LM Apr 2023 hi

Message From the Executive Director Learn Best Practices at IASA’s Virtual School Safety Day of Learning on April 12

Dr. Brent Clark

In the wake of the horrific school shooting in Nashville, school administrators everywhere have been re-reviewing safety protocols and procedures. Superintendents are asking important questions about hardening facilities, streamlining communications, conducting threat assessments, improving emergency preparedness and identifying preventative measures. IASA is proud to help educators answer some of those hard questions with a virtual Day of Learning on April 12 dedicated to school safety. This free event is the perfect opportunity to learn the latest news, top practices and advice from school safety experts and school administrators. Sessions will focus on accelerating response times to an active shooter situation, reunification best practices, benefits of indoor location and asset management and behavioral threat assessments. The presenters include CrisisGo, Siyata Mobile, ZeroEyes AI (Camera Gun Detection), Positive Proof, Rise Vision and IASA members. Click here to learn more and register. Speaking of politics, this legislative session has been extremely hectic. At one point, IASA was tracking around 600 bills that would impact public education. The good news is IASA, with the help of other school management groups, has been successful in beating back potentially massive unfunded mandates on school districts. For example, a proposal that would have created a new minimum wage of $20 per hour for all school district and joint agreement employees (e.g. custodial staff, classroom assistants, transportation employees) was never called for a vote on the House floor. Potential mandates for electric

school buses and dyslexia screening were not called for a vote either. The proposal to mandate full-day kindergarten across Illinois in the 2023–24 school year was amended, with the start date being pushed back to the 2027–2028 school year. IASA continues to negotiate with the bill sponsor and push for a solution that would be more manageable. I am extremely proud of our team, particularly the advocacy efforts of Madeline McCune, IASA’s Director of Governmental Relations, and Emily Warnecke, IASA’s chief of staff. They have been in meetings nonstop with legislators and other stakeholders advocating on behalf of IASA members. Of course, this legislative session is far from over. IASA is still tracking around 100 bills that impact public education, including a number of proposals that are concerning—curriculum mandates, modifying the teacher tenure process and a 24-hour notification requirement for bullying. It remains critical that superintendents continue to make our voices heard on these matters. Be on the lookout for Capitol Watch updates and Calls to Action to fill out witness slips. We know our advocacy efforts are always more successful when superintendents make their voices heard directly to legislators. To close, have a great two months to end the school year. I hope you continue to reinforce the message to students and staff that everyday matters. Our students deserve our best effort.

3 LM April 2023