This is a message to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Charlie Kyte, Executive Director.
Click on the video or audio podcast above for a 8 minute message. Give the video about 15 seconds to load.
REFLECTIONS ON THE MASA FALL CONFERENCE:
The banquet on Sunday evening was very moving. The words of president Gary Amoroso were lifting and the recognition of Greg Vandal as the Polaris Award winner and Jay Haugen as the 2009 MASA Scholar were outstanding.
On tuesday we heard from Karen Seashore Louis who talked about building positive school cultures and the role of leaders in that endeavor. She was excellent.
PRE-RETIREE WORKSHOP ON DECEMBER 9:
If you are thinking retirement in 2010 or 2011, plan to come to the pre-retiree workshop on December 9. Letters of invitation will come out soon to every active member over 55 years of age.
We will have presentations on re-careering, financial planning, family relationships and you will hear from several successful retirees.
P-CARD PROGRAM REBATES WILL EXCEED $250,000 THIS YEAR:
The annual year for the MN P-Card Program ended on August 31. The P-Card Program creates efficiencies in your business offices, brings a better level of security and also produces a financial rebate for many of the users. This year about 100 Districts participated and 60 are receiving rebates.
The rebates this year total just over $250,000 and range in size from several hundred dollars to $40,000. If you want to participate in the P-Card Program, send us an e-mail and we will help you to set it up.
NEGOTIATIONS:
Negotiations are proceeding even though there is little money to squeeze out of the Districts. In many cases employees are being reasonable in their requests. But in a few cases, some groups apparently haven't heard that there is a recession.
Remember that at some point the negotiations will conclude and you all have to live together afterwards. Thus while tough on the issue, be gentle in your words and minimize damage to the relationships. Charlie's quote which he partially copied from others "The sour taste of poor relationships lasts much longer than the sweetness of financial victory". This goes for both parties.
FLU AND CONTAINING THE MEDIA:
The incidence of flu is up al across the state. The good news is that most children are recovering fairly quickly and are coming back to school. We have been working with MDE, MSBA and the Mn Dep't of Health al along. The latest challenge is that the media want all of the schools reports on absences. We, on the other hand, want to minimize disruptions. The MDH will post the data by county after the fact. Superintendents received an e-mail from MDE in this regard on Monday.
The MDE and MDH are working very positively with school leaders. Please keep sending in absence reports if your flu numbers hit the designated thresholds.
CHARLIE AND DIANNE WILL BE IN EGYPT FOR 12 DAYS:
All during my career as a school administrator and as a teacher it was impossible to be gone on an extended vacation during the school year. For the last several years, Dianne and I have been taking a vacation right after the MASA Fall Conference. This year Dianne decided that we would go to Egypt. My goal is to see Dianne ride a camel. She said she would right after I swam in the Nile River. I thought it was a good bet until I realized the Nile is full of crocodiles. There may be a message in here somewhere! I think we'll cancel the deal.
If you have an issue or concern call the MASA office at 651-645-6272. The staff is equipped to deal with whatever comes up and can get you to the correct people for help.
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