Friday, June 29, 2007

Lancaster ISD officials convene at Summer Leadership Institute in San Antonio

By Staff of TODAY Newspapers

Dr. Larry Lewis, superintendent of Lancaster School District, Board President Ed Kirkland and new Trustees Sheila Stanmore and Dr. Marjorie King joined local trustees from across the state at the Texas Association of School Boards’ (TASB) Summer Leadership Institute June 14-16 in San Antonio.

More than 2,500 new and veteran school leaders received in-depth training on every facet of effective board governance, heard keynote addresses from renowned education experts and picked up valuable ideas from district showcases of programs that work and numerous networking opportunities.

Not provided by Lancaster TODAY

LISD officials remember most of what happened, but not all.

Hot topics explored during the two-and-a-half-day institute included emergency management, student safety on the internet, K-16 partnerships, school health initiatives, statistical integrity, pre-kindergarten programs, and clear communication on testing and accountability results.

Breakout sessions focused on such topics as environmental and facility-related regulations, employer-sponsored childcare, bond proceeds management, public engagement through district planning, superintendent/CEO searches, successful after-school programs, improved mathematics and reading achievement, construction budgets, gang violence, school prayer, teacher recruitment, special education, campus police, school bond elections, superintendent evaluations, academic integration and education technology trends.

Thursday’s general session featured Tonea Stewart with her session, My Grandmother’s Hand. She inspired attendees to keep believing in children and in the work they do for the districts while reminding them to put aside self interest, work toward unity and rally on behalf of children in their communities.

Russell Quaglia, Friday’s general session speaker, gave his presentation, Understanding Student Aspirations: Enhancing the Learning Environment, which focused on data gathered from more than 200,000 students depicting their perceptions of their educational experience, implications on how schools are organized and the role of educators to increase academic standards.

Special training sessions were available for new board members, covering basics in teamwork, budget, governance, school law and district planning and accountability. Board presidents’ academy sessions focused on basic duties, meeting responsibilities and guidance for leading the team to work together effectively.

TASB is a nonprofit association established in 1949 to serve local public school districts. Texas school board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state and they represent serve more than 4.5 million students.

This press released prepared by Ashley Radford, Lancaster Tiger at Work Summer Intern.

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