Past Meetings

January 2024

• • Topic: Preparing for your February Budget Meetings

  • Resources:

    • DC LSAT Collective's Budget info webpage

    • Budget Primer document

February 2024

• • Topic: Budget Hotline

  • Resources:

    • Personnel Budget Comparison Template

      • This template includes all of the positions for an example elementary school for the 23-24 school year -- your school likely has a different configuration, so you may need to delete some of these positions and/or add others, and you will need to add in the number of people your school is employing in each position 

      • You can find your final staffing numbers and costs for the 23-24 school year, and work out the cost per position, by searching for your school's 2024 *Amended* budget at https://dcpsbudget.com/budget-data/school-budgets/school-budget-worksheets

      • You can find the cost for each position in 24-25 at https://dcpsbudget.com/budget-development-guide/additional-information/#Item_Catalog

      • Note that this doesn't account for any cost increases in non-personnel spending, but in most cases the vast majority of a school's budget goes towards personnel

March 2024

• • • Topics: Budget Debrief & Advocacy, Prepping for LSAT Elections, Jumpstarting a New LSAT

      • Check out the Google Group for a list of Budget Advocacy actions

January 2023

• • Topic: When the Budget Dollars Meet the Road: Tools, tips, and questions you can bring to your upcoming budget meetings to help you contribute effectively to the budget planning process

  • Resources:

    • slide deck

    • meeting recording (no discussion is included in the recording - we only share recordings of the resource and advocacy presentations, in order to create a safe space for open sharing at our meetings)

February 2023

• Topic: I’ll Be There For You: Real-time budget support meeting to answer questions, get advice, vent, etc. Think of it as a "Butterball Turkey Hotline" approach to answering budget questions. 

• Resources: No recording available because this meeting was entirely discussion.

March 2023

• Topic: Budget-Drop Breakdown & Debrief: Reflecting on takeaways from the budget process, how they connect to advocacy trends, and implications for next year.

• Resources: No recording available because this meeting was entirely discussion.

April 2023

• Topic: Looking to the Future: A workshop focusing on key areas with room for improvement in terms of the LSAT experience, to identify concrete needs and make plans to meet or advocate around those needs.

May 2023

• Topic: How It’s Working Out: Evaluating your school’s academic year and assessing the CSP for next year (including a discussion of educational strategies various schools are using & finding success with).

June 2023

• Topic: We've Come A Long Way from Where We Began: Year in review, soliciting input for upcoming meeting with Deputy Mayor for Education's office, goals for DC LSAT Collective next year.

September 2023

• Topic: Kicking the School Year Off Right: "How to LSAT" tips focusing on communication and relationship-building + a Q&A session + advocacy updates

• Resources: meeting recording (no discussion is included in the recording - we only share recordings of the resource and advocacy presentations, in order to create a safe space for open sharing at our meetings)

October 2023

• Topic: A Conversation with Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn and the DME team

• Resources: 

  • meeting recording (no discussion is included in the recording - we only share recordings of the resource and advocacy presentations, in order to create a safe space for open sharing at our meetings)

  • DME presentation slide deck (coming soon - please check back)

November 2023

• Topic: Digging Into Your CSP (Comprehensive School Plan)

• Resources:

  • Meeting notes

  • CSP Template

  • DC LSAT Collective's CSP info page

  • CSP Snapshots by school (currently not updated)

December 2023

• Topic: Workshopping Budget Scenarios

• Resources: 

  • Budget Primer

January 2022

• • Topics:  Teacher and principal retention and what LSATs can do to support

  • Presenters:

    • Scott Goldstein - Executive Director of EmpowerEd

    • Caylah Green - Math Lead Teacher/LSAT member at Sousa Middle School

September 2022

• Topic: (Re-)Introducing the DC LSAT Collective + "How to LSAT" 

  • running your first meeting

  • major LSAT-related events throughout the school year

  • managing your relationship with your principal

• Resources:

  • slide deck

  • recording

October 2022

• Resource Connection: Meet DCPS Community Action Team Specialist, Damián Popkin 

  • Learn who the CAT specialist is for your school and how they work with the LSAT team

• Advocacy: Maya Baum, DCPS teacher and EmpowerEd Fellow

  • Teacher attrition is up in DC -- see what supports our teachers’ need and how we can raise awareness on our LSAT teams

• “Parlor Chat” Topics:

  • LSAT Community Engagement -  How do we better engage our school community?

  • LSAT Relationship with the Principal - Examine ways to build your LSAT’s relationship with your leadership

• Resources:

  • slide deck

  • recording of Resource Connection and Advocacy Presentations

  • notes from Parlor Chat conversation - coming soon (we do not record the Parlor Chat section of our meetings in order to facilitate open conversation)

November 2022

• Topic: "CSP, Yeah You Know Me: What is the Comprehensive School Plan and how does it affect your budget and school community?"

• Resources:

  • recording of meeting intro

  • notes from Parlor Chat conversation - coming soon (we do not record the Parlor Chat section of our meetings in order to facilitate open conversation)

December 2022

• Topic: "Money, That's What I Want: Wrapping Your Head Around Budget Issues"

• Resources:

  • recording of budget overview and meeting end-notes

  • other insights from Q&A and discussion are captured on our Budget best practices page

January 2021

• • Topics:

    • Share and collect best practices for reviewing school budgets

    • Political and budget updates on DC finances and at-risk funds

    • Comparing notes on school reopening checklists/walkthroughs

March 2021

• Topics: 

  • review data from our LSAT budget survey 

  • compare notes about this year's budget/budget process across school communities 

  • discuss opportunities for advocacy together

May 2021

• • Topics:

    • Federal funding

    • LSAT pipeline and recruitment 

  • Resources:

    • Federal Funding breakout recording

    • LSAT pipeline and recruitment panel discussion

    • DC Education Recovery Funding

    • ESSER III Preliminary LEA Allocations

    • ARP Interim Final Requirements 

    • padlet with notes and best practices

September 2021

• Topics: 

  • In-person school re-opening: what is working, what is not, and what role can LSATs can play) 

  • DCPS' new budget model (with Will Perkins from Councilmember Lewis-George's staff)

• Resources

  • slide deck

  • recording

October 2021

• Topics: 

  • Best practices on working with your principal 

  • COVID protocols in school buildings 

• Presenter

  • Dr. Teferi from the American Association of Pediatricians)

• Resources

  • recording

December 2021

• Topics: 

  • Recent updates on new budget model for schools 

  • what the changes mean for schools

  • how these changes are responding (or not) to feedback from the community from the past few years 

• Presenters:

  • Erin Roth, Director of Education Research at the Office of the DC Auditor

  • Qubilah Huddleston, Policy Analyst at DCFPI

• Resources

  • recording