July 11, 2024

Your MASA Summer To-Do List!

• Are you a mentor to a new MASA member? Please check to see if your mentee has registered for Great Start.

• Have you renewed your MASA membership? We look forward to serving you another year and welcome our MASE colleagues to join, as well!  Register here!

• Are you a leader for your region? Please send your name to taylor.ethen@mnasa.org.

• Have you signed up for one of MASA’s four standing committees? All meetings are hybrid so no matter your location, we hope you consider selecting a committee. Please fill out this short form to indicate your committee preference. 

• If you are a business partner, have you renewed your membership? Information can be found here events.resultsathand.com/masabp25/2784

• Are you a member of the Regions 1-8 Technology Component Group? Please remember to vote for the Greater MN Technology Representative who will serve on the MASA Board of Directors.

• Are you a superintendent who has yet to complete the superintendent salary survey? Please consider doing so here!

AASA to-do list…Members of AASA are asked to complete this survey regarding how your district spent its American Rescue Plan dollars. According to Noelle Ellerson Ng of AASA, response rates to the survey from across the nation are low.  Let’s be MN Strong once again and comply in big numbers with this request!

****TIME CHANGE**** Earned Sick and Safe Time, ESST, Webinar 

Do you have questions about implementing the recent changes to ESST? This webinar is in response to requests for more information regarding ESST and is being offered through a collaboration of the following education organizations: Minnesota Association of School Administrators, Minnesota Association of School Business Officials, Association of Metropolitan School Districts, Minnesota School Boards Association, and the Minnesota Rural Education Association.

For this webinar on July 25 from 11:00am-Noon we ask that school districts submit their ESST questions here prior to the session. What is received will guide the topics in the webinar. 

Federal Update from AASA Staff

This week, Minnesota’s AASA Governing Board representatives are in Washington D.C. advocating on behalf of our members. We've scheduled appointments for them to meet with Minnesota’s eight representatives and two senators to discuss the appropriation proposal detailed below. We encourage you to contact your school district’s representative and our senators to express your concerns about the damaging impacts of this proposal.

From AASA staff…

“The House has released its FY25 Labor, health and Human Services, Education proposal – which cuts funding for the Department of Labor by 14%. Most notably, the bill cuts Title I by 25% ($4.7 billion) and eliminates Title II along with many other programs. Inversely, the proposal includes modest increases for IDEA ($30 million), REAP ($5 million), Impact Aid ($5 million) and Title IV ($10 million). Ahead of the subcommittee markup, AASA sent this letter to the subcommittee members. The full committee markup coincides with our Legislative Advocacy Conference’s Hill Day – so members can hear directly from supts on just how damaging this proposal is for education.

The Senate has announced that it is moving forward with partisan topline numbers after failing to reach a compromise. We will continue to watch if they are able to pass bipartisan proposals out of committee.”

Working on your 2024-2025 School Calendar?

This infographic was shared with me and I thought you might find it useful!

Have any Fun Pics to Share of your Summertime Adventures?

Though not a summertime pic, this one was shared with me recently. Recognize this retired superintendent? Send your guess to deb.henton@mnasa.org.

Leadership Matters!

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.” - John Lubbock