Federal advocacy opportunity with ACSA and NASS coming this month
Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators Volume 49 | Number 5 | September 3 , 2018
Deadline imminent for 2018-19 ACSA vice president , VPLA nominations
Time is running short to meet the Sept . 7 deadlines for nominations for ACSA 2019- 20 vice president and vice president for legislative action , so the ACSA Executive Department is once again putting out the call for nominations to be submitted asap .
“ The office of vice president is extremely important ; it is the direct route to the presidency ,” said ACSA Board liaison , Executive
Associate Suzanne Caffrey . “ The office of vice president for legislative action is a two-year term and the person also presides over our PAC Board of Directors . We urge eligible candidates to apply now .”
ACSA Executive Director Wesley Smith points out that in addition to helping set the direction of your professional association , the path from VP to president-elect and president is one of great influence on education policy . Many ACSA presidents have gone on to positions of greater authority or continued to be trusted experts in the field .
Dave Brown , president from 1990-91 , led WASC and then the National Association of School Superintendents ; Louis Goins , ACSA ’ s first African American president ,
See NOMINATION , page 3
Alignment webinar . A webinar , Working toward Coherence : Aligning ACS WASC , SPSA , and LCAP , is coming your way Sept . 25 at 4:15 PM . The webinar ’ s purpose is to provide California school leaders with examples from the field on how to integrate the LCFF , SPSA , and ACS WASC requirements to support an effective and efficient school improvement process . This one-hour webinar is put on by ACS WASC , CDE and ACSA . To register for the event , go to http :// bit . ly / alignwebinar .
Phil Benfield takes his passion from pioneering such projects as Santa Clara COE ' s dark fiber project which connects districts through highspeed “ ring ” formations .
Pivotal in technology
Phil Benfield , director , Information Systems Center , Santa Clara County Office of Education , plays an active and pivotal role in the success of technology projects at SCCOE . Always on the lookout for innovation , Benfield is the 2018 ACSA Technology Administrator of the Year .
According to his colleagues , one of Benfield ’ s most significant achievements is leading the design and implementation of Santa Clara County Office of Education ’ s data warehouse . Called the
See BENFIELD , page 6
Katie Salo wears many hats as an assistant principal , but it all falls under the banner of championing students .
Advocate for students
Katie Salo wears a lot of hats as the assistant principal of Mt . Carmel High School in Poway Unified School District . But to all who know her , she focuses primarily on one role – student advocate .
Salo is known as a champion for all students at her school . She knows her students and advocates voraciously for them daily . She has a real belief that everyone can be successful and she values a well-rounded education . This education includes wellness , focus
See SALO , page 6
Standards feedback . Below are links to surveys for the Pupil Personnel Services draft Program Standards for School Counseling , School Psychology and School Social Work . If you have a PPS credential or expertise in PPS , please take the time to complete the survey ( s ) that relate to your specialty area ( s ). Feel free to share the survey hyperlinks with appropriate colleagues for their opportunity to provide feedback as well . The surveys will remain open until Sept . 10 .
http :// bit . ly / schoolpsychologystandards http :// bit . ly / schoolcounselingstandards http :// bit . ly / schoolsocialworkstandards
Nothing can prepare you for the death of a parent , especially when it ’ s unexpected . Mariana Thomas knows that well .
“ I lost my dad when I was 12 ,” Mariana
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Finding a school she could connect with helped Mariana Thomas turn her education around after suffering the loss of her father .
Finding a family at school
said . “ I would stay home every morning . And every morning that I woke up , I ’ d be like , ‘ Please let this be a bad dream . Please just let this be a nightmare .’ And every time
I woke up , my dad wasn ’ t there .”
On Feb . 19 , 2013 , Mario Thomas died after suffering serious injuries in a car crash in Pittsburg . Five years later , Mariana is still coping with the loss of her dad .
“ A girl is supposed to look up to her dad ,” Mariana said . “ Her dad is supposed to be her hero . Her number 1 hero in the world . When you lose your father , it feels like you don ’ t have nobody here to save you anymore .”
In the wake of his death , Mariana spiraled out of control . She admits she used fighting as a means to deal with her pain . At school , she lacked interest in her classes which led to poor grades .
“ I started off at Freedom High School in Oakley ,” Mariana said . “ I didn ’ t really go to class like that . I had all F ’ s . I only had one B at that school .”
Mariana needed a fresh start , so she transferred to Black Diamond High , a con-
See MARIANA , page 5
ACSA and the National Association of School Superintendents are holding a joint federal advocacy event later this month , Sept . 23-25 . If ACSA members have taken part in our Legislative Action Day in Sacramento and enjoyed it , then going to Washington , D . C . might be just the ticket to take those efforts to the federal arena .
ACSA knows that as educational leaders , we have a responsibility to advocate for students at all levels of government , and to ensure that those who govern education law do so with a full picture of our successes and challenges . To that end , ACSA ’ s Federal
Student support grant . The California Department of Education has announced a 2018 Request for Applications to fund the Student Support and Academic Enrichment competitive grant projects . The deadline for Notice of Intent to Submit an Application is Sept . 12 , and the deadline for applications is Oct . 17 . For more information , please see the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Competitive Grant web page at http :// bit . ly / SSAEgrants .
Envisioning CA . The Center for California Studies 29th Annual Envisioning California Conference will take place Oct . 4 in Sacramento . The event is free to the public . Information can be found at www . csus . edu / calst / envisioning _ california . html .
Federal advocacy opportunity with ACSA and NASS coming this month
Advocacy department has partnered with NASS on this event to dramatically increase ACSA ’ s advocacy impact at the federal level .
The ACSA Federal Advocacy Platform is composed of three parts : policy development and advocacy ; coordination with national affiliates and relationship building with those who have the political power to affect outcomes for our students .
ACSA members in all positions are invited to join the NASS Federal Advocacy Conference in Washington D . C . for two days of legislative training with legislators
See FEDERAL , page 3