This is a message to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Charlie Kyte, Executive Director.
There is both a video and an audio podcast above. Each is about 6 minutes long. Click on the video (give it 15 seconds to load) or on the audio bar. These can also be viewed on the MASA website (www.mnasa.org) by clicking on MASA BLOG in the right hand panel.
THE WAY PEOPLE GET NEWS IS CHANGING AND YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS AS WELL:
The traditional media outlets are dying and new forms are replacing them. To stay current schools need to analyze and begin using these emerging technologies. As people read newspapers lee and listen less to the 10:00 News on TV, they are turning to the internet to get their information. Is your schools communications where they are looking?
A good example is the attempt by President Obama to communicate via e-mail, YouTube, Twitter and by traditional means to all educators and students in america on September 8th. I will be sending out a separate advisory on options to handle this broadcast, scheduled for your first day of school, on Thursday.
H1N1 FLU: MINIMIZE PANIC AND MAXIMIZE PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS:
The biggest challenge may well be a panicking population. Be sure to keep abreast of the latest guidance coming from the MN Dep't of Health and the MDE. Be prepared to also face the possibililty of some families wanting to simply keep their children home and some staff refusing to come to work.
CHECK YOUR SCHOOLS SPAM FILTERS SO CRITICAL MESSAGES CAN GET THROUGH:
We are getting some bounce backs of messages both from the SchoolReach Alert system used by us and the MDE and also of some of our MASA messages. Please check with your tech people to be sure the MASA e-mails can get through. They all end in @mnasa.org. The names at the beginning of the address are 'jamie, members, ckyte, mrlaw, and quinn'.
Q-COMP FOR RURAL DISTRICTS:
In the past it has been easier for mid-size to larger Districts to put together a Q-Comp plan. In the last legislative session the law was changed to permit a group of rural districts to put together a single plan. The law charged the MDE with developing a template to do this.
In discussions with MDE staff, they indicated that if we knew of groups of districts interested, they would work with MASA to facilitate a meeting with MDE. Thus if you are a rural district and have an interest in putting a partnership together, let Charlie know ([email protected]) and he will help to facilitate a meeting of the interested rural superintendents with MDE officials. The interested Districts could be contiguous to each other, but that is not a requirement.
TWO NEW SETS OF MASA WORKSHOPS:
Check these out!
Guthrie Presentation Skill Workshop on October 15:
The Gutherie Theater offers workshops to corporate CEO's on refining their presentation and communication skills. MASA, in cooperation with the Guthrie, is offering a similar workshop to school leaders. It will be held on October 15, the 1st day of the Ed MN fall conference/ holiday. If you are interested go to the MASA website (www.mnasa.org) for more information and to register. Registration is limited.
Pre-Retiree Workshops:
Watch for an announcement soon. MASA will offer a one day workshop to members 6 months to 18 months from retirement later this fall. We will also offer a second workshop in the spring for members considering retiring in 2-4 years.
MN COACHES ASSOCIATION ENDORSES STUDENT ACCIDENT INSURANCE PLAN:
The MSHSL provides catastrophic accident insurance for all students participating in MSHSL activities. Some school districts also make some type of accident policy available to individual families as well. We just learned that the MN Coaches Association has endorsed an AFLAC Student Accident Policy. If your AD mentions this to you, you may want to allow distribution of this accident policy to families.
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