to discuss how we can better engage our Executive Committee, retain current members and recruit new members. We served 97% of Oklahoma Superintendents last year. Our goal is to serve all Oklahoma public school superintendents.

We will continue to update you on OASA Executive Committee work during the year as plans unfold for legislative advocacy, goals, and the conference that will be held on January 24-25, 2023 at the Embassy Suites in OKC. Save the dates!

Run-off Election Communications

We hope that the weekly emails for dates around the run-off elections to register and to vote have been helpful. Working with Don Ford, OROS Executive Director, we have targeted messages to our school superintendents and to all CCOSA members as reminders to get out the vote. We must not be complacent, we must vote for our voice to be heard for public education!

OSSBA/CCOSA Conference

Thanks to our OSSBA education partners and the work on the conference for school board members and school leaders. Under the leadership of Dr. Shawn Hime and his team, we have once again experienced a highly successful conference. Thanks to the CCOSA members who contributed to the success of the conference as well. The CCOSA team did a fabulous job preparing for the conference, presenting at the conference, and working the conference as we welcomed many of the same sponsors and exhibitors with whom we work at our June Conference.

TLE and McRel Training

The CCOSA office has been extremely busy this year with in person and zoom meetings for TLE and McRel training. Over 1,000 school administrators have benefited from the expertise and experience of Oklahoma education leaders, and almost 500 are signed up for trainings in September and October. Of those who have participated in training, 196 were in the TLE Tulsa Model New Administrator training; over 150 new administrators have signed up for September trainings. It is exciting to see so many new folks willing to step up to the challenge and being willing to provide leadership in Oklahoma schools.

First Year Superintendent Training

We are pleased to continue our partnership with the State Department of Education in the training of First Year Superintendents. We began this partnership 7 years ago and it has continued to grow and improve each year with new information and support for the first year superintendents. To date, we are training 63 first year superintendents. We are also in the process of helping them find mentors with the support of our OASA Executive Committee members.

OASA has worked hard to transform this training into a truly valuable experience with information that first year superintendents can use to make their first year a success. The training covers state required components but is also in line with standards from the Professional Standards in Educational Leadership (PSEL) and the components of the “Vision for Public Education” that was developed in a joint effort of CCOSA, OSSBA, and the OU K20 Center.

Saying goodbye is hard to do

We are sad to report that Elyse Maxwell, CCOSA Communications Director, has left CCOSA to start her own communications business. We wish her the best! Too, Holliann Burnett, CCOSA Communications Coordinator, left CCOSA at the end of August to work for a company that handles convention exhibitor spaces. She will have the opportunity to work from home (wherever she calls home) and travel. We know that she will do a great job and that CCOSA prepared her for the next step in her career! Saying good-bye is hard to do! We are in the process of finding people who will serve CCOSA members with the same passion! ■