Administration & Governance
Executive Director’s notable activities and updates
- Region 2 Retreat: I presented alongside Iván Carrillo, ACSA Senior Director of Policy and Governmental Relations, and discussed the governor’s budget in addition to ACSA priorities in the coming year.
- Region 15 Retreat: I administered the oath of office for new ACSA region officers and provided an update on ACSA priorities.
- Delaine Eastin Memorial Service: Represented ACSA at Delaine Eastin’s celebration of life event in Sacramento. Delaine Eastin was a former Superintendent of Public Instruction, long time legislator and big supporter of ACSA.
- Board of Directors Retreat: Participated and helped facilitate the annual ACSA board of directors’ retreat which was held in Oceanside.
Human Resources
- Recruitment is underway for ACSA’s next Senior Director of Human Resources.
Equity & Professional Learning Services
Administrator Networks
The LGBTQ+ Administrator Network was created for ACSA members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. After the Lead With Pride Summit, we gathered to create a vision for this network and landed on four areas: Support, Professional Development, Advocacy, and Research. We met again in July to continue our strategic planning and work to create committees for each area. If you are interested in joining, please contact Tracie Noriega at .
Academies and New Superintendents Seminar Series
Academies and the New Superintendents Seminar Series registrations are open and filling up. For information and registration on Academies, click here. For information and registration on NSSS, click here.
Conferences
All dates and locations for our 2024-25 conferences have been secured and posted on our ACSA Calendar and our Conference page. This will help regions and other organizations plan their events. Registration for the following conferences is already open:
Credentialing and Coaching
Director Tami Tooker and HR are still converting coaches to ACSA employees per AB 5 requirements. Some coaches and their candidates begin meeting this month and local program coordinators held a retreat at the ACSA offices in July. We have made changes to the program this year to provide better services and support for new administrators. These changes included structural changes that will create a more cohesive alignment and experience. We look forward to collecting data and making any additional adjustments.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Director Anthony Robinson will lead our cabinet team through an equity audit process that will lead to work with all ACSA departments. This process will be an opportunity to self-reflect and self-audit our services to members and actions as an organization.
Extended Learning
ACSA has finalized the 2024-25 offerings, focusing on 1-2 major themes each month. We continue to allow space as we identify hot topics, successful workshops from conferences, and specific requests from districts. Due to low attendance, live workshops delivered via our Partners4Purpose will now become on-demand sessions. Live workshops will still be held depending on the topic. Please visit our Course Catalogue to see our featured upcoming workshops: Latina Mentoring, Title IX, and Dare To Lead. Please note that our 3–4-part sessions on Artificial Intelligence are being finalized and there will be more information soon.
Financial Services (FS)
Region and Charter Alignment
The ACSA Financial Services team is prioritizing the development of solutions, processes, communications and training for ACSA Regions and ACSA Charters related to accounting and tax compliance. The goal is to identify opportunities to ease the burden on region and charter members while adhering to audit and tax requirements. Many ideas are on the table. In the coming weeks, these ideas and options will be shared with regions and charters, and we will work through solutions together.
Audit – FY24
The Financial Services team is closing year-end FY24 and gearing up for the FY24 audit, which is tentatively planned to occur during Q4 2024.
Investments
ACSA continues to deploy investment resources in optimal income vehicles earning +5 percent.
Information Technology
The IT department has several ongoing projects, including:
- Development of a “run book” for disaster recovery of critical services.
- Execution of an IT security assessment and security policy creation.
- Development of a full IT strategic plan covering the entire technical environment within the organization.
- Field staff equipment deployment.
Enterprise Project Management
SNAAP – Enterprise Ecosystem Implementation
- The ETA for going live remains Q4 2024 (November 2024). The “build phase” of the implementation is 45 percent complete.
- This implementation will replace ACSA’s current ERP (NetSuite) and member management system (AMS), as well as other smaller ancillary systems and processes.
Website Technology Assessment
ACSA is exploring a professional website technology assessment that will lead to a recommendation and roadmap for a new website and smartphone application strategy. The new tools will positively contribute to our members’ experience and will leverage new and upcoming data and capabilities from the SNAAP implementation.
Enterprise Data Development and Security
- ACSA is developing policies and processes that ensure effective control and use of data assets and ongoing data innovation and modernization.
- This includes the development of a holistic enterprise data strategy and roadmaps for all aspects of data, including enterprise data retention and data security, with a strong focus on protecting PII.
Governmental Relations
Behind the Bills podcast
ACSA has launched a new podcast where members can access the latest updates on policy and political work affecting education. Click the links below to access. Be sure to subscribe to stay updated on the latest happenings.
Legislature approves 2024-25 state budget agreement
In late June, Gov. Newsom signed the 2024-2025 state budget agreement. The school funding (Prop. 98) represents a significant victory for schools and the students we serve. ACSA fought to reject the Prop. 98 manipulation proposal and our success protects and retains $5 billion in school funding this year alone. We continue to remind lawmakers that schools face serious fiscal challenges caused by declining enrollment, rising costs, expiring one-time funds and attendance levels that still lag behind historical figures.
For more information, read ACSA’s summary document here.
Notable Legislation
The Legislature is on summer recess and reconvenes on August 5. Upon their return, lawmakers will have one month to send bills to the governor. ACSA is actively engaged in advocacy efforts on a host of bills, including:
- AB 2088 (McCarty) – OPPOSE – Status: Senate Appropriations.
AB 2088 would create a right of refusal for senior classified employees with minimum qualifications and adds a 10-day waiting period to hire external candidates.
- AB 2557 (Ortega) – OPPOSE – Status: Senate Labor, Public Employment & Retirement.
AB 2557 requires online posting of all contracts for services, and union notification for RFPs for services provided by in-house employees at any point in the last 5 years.
- AB 1955 (Ward) – SUPPORT – Status: Governor’s desk for signature
AB 1955 would prohibit school adoption of forced outing policies and provide protections for employees upholding student privacy rights.
- SB 1504 (Stern) – SUPPORT – Status: Assembly Judiciary Committee.
SB 1504 would require social media platforms to have a reporting tool for inappropriate conduct, accessible to parents and educators outside the platform.
- AB 2998 (McKinnor) – SUPPORT – Status: Senate Appropriations.
AB 2998 would allow minors to carry over-the-counter naloxone hydrochloride on a school campus and includes indemnification language covering the LEA.
- SB 997 (Portantino) – WATCH – Status: Assembly Appropriations.
SB 997 would allow LEAs to adopt board policies that allow students to carry and administer over-the-counter naloxone hydrochloride at school. SB 997 would also require schools to stock and distribute test strips and provide instructions on their use.
- AB 2927 (McCarty) – SUPPORT IF AMENDED – Status: Governor’s desk for signature.
AB 2927 would mandate one semester of personal finance as a graduation requirement. Specifically, LEAs, including charter schools, are required to offer a personal finance course by 27-28, and the graduation requirement would apply to the class of 30-31.
- AB 2268 (Muratsuchi) – SUPPORT – Status: Signed into law on June 14.
AB 2268 would exempt children enrolled in Transitional Kindergarten from being assessed using the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC).
- AB 359 (Holden) & SB 1244 (Newman) – SUPPORT – Status: Appropriation Committees.
AB 359 would amend the CCAP dual enrollment program to align with best practices and streamline access for K-12 students statewide. SB 1244 allows a community college district to offer dual enrollment in another district’s service area if the local district declines or fails to act within 60 days.
Marketing & Communications
ACSA Leadership Classroom podcast
In July we launched the ACSA Leadership Classroom podcast. The Leadership Classroom features in-depth interviews with leaders from outside of education. Our guests will discuss their leadership journey and tell us about the educators and leaders who helped them along the way. They will discuss their leadership styles and how they stay current with technology, employee trends and the business they are in. Plus, they will offer advice to listeners on how they can better serve their industry and staff.
Our first guest was tech entrepreneur and NBA owner Vivek Ranadive. This month Sacramento State University president Dr. Luke Wood will be on our podcast. Our guests for later this fall include a football player turned restaurant mogul. You can listen to the ACSA Leadership Classroom, as well as our ACSA Legislative Lunch Break and Behind The Bills podcasts, on Apple and Spotify.
Member Services
ACSA Volunteer Mentor Program Transitioning to Coaching Model
July 1 marks the official transition of the volunteer mentor program, which has been under Member Services for the last 8 years, to a pilot coaching program. The pilot program, a collaboration between ACSA Member Services and ACSA Professional Learning Services, will be seeded with $100,000 and open to all members. However, it will also focus on serving principals. All proteges can receive up to 25 hours of paid coaching from an ACSA-certified coach.
The current mentor program serves more than 150 new administrators and has supported 1,200 members since July 2015.
We are grateful to the 11 regional mentor facilitators who have worked closely with state ACSA and served as key connectors between members and knowledgeable mentors. Their commitment to serving the next generation allowed this program to exist the way it did for close to a decade.
Membership Year-End Success
The membership year-end process for FY23-24 was successful. Our Member Services team was able to collect and input all the member data in preparation for the new fiscal year.
Looking ahead to the fiscal year 2024-2025, we have already begun implementing several key initiatives:
- Renewals for FY24-25: Renewal notices for the upcoming fiscal year have been sent out to our members. Our goal is to maintain and exceed the renewal rates achieved in the previous year.
- District Monthly Deduction: We have communicated the updated dues structure to district payroll departments, ensuring a smooth transition with the start of FY24-25. This proactive step will facilitate accurate dues collection and membership management for members who pay dues on monthly deductions.
- Institutional Services Renewals: Scheduled to commence shortly are the renewal notices for our Institutional Services for Board Members. This segment is crucial for our organization’s outreach and impact, and we aim to strengthen these partnerships further in the coming year.
- Monitor changes: It is usually at this time of year that we see movements from our members. ACSA Member Services team remains vigilant in monitoring members who may have transitioned, relocated for work, changed addresses, retired, or returned to educational settings. Your cooperation in promptly notifying ACSA of any such changes is appreciated. Please reach out to us at .
In conclusion, the past year has been marked by significant achievements in membership retention and engagement. As we move forward into FY 2024-25, we are well positioned to build upon these successes and continue serving our members and community with dedication and excellence.