Tracy Ginsburg, continued from page 5
seek solutions to the school
finance problem.
•
The 1973 Convention was
themed “Cliff Hanging – the
Specialty of School Business
Officials.”
•
The 1980 convention held
in McAllen was dubbed the
“Sports Clothes Convention”
since the climate was warmer
than typical for our event.
•
In 1986, the Board of Directors approved the lease
of office space in Austin at
Highway 71 for TASBO’s first
headquarters at the rate of
$1.15 / square foot. This set
the stage for real growth in
membership and programs
under the leadership of the
Association’s first full-time
Executive Director, Dr. Ed
West.
I particularly enjoyed reading the
older minutes which were prepared
on a typewriter and were yellowed
with age. As the Association’s use of
technology grew, the margins lined up
perfectly and the agendas got longer
and longer. There weren’t as many
anecdotal facts, which I truly missed.
I began to recognize names of
co-workers and peers, which I guess
is a function of age. My first boss,
Angel Ramirez from El Paso ISD, was
also a former president of TASBO. I
smiled when I read his name. I miss
him dearly – he had faith in my abilities and patiently began to mentor a
young woman who had much, much
to learn. Other names jumped off the
pages to me as well. I admired and
tried to soak up all that I could when
sitting near Linus Wright, former Superintendent of Dallas ISD, or Leonard Strum, former CFO of Houston
ISD, at events. Both men have left
huge footprints in their organizations
and in TASBO.
I hope that I leave a legacy with some
of our members and I sincerely hope
that you are striving to leave a legacy
as well. School business is tough
and we are hanging from a ledge
many days – not by choice, but by
circumstance. As a nation, we are
moving faster and faster. Our stories
aren’t told on yellowed paper with
pen and ink. We tell our stories via
short bursts on Twitter with links to
articles whose accuracy is doubtful
at best. The stories disappear almost
as quickly as they are posted. We no
longer take the time to do what a wise
school business official counseled in
1953 – “understanding of the other
fellow – listen - g