March2020LM

Message From the Executive Director Coronavirus Reminds Us Providing Safe and Healthy Learning Environments is Our Top Priority

Dr. Brent Clark

As the leader of a school district, a superintendent is ultimately responsible for providing safe and healthy learning environments for students and staff. Over the past month, the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. has been a reminder that nothing is more important than that. Hopefully, the toolkit on the coronavirus we emailed has been helpful as you prepare your district for a possible pandemic. The situation is evolving rapidly, so I encourage you to stay on top of any new guidance offered by the Illinois Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control. In addition, AASA continues to update guidance and materials on its website, including a pandemic flu checklist for K–12 administrators. At IASA, we will continue to share updates and provide support for school leaders as news and information on the possible spread of the coronavirus becomes available. In the meantime, let’s hope this situation gets better before it gets worse. There’s no need to panic, but it’s critical you are prepared. On the legislative front, the Illinois School Construction Task Force released its final report. We wrote about it in Capitol Watch .

I would add this capital program is seriously worth taking a look at. It’s been 20 years since Illinois has had a largescale statewide construction program, which this one is gearing up to be. You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity because another one might not happen for quite some time. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read the task force’s report and discuss your capital needs with your architect, school board and community. It’s also never too early to think about a financing plan—even though the task force recommends extending the timeline school districts have to secure financing for a local match to two years. To close, it’s that point in the school year where the basketball season has ended, spring sports are beginning and students and staff are naturally beginning to lose some of the enthusiasm they had earlier in the year. As leaders, it’s crucial to reinforce the message to staff that everyday matters. The home stretch is just as important to the learning process as the first quarter. Our students deserve our best effort.

3 LM March 2020