Celebrating 40 Years 1980~2020
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT Organizational Support services are
delivered by agency departments that support not only day-to-day EASTCONN operations, but also supply assistance wherever needed to member school districts and other external partners, including governmental, non-profit and select organizations. Organizational Support includes: • Conference Services • Cooperative Purchasing • Facilities • Finance • Food & Hospitality Services • Human Resources • Marketing & Communications • Research, Development & Innovation • Security & Investigations
COVID-19 Response
EASTCONN’s Human Resources staff provides employees and job-seekers with fingerprinting services, including those hired by local Boards of Education and those seeking employment with other organizations or institutions.
All of the departments that comprise Organizational Support worked behind the scenes throughout the COVID-19 crisis to maintain the agency’s equilibrium, as staff faced new challenges that were unique to their experience. Highlights included: Food Services ramped up to offer tens of thousands of emergency meals to students and families who might otherwise have gone hungry; Marketing & Communications kept EASTCONN’s COVID-19 website resources current daily, and assisted with vital student, staff and external customer communications; HR and Finance provided critical, behindthe-scenes support to all agency staff who needed assistance during the crisis. Please see the COVID-19 Response Supplement insert for highlights from the supports this division continued to provide throughout the crisis.
2019-2020 HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS Conference Services Prior to COVID-19 closures, Conference Services provided registration and marketing, catering, audio/visual services and other supports for 2,000+ participants, attending 647 meetings, workshops or events; those using Conference Services included 3 member districts, SERC, University of St. Joseph, JASON Learning, Northeast Chamber of Commerce, and CCSU Classes. New customers included State Rep. Doug Dubitsky, Connecticut Society of Health System, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney’s Municipal Round
Table, and North West Evaluation Association. Highlights included the Windham Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours meeting.
647
Events hosted by Conference Services
www.eastconn.org 1.
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
EASTCONN Driver Education programs offer comprehensive classroom and on-the-road training for students and adults throughout northeastern Connecticut.
Digital, Print & Social Media
Year-round, our expanding use of digital marketing, including low-cost Google, Facebook and Craigslist ads, resulted in thousands of measurable clicks, views, shares and job applications that saved tens of thousands of advertising dollars, relative to the cost, exposure and unmeasurable ROI that print ads could deliver. We continued to make strategic use of print.
• Digital Subscribers: Our newly scrubbed list of 11,900 e-mail subscribers was used to generate 40 e-blast communications to market a variety of agency events, workshops, newsletters and professional learning opportunities for divisions agency-wide. • Print Media: Issued 30+ press releases to newspapers, generating an estimated $30,000 in free print and digital publicity; wrote and distributed 4 award-winning Connections newsletters, with each print issue reaching 2,400 subscribers and key stakeholders; another 2,356 subscribers received e-blast editions of the newsletter. • Social Media: Our online presence continued to grow, as we used Facebook as part of an overarching strategy to share agency news and updates on virtual PD and other developments during COVID-19. Facebook numbers grew by 30% to 1,060 followers; LinkedIn grew by 21%, to 500 followers.
Research, Development & Innovation EASTCONN Foundation
Began the complex process of establishing a non-profit EASTCONN Foundation to provide added support for educational initiatives across EASTCONN schools and programs.
Security & Investigations Prior to COVID-19, we provided 11 districts and EASTCONN’s 2 magnet schools with truancy and residency services, and provided security for 6 EASTCONN sites/programs, including Driver Education classes.
30+
Press releases were submitted to newspapers, generating an estimated $30K in free publicity
“EASTCONN investigators have been wonderfully helpful and dependable for us this year.” – William McDonald, Assistant Principal, Fisher Elementary, Thompson Public Schools www.eastconn.org 5.
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
1,200+ Job applications were processed by HR this year
EASTCONN’s Food Services provides a wide variety of delicious, healthful and, whenever possible, locally sourced meals and snacks for small and large groups who use our Conference Center facilities in Hampton.
Cooperative Purchasing
All of our 36 EASTCONN-member districts have access to EASTCONN’S cooperative purchasing program. Currently, 120+ schools, non-profit organizations and municipalities statewide are benefiting. Collectively, members have spent millions on products like copiers, fuel, technology equipment, food, custodial, cafeteria and office supplies. The use of reverse auctioning continues to grow.
Facilities
state-required radon testing services.
Facilities Support for Member Districts
Staff offered a range of back-office facility support to member districts, including on-site inspections, recommendations to increase efficiency and costeffectiveness, and personnel interviewing support. Also provided asbestos consultation in 6 districts, initiated HVAC contracts in 2 districts and offered consulting in 1.
Agency Facilities Management
Managed, maintained and oversaw all details related to the safe and effective operation of 15 EASTCONN sites, located in 7 towns across a 33-town service region.
Hazardous Materials Management Services
Before and during the COVID-19 crisis, staff helped member districts stay in compliance with the state Department of Public Health (DPH) and Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) regulations.
Finance/Business Office
Agency Fiscal Management
• Asbestos Management: Provided 3 school districts with 2-hour Asbestos Awareness trainings, 6 school districts with 6-month reassessment inspections and 14 school districts with 3-year re-inspections. • Radon Testing: Provided 4 school districts with
• Training & Consultation: Provided Asbestos Awareness training workshops to new maintenance, custodial staff and independent contractors working in our member districts
Staff processed approximately 33,000 financial transactions in the management of the agency’s $42.6 million operating and grants budget; provided fiscal management for approximately 60 grants and contracts, totaling approximately $15 million; and provided fiscal management for the Student Activity Fund, supporting activities in our schools.
Back Office Fiscal Management & Support Provided comprehensive fiscal management services for several member districts, including budget management, accounts payable and payroll, resulting in enhanced services, increased effectiveness and cost-savings over their previous in-house provision of comparable services.
“Working with [EASTCONN Catering Services] has made my job a breeze. I sincerely hope that we can continue our long-standing partnership.“ – Judith Swayze, UConn’s Center for Learning in Retirement 2. www.eastconn.org
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
11
2019-2020
Districts received truancy & residency services from Security & Investigations
EASTCONN’s in-house, certified asbestos expert and trainer provides school districts and their facilities personnel with all the legally required asbestos trainings and inspections they need.
PLANS & IMPLICATIONS FOR 2020-2021 • Conference Services In keeping with COVID-19 realities, we will continue expanding outreach to our external customer base in order to increase the diversity of events hosted by and/or held at the Hampton Conference Center.
• Facilities We will work with Food Services to secure a new commercial kitchen site in the Killingly area. • Finance We will continue to institute new procedures to meet changing state and federal requirements; we will keep exploring new avenues to increase the security of the agency’s financial accounts and information; we will endeavor to minimize the impact of reduced state and federal funding; and we will seek potential, new revenue streams.
• Food & Hospitality Services We will increase the number of districts we support, while continuing to increase positive impacts on student wellness through the provision of well-planned, nutritious, high-quality meals.
• Human Resources We will continue to develop job descriptions to further enhance recruitment in EASTCONN’s electronic job-applicant tracking system, as part of our initiative to improve our recruitment of qualified job applicants. We will utilize contact lists and expand outreach to non-profit minority and other organizations to promote vacant positions and improve the number of minority applicants. We will serve as a point of service in the implementation of the Connecticut State Police’s new, statewide electronic fingerprinting system, producing faster, more accurate results.
• Marketing & Communications We will grow our use of ADA-compliant online documents and expand our digital and social media marketing/ communication initiatives to provide the agency with affordable, targeted, effective and measurable outcomes.
• Research, Development & Innovation We will continue to pursue grant opportunities for the agency, and work toward expanding the reach of the fledgling EASTCONN Foundation.
• Security & Investigations We will continue to ensure that the agency provides secure learning sites, and that we meet the needs of districts that need our truancy, residency or investigative services.
6. www.eastconn.org
2019-2020
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
750
Students/Families were served daily emergency meals during the COVID-19 crisis
EASTCONN’s Marketing & Communications group offers a range of internal and external services, including graphic design, content creation, editing, marketing solutions, social media consultation and advertising, website design and management, press releases, email marketing and more.
Minority Recruitment/Outreach
Researched and collected contact information for 88 minority/religious organizations in our area and conducted outreach promoting available EASTCONN job opportunities.
HR Consulting Services
Provided specialized HR consulting services to 3 districts and 1 Connecticut employer in the areas of training and related technical assistance.
Marketing & Communications w/Web Development EASTCONN Website
Driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the extensive updates and education resources shared on our website, eastconn.org experienced a 13% increase in web visitors this year, growing from 57,000 to 65,000. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, staff provided ongoing support for K-12 Student Services, Leading & Learning, Early Childhood Initiatives and Adult Programs, as they worked hard to share pandemic-related updates and resources, professional learning opportunities and distance-learning plans for students, staff and families.
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
Funded by the CT Tech Act, our webmaster attended a national assistive technology conference
to train attendees in ADA accessibility. Her expertise ensures year-round ADA compliance for our website, online agency documents and videos.
Ongoing Internal Marketing Support
Continued supporting all EASTCONN divisions as they sought to market their events, PD, schools, programs, services and workshops. We provided graphic design, photography, writing, editing, website management, organizational assistance, digital marketing, eblasts, social media expertise, and more. Two highlights: Created an all-media “marketing blitz” to help HR recruit special education staff, resulting in a deeper, higherquality applicant pool; promoted all EASTCONN divisions during “Did you know?” campaign on WILI-AM/FM radio, improving the region’s knowledge about EASTCONN.
External Marketing Work
We continued to provide marketing, graphic design, editing, printing, e-blast distribution, website design and management, etc., for several external customers, including: the CT Tech Act Project (quarterly online newsletters and on-demand marketing); the CT Office of Early Childhood (CTELDS and HSELOF manuals); and both ECHIP and CT-CHIP health insurance programs (website, logo and marketing materials).
“The greatest benefit to our school has been the breakfast program. In year two, EASTCONN began to offer universal free breakfast, which we would not have been able to do if we were running the program ourselves. In addition, EASTCONN staff has been a joy to work with.“ – Susan Imschweiler, Principal, Pomfret Public Schools 4. www.eastconn.org
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT | HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2019-2020
During the COVID-19 crisis, EASTCONN’s Student Food Services staff organized quickly to prepare and distribute thousands of emergency meals, 7 days a week, to hundreds of our region’s students and families, who might otherwise have gone hungry.
Student Food Services Member District Child Nutrition Services
During the regular school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, EASTCONN Food Services managed 5 member districts under their National School Lunch Program sponsorship agreement with a total combined enrollment of 1,397. EASTCONN Director of Food Services is/was also the acting director in 2 member districts and 1 non-member district, with a combined enrollment of 2,352. Of note:
• School Meals, Before & During COVID-19:
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, staff prepared and served meals to more than 250 EASTCONN students and 1,397 partner-district students in 9 locations, Monday through Friday. All EASTCONN sites and 2 member districts received free lunch and breakfast as part of the Community Eligibility Program. Once the pandemic began, our small Food Services staff was preparing and distributing thousands of emergency meals a week to 750+ students and their families. By June 30, we project that our staff will have distributed more than 165,000 emergency meals from 8 sites in northeastern Connecticut to ensure families stay fed.
• After-School Snack Program: In collaboration with
Windham Heights Community Arts Connection’s afterschool program, and prior to COVID-19 shut-downs, we provided 60 students with daily, nutritious snacks.
• “Food for Thought Café” Management: Located on QVCC’s campus, the café, during the regular school year, serves meals to 400+ EASTCONN students at QMC, NRP and Head Start, as well as hundreds of QVCC students and staff, 5 days a week.
• Vocational Training Program: 12 QMC students and 11 Regional Transition Services (RTS) students
$15 Million in agency grants & contracts were managed by the Business Office
worked and received vocational training at our QVCC kitchen, prior to COVID-19; we also provided vocational training for 5 Educational and Vocational Center (EVC) students in EVC’s kitchen.
• Internal & External Catering: Staff accommodated internal and external groups with early-morning breakfasts, working lunches, client receptions, annual meetings, holiday parties, and more.
Human Resources (HR) Recruitment & Hiring
Assisted external and internal customers, while managing the recruitment and hiring efforts necessary to achieve the mission and goals of our programs. Data below reflect work both prior to and during COVID-19 closures.
• Shared Services: Provided 40 alternative staffing solutions to 2 member districts.
• Fingerprinting Services: Approximately 1,000
individuals – employees and job-seekers – used our fingerprinting services, including individuals hired by area Boards of Education, and employees of organizations beyond Connecticut’s school districts.
• Agency Employment Services: Processed more
than 1,272 applicants in response to 231 EASTCONN job postings and ads; conducted more than 650 employment interviews; and responded to more than 2,300 employment-related telephone inquiries.
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