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The California Association of School Business
Officials is the premier resource for professional development in all aspects of school business. Founded in 1928, CASBO serves more than 24,000 members by providing certifications and training, promoting business best practices, and creating opportunities for professional collaboration. CASBO members represent every facet of school business management and operations. The association offers public school leaders an entire career’s worth of growth opportunities.
As the recognized authority in California school business, CASBO is a member-driven association that promotes ethical values; develops exceptional leaders; advocates for, and supports the needs of, members; and sets the standard for excellence through top-quality professional development and mentorship, meaningful collaboration and communication, and unparalleled innovation.
For the past 16 years, CASBO has been dedicated to the organizational planning discipline as a method for guiding the association into a successful future. Last year, the association completed its sixth such plan, CASBO by Design 2.0, a living, breathing document that guided the association in its long-term planning process, which is grassroots in nature, invigorating in procedure and motivating in outcome. Work on our next strategic plan began in 2021.
CASBO has long been committed to organizational planning because the approach has consistently helped the association envision its future and determine the clear steps to get there. The road map that strategic planning provides has allowed CASBO to remain focused on its unique mission, goals and objectives and to respond effectively to a continually changing environment.
For more information on CASBO by Design, visit casbo.org > CASBO + You > About > CASBO By Design.
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Tatia Davenport
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Julie Phillips Randles
Contributors
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P.O. Box 39 Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 961-9999
President Diane Deshler
Lafayette School District
President-elect
Tina Douglas
San Dieguito Union High School District
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Eric Dill
Carlsbad Unified School District
Immediate past president
Richard De Nava
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
Published March 2023
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Like sandpaper, the frictions we experience daily wear us down. We become immune to them. Small and large, we move around them like water around a stone.
In some ways, friction is helpful. It can slow us down or even prevent movement. Think applying the brakes of your car, the soles of your shoes on a slippery surface or even putting pen to paper.
But what about the friction that slows us down when it comes to our teams, processes and data reporting? When we think about routine activities like filling out our forms, making lists and scheduling meetings, they often become time-consuming and difficult. This is why seeking out ways to remove friction from our lives has become critical.
Take declining enrollment in our schools, for example. What friction in the enrollment process can be removed? Are there steps, forms, procedures or policies that create hesitation or slow or disrupt the experience of a parent enrolling their child? Whether over the phone, in person or online, friction can create stress, frustration and anger in the experience, which affects your district’s “brand.”
Think of the labor shortage we face, and the fact that employees have taken on significant additional responsibilities as we try to fill those open positions. Where is the friction in the hiring and onboarding process? Are there too many people on the interview panel? Do candidates have to submit too much information before they make it to the interview stage? Do you lose good candidates in the time it takes to process? When onboarding, do you use electronic signatures and update records across the enterprise? How do you know if there’s friction in your environment? Ask staff or review your processes and the answer will become clear. These telltale signs are also a clue:
• Employees operating outside of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to get the job done. If you don’t have SOPs, you’re guaranteed to have friction as workarounds will abound!
• Employees not using tools (or the right tools) due to lack of knowledge.
• Online forms or payment processes that have been abandoned.
Points of friction can be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Each isn’t a big deal, but combined, they create real problems. Reducing friction unlocks speed and productivity, while increasing customer (parent, student, employee) satisfaction.
A better understanding of the inherent friction in our processes gives us the traction we need to move forward – friction free. z z z
Tatia Davenport CEO
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AS LEADERS , we’re being asked to adapt and change at a pace I’ve never experienced before – and I’m betting you haven’t either. From making rapid-fire decisions and reacting to the latest threats in our education system, to being flexible and collaborative, we’re all finding ways to “get the job done” more efficiently than ever.
Mastery of the art of quick change is now a critical new skill.
Our districts are increasingly engaged in multiple simultaneous change initiatives, often involving many people across numerous departments and geographies.
So how do we best manage this rapid-change environment for ourselves as well as that of our staff? We must:
1. Examine our feedback processes. The best processes offer the right information at the moment the recipient can act on it. Think just-in-time feedback –allowing the opportunity to adjust behavior and performance, and more immediately see the effects of those adjustments.
2. Look for more direct connections across the organization. How can staff more directly and instantly connect to share important information, get help and advice, and find answers quickly?
Examine processes and protocols for the opportunity to shorten the time and
steps it takes to get things done. Perhaps your HR process could be a shared experience, showing all vested parties an end-to-end view of the process using dashboards to identify vacancies; hiring requisitions status; candidates identified, tested, and interviewed; offers made and accepted; and hire letters issued.
3. Identify digital training and development opportunities to facilitate the change at hand! While traditional workshops have their place, they can be slow-moving and not at scale.
This openness and transparency create a shared commitment to getting results, and a greater willingness to deliver on one’s own step in the process and support others beyond functional boundaries. And they help us continue to do the important work of leading California’s schools effectively, efficiently and with an eye toward the future. z z z
Diane Deshler President
How can staff more directly and instantly connect to share important information, get help and advice, and find answers quickly?
People’s lives and priorities are changing in dramatic ways before our very eyes. While increasing compensation, promoting from within, offering flexible schedules, and making remote work easier are always good talent strategies, there’s one lever leaders can pull that’s highly accessible, doesn’t have to be expensive, and gives employees something they really want: on-the-job professional development. The author offers three ways for leaders to prioritize learning and development in their organizations. First, incorporate learning into onboarding and give employees time for it regularly. Second, make learning a ritual. Finally, offer coaching to all your employees – not just executives.
With Americans continuing to quit their jobs at a record pace, leaving companies with more openings than candidates, it’s no surprise that attracting and retaining talent tops many leaders’ priority lists this year. While increasing compensation, promoting from within, offering flexible schedules and making remote work easier are always good talent strategies, there’s one lever leaders can pull that’s highly accessible, doesn’t have to be expensive
and gives employees something they really want.
I’ve found that on-the-job professional development is a nearly perfect solution to many of the problems facing companies today. Why? First, your people want it. The 2022 LinkedIn Global Talent Trends Report found that employees believe professional development is the No. 1 way to improve company culture. And the consequences of neglect-
ing development are significant. According to a report by The Execu|Search Group, 86% of professionals said that they would change jobs if a new company offered them more opportunities for professional development.
Second, it’s good for business. A recent survey from Better Buys found that employees who get professional development opportunities are 15% more engaged and have 34% higher retention
than those who don’t. And consider these stats from Deloitte that show that:
Organizations with a strong learning culture are 92% more likely to develop novel products and processes, 52% more productive, 56% more likely to be the first to market with their products and services, and 17% more profitable than their peers. Their engagement and retention rates are also 30-50% higher.
Evidently, prioritizing learning and development is crucial to the bottom line. And it doesn’t even have to cost much. But you do have to make professional development personal. In other words, make it real and truly connected to your employees.
All too often, we wait for our new employees to be firmly ensconced in their new roles before we start making professional development available. However, by connecting them to learning right out of the gate, our offerings can have a much deeper impact on their experience in the company.
Truckstop.com, a freight company, gets employees started on development early on by building professional development into the onboarding process. On the first day of onboarding, new Truckstop employees engage in discussions about the company and its mission and journey. The next day, newcomers are given the whole day and the space and tools for their self-discovery. Victoria Roberts, chief people and culture officer told me, “Throughout the day, our partners not only dive deep into the MBTI [Myers-Briggs assessment] and discover their results, but they also engage in interactive experiences through activity-based
breakout rooms, thoughtful discussions and an action plan on what to do with what they have learned.”
The employee continues to use this onboarding experience in their day-today interactions with their manager. Together, they answer these questions: “What motivates you?” and “How should we work together?” allowing for personal connection right away. According to Roberts, Truckstop.com’s goal is for employees to be “able to show up feeling like they are doing their best work because they are doing work that aligns with their talents and they feel like they matter.”
LinkedIn, which has one of the most regular, integrated, impactful professional development programs out there, gives employees the opportunity to learn often. One “InDay” per month is set aside for employees to focus on “themselves, the company, and the world.” Each month has a theme, and employees are invited to participate in whatever way works for them, through the many scheduled activities or on their own. (Or, if they’re really backed up, not at all.)
Because InDay happens every month, as soon as new hires get started, they’re sure to have an opportunity to explore themselves alongside their colleagues. LinkedIn is essentially baking development into onboarding.
I attended a wellness-themed InDay when I was doing research for my second book, and between morning meditation class, a country line-dancing class and a wellness fair, it was impossible not to make professional development personal. There was something for everyone.
A 2018 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report showed that a staggering “94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development,” but the big-
gest obstacle to employees learning and developing is a lack of time. LinkedIn’s strategy addresses this problem by building development time right into employees’ schedules.
Rituals help employees feel a sense of belonging and a connection to purpose, leading to higher performance. Udemy, the online learning company, is home to one of my favorite rituals of all time: It’s called Drop Everything and Learn, or DEAL.
Every month, on a Wednesday at 3 p.m., Udemy employees participate in DEAL, where everyone drops whatever they’re doing and takes an online class –in anything they want.
When I learned about this cool ritual, I assumed employees would take classes in subjects that helped them become better at their day jobs. I was delighted to learn that while some did, others made professional development very personal. For example, during Thanksgiving, one employee took a class on how to make a turkey since she was hosting the holiday that year.
Giving employees professional development opportunities keeps them engaged, which is important, because according to a 2016 Udemy study, disengaged and bored employees are twice as likely to leave. The same study showed that 80% of respondents agreed that learning new skills would make them more engaged.
Prior to the pandemic, AT&T’s marketing and growth organization had an in-office culture that was fun, engaging and centered around professional and personal growth, according to Jeannie Weaver, VP of retail and Hello Lab marketing. Weaver wanted to foster an environment for those same types of
connections and outcomes for employees working in a 100% virtual environment.
That’s why Weaver started a new ritual: a book club, which gave employees the opportunity to think and learn together. As Weaver told me, the book club ritual “let [them] laugh together, talk candidly and even demonstrate real vulnerabilities. It’s been so important to show up as our ‘full human self’ during this time … team dynamics are being strengthened paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter.”
Coaching is one of the most requested employee benefits and is a proven win. However, until recently, coaching was reserved mostly for senior executives and high performers whom a company deemed worthy of investment. Over the last few years (and especially since the pandemic), managers and HR leaders have been overwhelmed by the employee need for coaching, especially since they don’t have time to do it themselves.
Unlike many retailers, in late 2021, Sam’s Club’s 600 locations were fully employed. How did they do it? In a SHRM article, senior director of field learning and development, Jennifer Buchanan, attributes the success to the company’s robust employee development program, where all 95,000 associates are able to “develop essential skills for the roles they’re in now, as well as the roles they’d like to see themselves in down the line.”
Betterment, an investment software company, provides one-on-one coaching to employees at all levels. Directors and above get six sessions per year, and anyone below director gets three sessions per year. As Susan Justus, former VP/ head of talent development described
to me, “Employees look to coaches when they’re trying to get promoted, wondering how to skillfully advocate for themselves in meetings or struggling with a hard time managing a team member and not sure how to have this hard conversation.”
Another exciting development in the coaching space is increasing access. There’s a whole new category of companies popping up that offer organizations coaching beyond the C-suite. For instance:
• Bravely, which has a “populationwide, bottoms-up” approach to coaching and can provide all employees unlimited access to coaches.
• Terawatt (a client of mine), an early-stage startup that provides group coaching, or what they call “masterminds,” to groups of employees across the organization.
• Torch, a data-driven platform that helps HR leaders offer classes, coaching and mentoring to employees.
• Modern Health (a company I’m an investor in), which uses AI to determine what type of support is the best fit, from life and career coaching to therapy, and whose growth puts it in “unicorn” status.
Coaching allows people to really take their personal and professional development to the next level. As Deloitte notes, “A coaching culture is the practice that’s most highly correlated with business performance, employee engagement and overall retention,” and companies that are considered high-impact leadership organizations “spend 1.5–3 times more on management development than their peers.”
People’s lives and priorities are changing in dramatic ways before our very eyes. By offering those very same people the thing they want the most –on-the-job personal and professional
development – not only will you invite employees to be a part of your team and encourage them to stay, but you’ll be contributing to a world that’s more rewarding for everyone. z z z
A version of this article appeared in the April 5, 2022, issue of Harvard Business Review. Reprinted with permission.
©2023 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp.
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Kevin Garcia started his new job as director of purchasing for Fontana Unified School District on a Monday. By Thursday night, he had received instructions to inform his staff not to come into school the next day because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Luckily, I had immediately exchanged cell phone numbers with everybody,” he recalls. Next came the scramble for 40,000 laptops to get students connected and learning online. Competing with other districts for limited devices was “like the wild, wild West,” but his team pulled through.
On graduation day, while high school seniors across the nation were celebrating their big day virtually, Fontana graduates lined up in their cars to receive their diplomas in a COVID-safe vehicle procession at the California Speedway, complete with a vintage car show and a livestream.
“We didn’t know how we were going to pull it off. We had one week to do it,” Garcia says of the massive inter-departmental effort and vendor cooperation it took to plan the ceremony. “But these students had dealt with a lot of adversity. They’d lost their prom. We wanted to be able to do something to recognize them. It takes a village, and everyone stepped up.”
Although he was relatively new to the job, Garcia had spent years developing the
teamwork skills and vendor relationships necessary to pull off an event like a socially distanced graduation ceremony during a pandemic. Growing up in Redlands, where his aunt was the high school secretary and many of his friends had family members working within the district, he saw firsthand how school communities operate – and what they’re capable of.
“Coming up through middle school and high school, I remember really connecting with my teachers and seeing the compassion they had for us,” says Garcia, now the program manager for procurement and warehouse services for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. “I saw how the adults in our community came together to support us, like when I was playing sports and I would see them come out and put up a new fence for the baseball field or bleachers for the football games.”
Their dedication inspired him to pursue a career in education. At 17 he started working in the Redlands Unified School District’s maintenance and operations shop, and in college he studied to become a teacher, while spending his summers subbing as a night custodian for the district.
After taking a couple of student teaching classes, however, he realized he didn’t want to be cooped up in a classroom all day. So he
decided to get a business degree and go into purchasing instead.
“I fell in love with it,” he says. “In purchasing, anything you’re buying comes through us. We work with everybody, at the end of the day.”
Coming up from the facilities side of school business, Garcia understands how something as simple as a fresh coat of paint or a new marquee can give students and teachers a renewed sense of community and pride in their school. And in his current role at the county level, he’s passionate about supporting every district as much as he can – even if it means answering the 100 emails that are already sitting in his inbox at 8 a.m.
That sense of community also carries over into his service as Purchasing Professional Council Chair for CASBO’s Eastern Section.
“With CASBO, you get to meet your vendors and co-workers, people both in your county and outside of your county. You start meeting people you’ve only spoken to on the phone and now you can put a face to the name,” says Garcia, adding that relationships are a key component of his job.
“I literally started from the bottom. It’s always my goal to make sure everyone feels welcomed and appreciated for what they do.” z z z
He started out as the night custodian no one saw. Now he’s running the meetings.
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Eric Hall has spent his entire career as a developer. He started in 1975 at San Diego Unified School District, working in various human resources roles and helping the district navigate collective bargaining and the implementation of Proposition 13.
In 1979, he became the director of classified personnel at San Dieguito Union High School District – at the time a small district with 150 classified employees and 3,500 students. When he retired in 2006, the district had grown to more than 1,500 classified employees and nearly 17,000 students. A sociology major with a master’s degree in public administration and an emphasis in city planning and urban government in his tool belt, he was well-equipped to guide San Dieguito’s growth as personnel director, and then as director of administrative services.
“It was right up my alley in terms of what I wanted to do in public administration,” says Hall, whose background in city planning taught him that growing a district is about more than just building new schools.
“We had to keep the district’s infrastructure and support departments robust enough to support enrollment growth. The district didn’t have facilities, planning or risk management departments, nor did it have robust business support services departments to serve the increased enrollment. Besides
building schools, we were able to grow and build departments from the ground up.”
But it wasn’t just district growth he was interested in. He also developed a strong interest in helping people grow professionally.
“I didn’t know anything about school operations when I first went to work for schools,” says Hall, who joined CASBO in 1984 and ultimately became a chief business official. “I was fortunate to be in an organization that helped develop me. It’s very rewarding when you see people develop and you know you’ve had a bit to do with it. It’s a noble thing to be in a job where you can help people achieve their goals.”
After having served as the district’s CBO for 13 years and reaching the pinnacle of his career trajectory, Hall chose to retire and begin his next development project: starting a business. Together with his wife, he founded Eric Hall & Associates in 2006 to provide support for districts in facilities, budget and fiscal services, and human resources. For him, it was a means of nurturing not just one district, but districts statewide.
“From my leadership roles in CASBO and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), I knew I had a passion for helping other districts,” he says. “Districts would call me to ask how we successfully built schools, how we obtained the funds, and how to build
joint-use facilities. I thought it would be great to hang a shingle and help other districts.“
After growing his business to about 25 associates, many of whom are former school district administrators and staff, Hall decided it was time to retire. He merged Eric Hall & Associates with MGT of America in 2020 and has completed his role as transition adviser. He now serves as adviser emeritus and remains involved as a liaison to CASBO.
“It’s been a great ride, a great career,” he says. “What better job to have than improving the teaching and learning environment? Building schools, developing support departments, creating a culture of collaboration between departments and services in maintenance, purchasing, accounting, facilities, transportation, and food services, and keeping the district fiscally solvent – it’s all really about helping teachers and helping kids.”
He may have retired from school business, but Hall hasn’t finished with his role as a developer of people.
Now an instructor at NorthStar, he’s teaching kids how to ski. “The whole dynamic of teaching kids, learning about their cognitive and physical development, learning how to coach them around their strengths, has been really fun and challenging for me.” z z z
He wanted to design and develop cities but discovered a passion for people.
What if you could dump the things at work that hold you back? We’re not talking about changing out the coffeemaker or upgrading your software system, but digging deep into cultural issues like old thinking, low morale, discouraging uniqueness, forgotten sense of purpose, thinking small, fear of failure, sales routines and unproductive meetings.
Speaker and entertainer Mike Rayburn decided to step out on that limb himself, and he discovered that it didn’t snap and send him plummeting to the ground as we always fear. Now he’s excited to bring a message of what works to his keynote presentation at the CASBO Annual Conference & California School Business Expo in Long Beach in April.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he mimics the popular saying. But he’s not
subscribing to it. “Time breaks everything,” he notes.
And his secret isn’t rocket science, although it is a mindset change: Stop managing change and start to create change, to lead change. The pandemic and its aftereffects? Just a powerful launching pad for what’s next, in Rayburn framing.
He sets his message to music to both entertain and make it easier to remember his points when you return to your district. It’s a natural medium for a man whose career centered around music after graduating from James Madison University in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Rayburn was an early pioneer in ecommerce online music sales and was featured in Newsweek and Billboard Magazine for his insight in leveraging the new tools on the block.
Along the way, he conducted a cross-country concert tour by bicycle, performed his own two-guitar arrangement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with a hologram of himself, and learned to play the fretboard of his guitar with both hands. He heard the naysayers but still used the same skills he now teaches – elevation, innovation and transformation – to tune out the noise and move forward.
As a result, he’s a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, has recorded two TED Talks and is a featured artist on SiriusXM. He’s been an eight-time headliner at Carnegie Hall and in Las Vegas. Overall, he’s given more than 5,000 presentations in more than 22 countries.
Rayburn and his family currently live in the Reno/Tahoe area, where he holds “What If” weekend retreats.
What’s one thing you changed your mind about recently?
I’d have to say that I have an ongoing habit of mind change. For example, I came to the table as a purist as far as presenting using my guitar, voice and presence on stage. For so long I thought, if I can’t do it with just me and the guitar and standing on stage in front of the audience, then I can’t do it. And I was successful doing it that way.
However, for the purist in me – the person who doesn’t use guitar effects or visuals – the change of mind came when I realized that I’ve been successful being a purist, but what if I could improve my impact, program and sound by adding some effects to the guitar, bringing some visuals to the stage, by embracing technology. When I changed my mind about that, my programs increased in their impact and I was booked more often.
And I say it’s an ongoing mind change because what I’m doing is eating my sacred cows. We sometimes say, “I would never do this” when discussing the strategies with which we approach what we do. Well, what if you did and it was something that improved things? With that question in mind, I’m in an ongoing mind-change process.
What’s your go-to mantra in hard times?
I have a few of them, depending on the challenge. When I did the first-ever, crosscountry tour on a bicycle my mantra was, “Steady on wins the race.” In other words, keep pedaling. Like Dory in “Nemo,” just keep swimming!
When I’m about to go on stage or about to be the center of attention and I’m feeling unsure, I tell myself, “Do what you do, and do it the best way you know how.” In other words, don’t try to change yourself to try to fit something in or be someone who’s inauthentic. Don’t
let the nervousness of the situation pull you away from who you are and what you do.
The third one is a very general one: “I live every day in victory.” When I feel less than or not enough, or when I’m nervous about who I am, I remind myself that I already have this victory; it’s already there.
You’ve said the pandemic can be a powerful launch pad for what comes next. How does this apply to school leaders?
It’s a chance to reexamine everything we do. We don’t usually make those chances happen. If things are working, we tend to stick with them. Well, it wasn’t our systems that caused this challenge. However, it gave us a big reset; it gave us a chance to look at what we do and imagine it from outside. And in a lot of ways it wasn’t just a chance to, it forced us to.
Anyone can apply this thinking to their careers or businesses or schools. It’s about asking questions like: Is this process the best way to do something? Is my approach to leadership the best way to handle this?
Overall, the pandemic gave us a chance to reexamine what we do from a new standpoint.
What is a “possibility thinker” and how does this kind of thinking help leaders find new opportunities?
A possibility thinker is someone who looks at what’s in front of them and is willing to ask, What else could this be? Or, what’s missing here? Or, if this could be more, what would it be? It’s someone who actively and intentionally, especially in the beginning, looks at things beyond just what’s in front of them, and instead looks at the possibilities of any given situation, challenge, problem or
When I’m about to go on stage or about to be the center of attention and I’m feeling unsure, I tell myself, “Do what you do, and do it the best way you know how.”
opportunity. They look at the possibilities that those things bring forward.
It’s a use of your imagination as you process what’s happening in front of you. It’s someone who’s willing to ask the question, “What if?” What if we did this differently; could we do it better? What if we didn’t have to do this at all? What if technology could consolidate all these processes into one simple process? What if I change the way I’m approaching this situation?
Those are all possibilities that exist, they’re not actualized or used unless someone goes after them with intention.
After the extreme education challenges presented by the pandemic and continuing challenges with funding, employment and student achievement, what three tips would you give school leaders to help them tap into the passion that brought them to school leadership in the first place?
There’s one process I’ve heard people use for writer’s block, and that’s if you are near where you grew up, go back. Look at the house you were in, look through some old photos. Think about when you were in school or college and try to remember things that happened around that time. Because it will pull you back into that mindset. And that’s usually from our childhood or school years or college when we discovered our passions.
Another way is to look at the things you’ve done and see the positive outcomes you’ve had in the past. You can see a school that’s thriving that wasn’t before. You can see the school that has helped students in ways it hadn’t before. You can see a student whose life has changed. You can see parents who are profoundly thankful for what you brought to the table in education.
Look back at your successes. Look back at the things you’ve done really well
or the outcomes you’ve had a hand in. A lot of times we downplay our influence and say, well, I didn’t do that. Actually, maybe you did. Maybe you had a profound effect – take that to heart.
I also encourage people to have a morning power hour. It can even be just 10 to 15 minutes when you read, write, pray or meditate. And when you’re doing that, think about those things you’ve done. Take stock of those things and be willing to say, wow, I actually did something well there. And as you do that on a regular basis, it will reignite your passion for what you do every day.
You caution against trying to manage change. In fact, you’ve said doing so is dangerous and stupid. What do you mean by that?
I’m paraphrasing leadership consultant Peter Drucker on that, and what he said was that managing change is not only stupid, it’s dangerous. The only way to manage change is to create change. And then I like to add, “Be the one to define the curve rather than follow it.”
After all, managing change means that change has happened outside of us. It has affected us, and so now we need to manage what has happened. And there will always be times we have to do that because we can’t predict everything.
However, what I want people who hear me speak to leave with is the mindset that we’re not going to just manage change. We’re going to actually be the ones who create change, who lead the way, who define the program we’re following. We need to pay attention to not just what’s in front of us, but to what’s coming down the pike. And we need to be willing to look to the future and trends and the different things that are happening and use those as a basis for creating a new process, a new approach, a new system, rather than waiting for something bad to happen and trying to keep our heads above water.
I want people to start to create change based on their expertise and on the things they bring to the table, before the change from outside happens. It’s a matter of looking at whether we’re simply going to react to what happens or whether we’re going to be the ones who make things happen.
That’s when I want leaders to use the question, “What if?” to affect that outcome.
You’ve said that “time breaks everything” and that to survive, leaders need a mindset that addresses change, innovation and reinvention. What is that mindset? How does it work? The time breaks everything point is an expansion of the idea about how to respond to change. We have a tendency to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” which is valid sometimes. However, time really does break everything. What’s working right now, what’s absolutely just humming along just perfectly, is
already obsolete on a drawing board somewhere. So we need to have a mindset for reinvention.
When change happens in a way that all of a sudden something’s not working because of this thing outside, then we realize we need to reinvent it or find a new way to do it. The idea here is to do so intentionally – before it’s necessary.
So I encourage people to reinvent intentionally and strategically before it feels like it’s time yet, in order to create improvements before they have to happen, and then we can have a little more control of the situation.
And that’s where the “What if” strategy comes into play. The best way to implement that is to look at what’s right in front of you – you don’t not need to go into some crazy strategies or new things that someone else is doing – just look at what you do every single day and ask, What if I could do this differently? What if I could do it better? What if I actively look at something even if it doesn’t seem like it’s necessary?
The goal of asking is an improvement, a new way to do something. So when you’re asking something like, What if there’s a new way to do this?
For example, there was a young man working in a mailroom at a company who noticed all these one-page FedEx documents that were going to the same location. They were sending dozens of single items to the same location every day. And he asked, “What if we put them all in a single package?” Well, he saved the company nearly $1 million a year on FedEx bills because he saw that possibility.
He saw an opportunity. He asked what if. And then he went to the people who could actually affect the change and they saw the advantage.
Now you won’t come up with a solution every single time, but as you
continue to ask the question and you make this a habit, you start coming up with solutions. And then you can focus on the outcome and focus on the benefits.
That company wouldn’t have changed its FedEx process if it didn’t recognize the huge benefit. But once they saw it, they did it. So when we can show that if we do this and this and this, it’s going to be easier, better or faster, that’s when we start to create change.
And if you’re doing this on a regular basis, it creates a culture of future possibilities; a culture that looks toward improvement, a culture that’s not just managing what’s happening, but actually creating new ways to do things.
Can you tell our readers about your recent learning about neuroplasticity and how they can apply that to being a successful leader?
For thousands of years, we thought the brain was static – that the way your brain was when you were born was the way your brain was when you died. What we’ve learned is that the brain can be physically changed through thoughts.
We know scientifically that we can actually change the way the brain works through the thoughts that we choose to think. But first you have to realize that you have control over your thoughts. For example, there might be something that pops into your mind that you don’t want to think about. You have a choice at that moment to entertain it or to let it go.
For example, there’s a way of processing that every time I hear about this thing or event, I have a negative reaction and I can’t get around it. What we need to do is break down the old thought and replace it with a new thought. And then we consciously make ourselves think the replacement thought, the new mantra, every time that old thought comes up.
I want people to start to create change based on their expertise and on the things they bring to the table, before the change from outside happens.
It’s just like people who create hiking trails. They’ve created a trail through the woods that gets traveled many times. If we want to have a new trail, we need to carve it out – that’s the deconstructing. And then we have to travel that trail a lot. Once we’ve traveled this new path – the new neural pathway – over and over again, it gets to a point where you remember, oh yeah, there’s that old trail, but we don’t even use that anymore. And the old trail, in time, will be grown over with trees and shrubs and, in the long run, you might not even know it existed. We have that capability with our brains. And that’s why all leaders need to be constantly working on self-improvement. There are certain leaders who may be successful, but they’re told in reviews that they’re not very good at something or that they always react a certain way when something happens. And if that’s not a positive, then embracing neuroplasticity and carving out a new path is a way to become a better leader – a way to respond in a certain situation better than you used to.
Another angle of this is called reframing, and here’s what that looks like. Let’s say something happens and we choose the story about the event or about something someone says to us. When we reframe the event or comment, we no longer apply this story or this meaning to whatever the stimuli it is. We give it a new meaning. For example, when a person was unkind to me, it doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. It just means they were having a bad day. Reframing is the way we can create serious change when it comes to lifelong issues. It’s about looking at the meaning we attach to stimuli. Another example is a job evaluation. If we look at our evaluations and we see something we need to work on, what meaning do we attach to that? If we attach a meaning that says, I’m not good
enough or I failed, it’s going to hurt us. But what if we have a different reaction? What if we reframe that negative evaluation to, “Wow, this is the key to me getting everything that I want. If I change this one thing, that’s how I’m gonna get there.”
There’s a lot more to neuroplasticity and changing neural pathways, but the bottom line is that if we identify something we need to change and we do this process of deconstruction and reframing, all of a sudden we can see what the freedom and strength on the other side looks like. We can look at the things we need to adjust, make the change and embrace neuroplasticity. z z z
Embracing neuroplasticity and carving out a new path is a way to become a better leader –a way to respond in a certain situation better than you used to.
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More than half of all U.S. public schools were understaffed at the start of the 2022-23 school year, with 66% of districts reporting too few applicants for teaching positions, according to the National Center for Education. Accurate statistics are difficult to come by, though, as there’s no national database that contains reliable or detailed data on teacher supply and demand.
On the ground, it’s clear that districts around the country are struggling to hire and retain qualified teachers. More teachers seem to be leaving the profession than entering it. Teacher retirements have spiked, with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System experiencing a 26% increase in retirements during just the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban, rural, coastal, valley, large, small, affluent, and economically challenged districts report hiring and staffing challenges.
Teacher vacancies aren’t simply a logistical problem; they’re an educational one as well. As noted by the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, “Teacher shortages present significant challenges to student success. In the absence of sufficient qualified applicants, districts may hire emergency-certified teachers with limited training or rely on substitute teachers. Or they may cancel courses or increase class size, which also negatively affect student learning.”
“It gets pretty old after a while,” Chow acknowledges. “When we lose people, it’s usually due to the struggle to find reasonable housing in the area.”
In contrast, Lindsay Unified School District, a rural district in the Central Valley, historically had difficulty attracting and retaining teachers. Almost 60% of Lindsay’s students are economically disadvantaged, compared to just 7% of Palo Alto’s student body. Half of Lindsay’s students are English language learners, and about 95% of the student population is Hispanic/Latino.
Because it’s located in an economically depressed area, Lindsay Unified can’t offer salaries that are as high as, say, Palo Alto’s. It’s easier to obtain housing, but employment opportunities for other family members are limited, so the doesn’t attract many teachers from elsewhere.
Hiring more educators is not the solution, however. To most effectively meet student needs (and fill teacher vacancies), school districts must address and mitigate the factors that currently affect educator supply. That’s where things get tricky because although teacher shortages look the same on paper (fewer teachers than needed = teacher shortage), the root causes vary from district to district.
Palo Alto Unified School District doesn’t lack teacher applicants. “A lot of people want to be here,” says Carolyn Chow, the district’s chief business officer. “We attract good people.” But Silicon Valley’s high cost of living makes teacher retention a challenge. Though the district’s salaries are competitive – and seem quite high to teachers moving to the area from other parts of the country – teachers often must live far from school or with roommates in order to afford housing.
Understanding the why behind local teacher shortages can help districts implement effective interventions. Onesize-fits-all solutions – rarely effective for any problem – are likely to be particularly ineffective and costly in ameliorating educator staffing shortages.
“Without understanding the detailed nature of the problem, we may try to solve it with solutions that are inappropriate for the way that shortages are playing out,” Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University, told Education Week.
Here’s a look at how a few California districts are growing and nurturing their teacher workforce:
The high cost of housing in California – coupled with the fact that average weekly wages for teachers have increased just $29 since 1996, after adjusting for inflation, according to U.S. Education
Teacher shortages present significant challenges to student success.
Secretary Miguel Cardona – limits the ability of many districts to attract and retain teachers who dream of their own home (perhaps with a yard).
In 2016, after realizing that the high cost of housing was a primary reason educators left Jefferson Union High School District, the school board decided to address the issue. Santa Clara Unified School District had constructed 40 residential units for district teachers in 2001 and 30 additional units in 2006. San Mateo Community College District had also built employee housing, using voterapproved bond funds to cover the cost of construction. Jefferson Union decided to explore that approach – and became the first K-12 school district in the country to ask voters to approve money to build employee housing.
In 2018, Jefferson Union passed a $33 million bond measure to construct educator housing. They broke ground in 2020 and the first tenants moved in on April 30, 2022.
Rents are approximately 58% of market value, and Tina Van Raaphorst, Jefferson Union’s deputy superintended of business services, believes the availability of housing has positively affected teacher staffing levels.
“Recruitment was definitely improved. We started the year completely staffed,” Van Raaphorst says. “We recruited people from across the country, and at least one employee who left us for more affordable housing came back.”
Palo Alto Unified School District is partnering with Santa Clara County,
More teachers seem to be leaving the profession than entering it.
Los Altos School District, Foothill-De Anza Community College District and tech company Meta to provide subsidized teacher and staff housing. (Additional school districts may yet join.) Palo Alto has committed $1.45 million to gain access to 29 units (that will be available to employees for below-market rents) of the 110-unit project that will be built on county-owned land near the Palo Alto Courthouse. Construction has not yet started.
The state of California is making it easier for school districts to build affordable housing. In fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2295, which will allow staff housing to be built on any property owned by a school district without requiring the district to request a zoning change. The law goes into effect January 1, 2024.
Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lindsay Unified School District took action to build its teacher pipeline. The district applied for (and received) a fiveyear, $50 million federal Teacher and School Leader Incentive grant and used some of the funds to help current Lindsay employees or graduates attend college and become teachers. The Empower Lindsay Teacher School Leaders Incentive informally called the “pipeline program,” requires graduates to teach in Lindsay or another Title 1 school for two years after program completion.
“Initially, this program was more about providing opportunities for our community, for our learners to go into a career where they can support their families,” says Grant Schimelpfening, assistant superintendent.
District leaders discovered (when they asked) that many classified staff members wanted to become teachers but
didn’t pursue a teaching career because they lacked funds. The pipeline program allowed them to “get their bachelor’s degree and teaching credentials and start teaching,” says Yasmin Martin Aceves, teacher residency coordinator.
“We have people who were instructional aides for years and years who are now in front of the class teaching,” Schimelpfening says. “They connect with our learners so much more than someone who didn’t grow up in this kind of community.”
The district has also established a teacher residency program that allows participants to complete their master’s and teaching credentials in just one year; they also receive a $20,000 living stipend so they have some income while student teaching. Residents spend four days a week in the classroom, working with mentor teachers and getting hands-on experience – an arrangement that benefits the experienced teacher, the resident and students. Upon completion of the residency program, teachers must work for four years in either Lindsay, Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi Joint or Woodlake Unified School District.
“We didn’t have enough openings for all the graduated residents, so we partnered with some local districts,” Schimelpfening says.
Teacher shortages are now a thing of the past in Lindsay. Staff educators and teacher residents feel well-supported, and students say they benefit from building relationships with teachers who understand the challenges of their communities. The district is saving money as well, as they don’t need to spend as much to recruit or train new teachers.
By widening the pathway into teaching, grow-your-own pipelines can also increase the diversity of the teaching profession, according to research by the RAND corporation. In August 2022,
To most effectively meet student needs, school districts must address and mitigate the factors that currently affect educator supply.
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced plans to invest $100 million to help states expand educator apprenticeship programs.
Ultimately, educators want to be supported and valued. They want to work in environments that respect – and meet – their human needs for rest and connection. Survey data from Lindsay Unified suggests that teacher residency programs work well, at least in part,
because residents feel “hear, cared for and supported.”
School districts working to mitigate the teacher shortage must talk with their educators and address the pain points that cause teachers to exit the classroom. z z z
When a school district’s plan to secure new Chromebooks with federal funding for its K–12 students was nearly derailed by microchip shortages, ODP Business Solutions delivered.
The school district was set to purchase $6.5 million of new Chromebooks for students in 2021; however, 2020’s global manufacturing strain caused a shortage in microchips that the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) needed to build the Chromebooks. This disruption meant the OEM would miss the district’s deadline, leaving nearly 15,000 students and teachers without vital technology.
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Fortunately, ODP Business Solutions already had a solid relationship with the school district, and the teams agreed that keeping the current timeline and working with a new supplier was the best option.
Leveraging its industry experience and connections with other OEMs, ODP Business Solutions quickly found another supplier that had the technology available and could meet the timeline. Once the Chromebooks were delivered, ODP Business Solutions connected with a local Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) to provision each device and rewire 401 carts at the district’s schools to enable charging and safekeeping.
The project was bigger than the delivery of Chromebooks: Its success meant that students and teachers could return to school with the technology they expected.
An active social media presence has some obvious benefits for school districts. It can provide an avenue to promote school board meetings and other official events. Individual schools can put out a call for volunteers. And librarians can get kids reading with a fun TikTok video. At its best, social media connects school districts to staff, students, families and the surrounding community.
But social media also presents challenges for districts and schools. A parent or community member can use the district account’s comment section to spread rumors or disinformation. Teachers can unwittingly post a picture of a student whose parent has not given permission. And, in the very real case of a cheerleader who posted inappropriate comments on her social media, the Supreme Court got involved.
The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) recently issued a report on schools and social media. The report found that 59% of schools have dealt with accounts that harass, intimidate or bully students; 51% have dealt with mock or impersonation accounts appearing with their logos or branding; and 45% have dealt with social media platforms not removing reported accounts/posts that harass, intimidate or bully their students.
While that’s a lot of frustration and potential harm, it is possible to see the benefits of social media – while limiting the downsides – by following some guidelines, says Gretchen Shipley, managing partner in F3’s San Diego office and chair of the firm’s eMatters Practice Group.
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“The hard part is that there are five different groups of social media users within school districts, and they have five different sets of rules,” says Shipley. “Overall, I call it social media management.”
The first category is official social media accounts. These may include an account for the school district and one for each school site. Accounts run by teachers, librarians or school clubs with permission of the administration also fall into this category. That’s a lot to keep up with.
The first step, says Shipley, is to account for every official account associated with each school. Know who
administers each account and insist that someone on staff can administrate content.
“The school has a duty to monitor and respond if there’s anything inappropriate,” says Shipley. “To me, it makes sense that they would have a clear accounting of any accounts associated with the school and clear guidelines for those accounts to follow.”
For instance, the administrator may only post images, videos or other student information if the district has provided notice that the image may be used in this way and the parent has not opted out. Schools should review the annual FERPA notice and update it to include sharing information on the school website or social media. In addition, Shipley suggests
Know who administers each account and insist that someone on staff can administrate content.
reviewing and updating procedures for communicating to teachers that students’ parents have opted out.
The communications department runs San Juan Unified District’s official social media accounts, says Trent Allen, communications chief of staff. “Our teams post content and respond to questions and comments,” he says. “We try to keep to a single district presence instead of every department.”
San Juan’s school sites are not required to have a social media presence, but many do. These sites can be run by a staff member or volunteer, but the district asks that the sites are supervised by the principal of the school site.
“This is just in case there are any issues, the site leader can take care of them when they arise,” says Allen.
TikTok and other platforms help educators and librarians find inspiration and be more creative with their lessons. Recent restrictions on TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, as well as other issues arising from social media platforms, are reminders that chief business officials can require education for staff and school board members.
Guidelines, education and accounting will not solve all the potential problems. Imagine receiving 226 identical critical comments on your social media page in 10 minutes and not being able to delete the comments or block the poster. That’s what happened to two school board members who invited the public to engage on their social media pages on school district matters.
In a decision in Garnier v. O’ConnerRatcliff, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that two school board members violated the First Amendment rights of two individual parents when they deleted and hid their comments and blocked them from further posting on their social media pages.
Shipley explains, “When a school board member discusses district business and asks the public to comment, they are creating a Constitutionally protected free speech forum from which they cannot block or remove comments or posters they disagree with.”
According to Shipley, here are some things that a district or board member may do to avoid this situation:
• Turn off site comments features altogether.
• Avoid engaging the public in discussions on matters concerning district business.
• Set explicit decorum standards and expectations on the social media page, including a prohibition on profanity or threats.
• For board members, include a disclaimer that they are not posting on behalf of the district and not intending to create a public forum for school board business.
TikTok and other platforms help educators and librarians find inspiration and be more creative with their lessons.
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And leaders should be aware of a recent change to the Brown Act that has long held school boards can only meet to discuss business when there’s a public meeting agenda. A new amendment adds that school board members cannot comment, like or emoji any other social media post that discusses school business. CBOs can make sure that all parties are aware of this law.
Keeping track of all the official social media accounts associated with a school or district is a big task. Now, take a moment to think about every club, booster or sports team that has a social media account, often run by parents or students.
These accounts can lead to big problems. What if the school football team’s account posts a racist comment? Even though the account may include the school logo, the school may not know who is administering the account and have no way to access it.
Allen says that San Juan keeps an eye on unofficial accounts at the district level. “If it’s a constructive positive presence, the district will even interact,” he says. If there are any concerning activities, Allen asks principals to share that information with the district so they can help investigate.
Shipley suggests that if a school allows these accounts, the school should know who is running it and provide clear behavior expectations. In addition, the account should carry a disclaimer that it is not being run by the district. This can be time consuming, and Shipley says some districts ask the public information officer or the technology director to take the lead on this assignment.
One of the typical problems Allen has seen are anonymous social media
sites known as “rumor channels” or various other names. These sites often include no associated name or profile picture, and are typically a student posting inappropriate or unproductive thoughts about peers, teachers and the school community.
Account verification can help solve this problem. When such an account shows up, districts can ask the social media company to verify the identity and remove it if it is not verifiable.
While many social media platforms have a general consumer verification process, none have a process dedicated to school district social media accounts. At the time of the NSPRA and CoSN study, LinkedIn, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Twitter and YouTube indicated a willingness to explore solutions to this problem.
“Social media allows school districts to engage families in local education in timely and innovative ways, but without dedicated verification and reporting processes for schools, districts struggle to prevent the harm to students and staff caused by malicious and fraudulent accounts,” reads the executive summary. “Social media platforms’ lack of dedicated verification and reporting processes for federally recognized K-12 education institutions are causing a drain on educational time and resources in school communities across the United States.”
In response, NSPRA and CoSN are advocating for the major social media platforms to develop a better and more targeted verification process for schools and districts.
The official standard for personal social media accounts for staff is that employees should not post anything that would
The official standard for personal social media accounts for staff is that employees should not post anything that would cause a loss in their ability to be a good role model to kids.
cause a loss in their ability to be a good role model to kids. This standard resulted from a case against a teacher named Frank Lampedusa, who posted sexually explicit pictures on Craig’s List and included explicit descriptions of his preferred sexual activities. A parent reported the ad to the school principal. After several appeals, the court ruled that the principal had lost confidence in Lampedusa’s ability to be a good role model to students.
“The takeaway for teachers is that you will be held to the standard of presenting yourself as a good role model in your social media presence,” Shipley says. “The takeaway for districts is that teachers and staff need professional development on how to conduct themselves on social media.”
Like many districts, San Juan Unified has had members of the community
express concern about the content of staff social media. The department offers advice and counseling to staff on ensuring social media represents only the individual and not that person’s position with the school.
“In those cases, we’ve worked with the concerned party and staff member to understand the content, the concern and the impact on the school environment,” he says. “We try to understand what the response needs to be so that staff member is trusted with our students and communities.”
Most people have heard about the Supreme Court cheerleader case, Mahanoy v. B.L. The student, Brandi Levy, who did not win a spot on the varsity cheer squad, posted her frustration
The takeaway for districts is that teachers and staff need professional development on how to conduct themselves on social media.
on Snapchat using some salty language. When the Mahanoy Area School District tried to discipline her, Levy’s parents sued, claiming free speech. The Supreme Court ruled that Levy’s posts were in fact free speech and did not have enough direct impact on the school environment to warrant disciplinary action.
Last December, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided another case, Chen v. Albany. This case involves a student with a private Instagram account who posted racist hate speech, including references to nooses, that targeted specific students on campus. Chen, the student in the case, liked the post and commented on it. The school disciplined both students, who then both filed a free
speech claim. The Court of Appeals said their speech was not protected because the post involved bullying, harassment and disruption of school operations, and targeted specific students.
“Content that is a direct threat or perceived to be a threat to the school community requires action,” Allen says. “If a student stays home or comes to school and expresses fear, that’s a disruption to the learning environment. Every school system has experienced something along those lines, and we are no exception.”
For decades, the court has relied on the substantial disruption test to determine if a school has the right to discipline a student based on speech. That standard has changed with these two recent cases.
Content that is a direct threat or perceived to be a threat to the school community requires action.
Administrators need professional development to understand the implications of these two cases, says Shipley.
“I always remind districts to protect kids first,” says Shipley. “If it comes down to protecting the kid who is being bullied or the bully’s First Amendment rights, I choose the kid who is being bullied. Especially given the current mental health crisis.”
The school community includes not only staff and students, it also includes parents, volunteers and the surrounding community. It can be difficult to keep parents and volunteers from posting images from school events. However, a school can request that these parties are mindful and obtain consent before posting images that contain identifiable pictures of other people’s children. The school can also make this request a condition of volunteering and ask volunteers to sign an agreement.
Occasionally, there may be inappropriate interactions from the broader community, either on individual social media accounts or on an official account of the district. Shipley notes that sometimes this includes using the district’s logo, which is illegal under copyright law. If this or any other inappropriate content appears, Shipley suggests the district takes the following steps:
1. Request that the person remove it.
2. Reach out to the platform and ask them to remove it.
3. If it’s an imminent threat or harassment, send a cease and desist letter.
4. Request injunctive relief from a judge.
5. Begin legal action for defamation or harassment.
6. Report to law enforcement.
“What do we do about naughty parents, students, staff or board members?” asks Shipley. “Social media is a free speech right, but there are things we can do to manage it effectively without getting in the way of free speech.” z z z
Social media is a free speech right, but there are things we can do to manage it effectively without getting in the way of free speech.
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With the fast-approaching “fiscal cliff,” an early retirement incentive, the PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan (SRP), may create the needed fiscal relief for your district.
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We give back to the communities we serve by providing college scholarships to graduating high school seniors through Stifel’s annual Fabric of Society essay competition and by supporting school-related foundations and functions with charitable contributions.
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Southern California | Los Angeles Office
Dawn Vincent Managing Director (213)443-5006 dvincent@stifel.com
Robert Barna Managing Director (213)443-5205 rbarna@stifel.com
Frank Vega Managing Director (213) 443-5077
vegaf@stifel.com