2009 Spring - Alabama School Boards Magazine

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FEATURES8 ALABAMA’S

SCHOOLS IN BUDGETARY LIMBOLocal school boards face many uncertainties and a $1 billion shortfall in state education funding.

12 CAUCUS SETS GOALSCaucus of Black School Board Members serves as a forum for the distinct issues faced by the state’s minority school board members and students.

14 FACE TO FACE Rep. Greg Canfield serves on the HouseGovernment Appropriations Committeeand is sponsoring the Rolling ReserveBudget Act bill endorsed by AASB.

16 COVER STORY60 Years of Service: AASB celebrates six decades of work to develop excellentschool board leaders through qualitytraining, advocacy and services.

19 SURVEY SAYS 2008 AASB Membership Survey shows 98 percent believe AASB equips memberswith the necessary governance skills.

22 10 QUESTIONSLongtime advocate Linda Tillystrives to be a voice

for Alabama’s children.

IN EVERY ISSUE4 UP FRONT6 EDUCATION & THE LAW27 HELP11 CALENDAR 28 PEOPLE & SCHOOLS30 AT THE TABLEON THE COVER: AASB images.

OFFICERSPRESIDENTSue Helms

Madison

PRESIDENT-ELECTFlorence Bellamy

Phenix City

VICE PRESIDENTSteve Foster

Lowndes County

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTJim Methvin

Alabama School of Fine Arts

STAFFEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sally Brewer Howell, J.D.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERKen Roberts, C.P.A.

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONSDenise L. Berkhalter

DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONSLissa Astilla Tucker

DIRECTOR OF BOARD DEVELOPMENTLuAnn Bird

MEETING/MARKETING COORDINATORMandy Fernandez

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORDebora Hendricks

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANTTammy Wright

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTSDonna Norris

BOOKKEEPERKay Shaw

STAFF ASSISTANTLashana Summerlin

CLERICAL ASSISTANTPaulina Woods

BOARD OF DIRECTORSDISTRICT 1

Patsy BlackMonroe County

DISTRICT 2Bill Minor

Dallas County

DISTRICT 3Jeff Bailey

Covington County

DISTRICT 4Katy S. Campbell

Macon County

DISTRICT 5Jennifer Parsons

Jefferson County

DISTRICT 6Sue JonesJacksonville

DISTRICT 7Susan Harris

Winfield

DISTRICT 8Pam Doyle

Muscle Shoals

DISTRICT 9Laura Casey

Albertville

STATE BOARDSandra Ray

Tuscaloosa

Alabama S chool Boards • Spr ing 2009 3

PUBLICATION POLICYAlabama School Boards is published by theAlabama Association of School Boards as aservice to its members. The articles publishedin each issue represent the ideas or beliefs ofthe writers and are not necessarily the viewsof the Alabama Association of School Boards.Subscriptions sent to members of schoolboards are included in membership dues,and complimentary copies are sent to publicschool principals throughout the state. Additional subscriptions can be obtained by contacting AASB.Entered as third-class mail at Montgomery, AL. Permit No. 34.Alabama School Boards is designed by J. Durham Design, L.L.C., Montgomery, AL.Address all editorial and advertising inquiries to: Alabama School Boards, Editor, P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL36123-0488. Phone: 334/277-9700 ore-mail [email protected].

InsideInside SPRING 2009Vol. 30, No. 1

www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

PRORATION CRISISWON’T BLOW OVER

9PRORATION CRISISWON’T BLOW OVER

9

2929

SHINING EX AMPLEMontgomery County’s LovelessAcademic Magnet Program (LAMP)among nation’s top high schools.

2424 PRE-K GUARDIANJacquelyn Autrey, one of the state’s16 program monitors, helps maintain Alabama’s nationally recognized reputation for quality pre-kindergarten programs.

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4 Alabama S chool Boards • Spr ing 2009

&Trends,Research Dates

UPFRONT

Virtual High School Gains PopularityBy the year 2019, an estimated one-halfof all high schoolcourses will betaught online predictsco-authors Clayton M.Christen sen, MichaelB. Horn and Curtis W.Johnson in DisruptingClass: How DisruptiveInnovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. More than 1 million students in America take onlinecourses, according to the Sloan Consortium’s 2007survey, K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School Dis-

trict Admini strators. That number for 2007-2008 represents a 47 percent increase over 2005-2006,reports the consortium that supports quality onlineeducation (www.sloan-c.org).

SAY WHAT?“It’s a matter of talking to

your legislators and letting

them know where you can

best tolerate (budget)

cuts. … It’s better that we share that

input and make our own determinations

about where the cuts are made. We want

them to be in the areas that will sting

the least.”— AASB Executive Director Sally Howell

Quoted by the Florence Times Dailyat the association’s district meeting

Compiled by Denise Berkhalter

Alabama’s gifted student population totaled 32,390 students in 2006-07, and state funding for gifted and talented education was at $2.3 million, according to theNational Association for Gifted Children. In June 2008, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s report High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind revealedthat gains among nationally gifted students didn’t keep pace with gains of lower-achieving learners during this period of high emphasis on adequate yearly progressunder the federal NCLB law. Read the report at http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/20080618_high_achievers.pdf.

32,390 DID YOU KNOW?

SHOULD TWINS ATTEND THE SAME CLASS?Whether or not to place twins or multiple birth siblings in the same or separate classrooms is a decision parents and educators struggle with eachschool year. The decision is made with the students’ best interest kept inmind. Representatives from the state Department of Education, the Ala-bama Association of School Boards, the Council for Leaders in AlabamaSchools and the School Superintendents of Alabama met with Rep. GregWren last fall to discuss alternatives to state legislation to address theissue. The joint effort helps avoid state legislation on this local decision bydisseminating information statewide on placing multiple birth siblings. Read the full guide atwww.alabamaschoolboards.org/IssueBriefs.htm.

AASB will soonannounce which school

boards are going to participatein a two-year, multi-state research

project to develop training programsdesigned to help Alabama’s school boards

govern for higher student achievement. The proj-ect is called Governing for Achievement and is a part-

nership effort of the state Department of Education, SchoolSuperintendents of Alabama and the A+ Education Partnership.

Alabama’s research will replicate a statistically proven training pro-gram that improves student achievement through school board actions.

For more information about researched-based and customized full boardtraining, contact AASB Board Development Director LuAnn Bird at lbird@alabam-

aschoolboards.org or 800/562-0601.

AASB to ConductResearchto ImproveStudent Achievement

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EDUCATION SECRETARY LAUDS ECONOMIC STIMULUSU.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hailed passage of the 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February as a “historicopportunity to create jobs and advance education reform.”

“About $44 billion in stimulus funding will be available as soon as nextmonth,” said Duncan, who is scheduled to speak in April at the NationalSchool Boards Association Annual Conference in San Diego. The economicstimulus package provides more than $100 billion in education funding, as

well as billions more for school modernization. It includes:

■ $40 billion in state stabilization funds to help avert education cuts. School systems havediscretion to use some of this money for school modernization.

■ $13 billion for Title I, including $3 billion for Title I school improvement programs.

■ $12 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs.

■ $5 billion in incentive grants to be distributed on a competitive basis to states that mostaggressively pursue higher standards, quality assessments, robust data systems and teacherquality initiatives. This includes $650 million to fund school systems and non-profits withstrong track records of improving student achievement.

■ $5 billion for early childhood, including Head Start, early Head Start, child care block grantsand programs for infants with disabilities.

■ $2 billion for other education investments, including pay for performance, data systems, teacher quality investments, technology grants, vocational rehab, work study andImpact Aid.

Additional School Modernization — (up to) $33.6 Billion:

■ An additional $8.8 billion in state stabilization funds are available for other state servicesincluding education. School modernization is an eligible use of this funding.

■ Authority for states and school systems to issue $24.8 billion in bonds over the next 10years for renovation, repairs and school construction that will be retired through a combina-tion of local, state and federal dollars.

For more information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, visitwww.Recovery.gov or www.ed.gov/recovery. ■

‘FRIEND OF THE COURT’ Brief Submitted in Boone Case

At the request of the Birmingham Board of Education, theLegal Assistance Fund Board of Trustees agreed to join theFrancine Boone et al. v. Birmingham Board of Education caseby issuing an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief. At issue is whether a tenured teacher is due notice ofcancellation of a coaching/supplemental contract by the endof the school year under the tenure law. The case is pendingin the Supreme Court.

Because legal challenges are costly — not only to theschool board involved in a certain case but potentially to other boards facing similar issues — the Alabama Associ-ation of School Boards’ Legal Assistance Fund supportsschool boards’ common interests by assisting membersinvolved in cases of statewide significance. Typically, the LAFenters such cases by filing “friend of the court” briefs or providing legal research. Governed by a board of trustees,the LAF seeks to influence the outcome of court challenges,but under no circumstances will it bear the full cost of a case.

SURVEY SAYS: EDUCATION A PRIORITYWhile 30 percent of Alabamians worry about jobs and the economy, 20

percent believe education problems are more important and 58 percentare willing to pay more in taxes to avoid education cuts, according to sur-vey results presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Public AffairsResearch Council of Alabama. In February, Samford University AssociateProfessor Dr. Randolph Horn presented Budget Issues: What AlabamiansThink. The survey found 80 percent of respondents believe revenue shouldbe earmarked for education, and 58 percent believe education ought tobe state government’s No. 1 funding priority. Dr. Ira W. Harvey of DecisionResources LLC shared Finding a Long-term Equilibrium Between State Rev-enues and Expenditures, which recommends a true budget reserve linkedto long-term revenue trends — based on the start of a cycle rather thanthe peak — to help end the need for proration. View both presentationsat http://parca.samford.edu/presentations.html.

GOOD POINT!“Education must be our state's priority. If we are to lure industry, which wouldin turn boost our tax

revenues, we must have the proper means to give our children all of the skills and tools it takes to be successful.”— Opelika-Auburn News

Feb. 9 editorial

The December 2008 class of 214 National Board CertifiedTeachers, brings Alabama’s total to 1,543 teachers. TheNational Board for Professional Teaching Standards seeksto impact student learning through improved teaching.Alabama does the same by paying nationally certifiedteachers a $5,000 annual salary supplement along withother financial incentives. For details, call 800/228-3224.

1,543 BY THE NUMBERS

Education

Health Care

Public Safety

Highways

0 1 2 3 4

58%

28%

8%

5%

1.6

2.1

3.0

3.3

Average Rank Percentage #1

FUNDING PRIORITIES FOR STATE GOVERNMENT

Yes

No

No Opinion

SHOULD REVENUEBE EARMARKED FOR EDUCATION?

6%

14%

80%

PARCA Survey 2009 - State Funding Priorities

Arne Duncan



EDUCATION & THE LAW

Board of education employees are considered state agents, not employees of local government agencies, such as citiesand counties. As such, they are entitled to the protection of “state agency immunity.”

tate agent immunity is available to board employeeswhen they are “exercising judgment in the dischargeof duties imposed by statute, rule or regulation in

releasing prisoners, counseling or releasing persons ofunsound mind or educating students” (Ex parteCranman, 792 So.2d 392, 405, Ala. 2000).

However, state-agent immunity is not unlimitedin its reach. For example, it does not extend toemployees acting in their personal capacity or “willfully, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond (their)authority or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.”

An Oct. 31, 2008, decision of the Alabama SupremeCourt illustrates how the failure of an employee to followboard policy can render the employee’s actions unautho-rized and thus beyond the protection of state-agent immu-nity (Ex parte Brett Yancey). The Yancey case was broughtby two students against a head football coach and athleticsdirector. The students participated in the coach’s footballweight-lifting class, during which he required them toclean the weight room, locker room and the field housebathrooms in order to instill team discipline. As they hadbeen allowed by the defendant to do on other occa-sions, the students used a personal vehicle to trans-port trash barrels to the dumpsters on the day of theaccident giving rise to the lawsuit. The studentschose to travel on a public street and were injuredin a traffic accident.

The board’s student handbook, which wasdetermined by the court to be board policy andto apply to both students and faculty members,included provisions prohibiting students from

returning to a vehicle or parking lot during the school daywithout the permission of an administrator. By referencingthe faculty directory in the student handbook, the courtfound that Yancey was not an administrator, as his namewas included with all other faculty members and was notlisted separately with the principal, assistant principal andsuperintendent. As a general faculty member, Yancey wasthus not authorized to permit the students to enter the park-ing lot, retrieve and use a personal vehicle.

Board Employees Must Follow Policyor Lose Immunity By Lucy Hester, Bishop, Colvin, Johnson & Kent LLC

S

photo©istockPhoto.com


Although the court concluded that the defendant wasentitled to the benefits of state-agent immunity to theextent he had used his judgment and discretion in teach-ing the weight-lifting class, that immunity was lost whenhe acted beyond his authority in failing to discharge hisduties in accordance with detailed rules or regulations.

The Yancey decision cited and applied principlesannounced in an earlier Supreme Court opinion,Giambrone v. Douglas. In Giambrone, a student wasinjured during a wrestling practice “challenge match” withhis coach. Because the board did not have a policyaddressing wrestling practices, the court concluded thatDouglas had broad authority to exercise judgment in thesafe conduct of his wrestling team practices. However, thatauthority was limited when the school’s athletics directorfurnished and required adherence to the guidelines andrules of the Alabama High School Athletic Association(AHSAA), which mandates clinic attendance for headcoaches; the National Federation of Wrestling, which gov-erns high school wrestling, including illegal and unsafemoves; and the AHSAA Athletics Directories, which warnsthat coaches should not arrange competition betweenindividuals with widely disparate physical abilities.

Defendant Douglas did not attend any wrestlingcoaching clinics prior to the incident in question. Moreover, Douglas, weighing approximately 70 poundsmore than Giambrone, arguably exhibited an illegal and unsafe wrestling move during the challenge matchwith his student.

Importantly, the court rejected the contention that theguidelines and rules in question could not constitute pol-icy or give rise to a legal duty simply because they werenot formally or officially adopted or approved by theboard as “board policy.” In other words, rules, regula-tions, procedures and practices — especially if sanctionedor mandated by school officials — can limit the scope ofan employee’s authority and thus of his immunity. Forthese reasons, and as Skippy Mullins warned in her July

2002, Alabama School Boards article “In Policy, Less IsMore,” school boards should adopt the less-is-more rulewhen authoring, adopting or endorsing policies, regula-tions and less formal (but typically more detailed) proce-dures, practices and even “guidelines.”

A 2001 decision of the Alabama Court of Civil Appealsillustrates the point. In Bayles v. Marriott, the appealscourt applied state-agent immunity to a principal who hadbeen sued by a school coach. The coach was injured as aresult of a practical joke that had been concocted by sev-eral employees, administrators and faculty members. Thepertinent policy was broadly phrased and drafted in gen-eral terms, providing only that the principal was responsi-ble for school plant safety and that hazards should bereported to the maintenance supervisor. In upholdingimmunity for the principal, the court stated that it “mightreach a different result if, instead of the broadly stated,general safety policy, (the principal) had instead beenresponsible for following a detailed rule or checklist andhad failed in this responsibility” (Bayles v. Marriott, 816So.2d 38, 41-42, Ala. Civ. App. 2001).

These cases illustrate how school board employees canlose their state-agent immunity by departing from bothofficial and quasi-official policies, rules and regulations. Tolimit these risks, boards and their employees shouldremember the following key points:

1. Policies, rules or regulations should be adopted orendorsed only when absolutely necessary;

2. Policies, rules and regulations should be current,brief, simple and broad in scope;

3. Handbooks, rules, regulations and operating proce-dures should be consistent with board policy;

4. Policies, rules and regulations should be understoodand followed by employees; and

5. In-service or other training regarding the liabilityrisks associated with policies, regulations and like-standards should be coordinated for employeeswhere roles and responsibilities expose them to indi-vidual liability.

Bottom LineBefore adopting, requiring or endorsing policies, rules,

regulations or standards, know what you are approving,why you are approving it and whether the requirementscan or will be consistently met by employees. A deviation

from such regulations can result in the forfeiture of an otherwise available im -munity defense. ■

Lucy A. Hester of Bishop, Colvin, Johnson & Kent LLC is a graduate of Cumberland School of Law at SamfordUniversity. Her areas of practice includes education law.


State-agent immunity is not unlimited in its reach. For example, it does not extend to employees acting in their personal capacity or “willfully, fraudulently, in bad faith,beyond (their) authority or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.”

om


8 Alabama S chool Boards • Spr ing 2009 photo©istockPhoto.com

These are challenging times. School board members understand that.

he nation is in a recession. Alabama had to backfill a gaping $1.8 billion hole in the state budget for 2009 with across-the-board cuts, including what amounts to a 9 percent proration to the state education budget. The cur-

rent year was also shored up with a six-year loan to use halfof the state’s $437 million Education Rainy Day Fund.

Schools survived the 2008 fiscal budget year only becausethe state emptied its $440 million savings account. Along theway, school boards across the state have been making toughbudget choices — from layoffs to deferred maintenance, loansand drawn-down savings.

Thankfully, help is on the way. Alabama is poised toreceive $3 billion — over 2 1/2 years — of the more than $825billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan approvedpost-proration by Congress with much debate in February.

Gov. Bob Riley said federal funds that are part of the Ala-bama Economic Recovery Plan will spare the state from mostof the nearly 3 percent cut in the already prorated K-12 budgetfor fiscal year 2010 that he proposed earlier in the session. Thatcut is on top of the 9 percent proration for the current fiscalyear.

Rather than a $5.6 billion education budget for 2010, Ala -bama may have nearly $6 billion for education thanks to thefederal economic stimulus package. That compares to a $6.7billion budget for 2008 and the current year’s education budgetof $6.3 billion.

The federal stimulus is no silver bullet. Even if the gover-nor goes through with his plan to borrow the remaining halfof the Rainy Day Fund — a line-of-credit against Alabama’soil and gas trusts — schools will still come up just short forthe 2009 budget. In addition, millions will still need to betrimmed from next year’s education budget on top of cutsalready made this year.

Alabama has been here before. In fact, this is the 16th timethe state has called proration for education since 1950. The2008 budget year technically should have been a year of pro-ration but was saved by the education savings account nest egg.

The funding for education is at the mercy of economic cyclesof ups and downs. Primarily funded through income taxes andsales taxes, it is highly susceptible to upswings and downturns.

What adds insult to injury is the timing. The cuts in thebudget come on the heels of astounding growth in the educa-

tion fund. Spending grew from $4.2 billion to $6.7 billion overfour years. The growth in dollars invested in Alabama’s K-12programs resulted in nationally recognized progress.

Innovative state programs have demonstrated measurablegains that make our state a role model in such areas as read-ing, science and technology. Pockets of success are the normin places where, before, there were statistical reasons for fail-ure — high poverty, a large minority population and specialeducation.

We see excellence, are witnessing progress and are worriedthe excitement about it all will dwindle if we don’t hold tight towhat really matters — a quality education for Alabama’s students.

So, how does this state’s leadership make these toughchoices when there simply are no easy places to cut K-12 edu-cation without hurting the very core of our budding success?

In January, we asked our membership that very same ques-tion. (See the 2009 State Budget Cut Survey online atwww.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.) You responded with aresounding call to attempt to make the least impact on studentsand learning in the classroom. You want to protect teachers,successful programs that have a statewide benefit to studentsand critical funds necessary to keep the academic environmentup and running for students.

The coming weeks will be a flurry of budget activity. Atpress-time, the state superintendent of education planned tomeet with school system leadership teams to discuss details ofthe economic stimulus. Lawmakers expected to return fromtheir spring break to find a revised budget proposal from Gov.Bob Riley for 2010 — one that delineates between federal stim-ulus sources and state revenue sources.

And there are decisions to be made. The formula used todisburse federal stabilization dollars will be important, andAASB, of course, strongly advocates the use of the state Foun-dation Program formula. Another question mark is whether thegovernor will use the federal dollars over a two- or three-yeartimeframe. It’s also not clear just when, or if, the second halfof the Rainy Day Fund will be released to lower proration from9 percent to 5.5 percent.

This, we know. Now is no time for even more uncertainty.Whether state officials use the remaining dollars in the RainyDay Fund or direct a portion of the federal stimulus dollars toshore up the 2009 budget, local boards need a clear picturesoon of what the final figure for proration will be when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. ■

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVEBy Sally Howell, J.D., AASB Executive Director

Alabama’s Schools Face $1 Billion in State Education Budget Cuts

T


By Terry Wilhite

We’re quite adept here along Alabama’s Gulf Coast at keeping a watchful eye on the

weather forecast and hurricane tracking maps. When the “cone of certainty” puts us

within striking distance of a hurricane, we tune to every weather update as we head

to the garage to get the plywood and screws — all the time hoping that the tropical

behemoth will veer toward Mexico or Texas (not that we’d wish ill will on anybody).

As if it were one of those big tropical blobs spinning on the television weather map,

we have braced for proration.


(Continued on page 10)



e have been placed in the “cone of certainty” by waning revenues and daily reports of national economicdecline. In December, the governor made it official.

Proration had hit Alabama, making landfall with double-digitnumbers. Now, in school districts like mine and yours, the stormsurge is rising quickly. We’re seeing the dark clouds swirl over-head, and like tropical force winds, we’re feeling the slap of costcutting at every turn.

Slow moving storms are always the worst, and this financialtwister called proration — across the board budget cuts — ismethodically tracking across every budget line item, leaving atrail of destruction and a body count in its path.

This event is record setting. Just as some of our brave neigh-bors on the Gulf Coast hear the weatherman say “hurricane” andthink, “I can ride this thing out,” so too, many of our employeessee the word “proration” and recollect going through times ofreduced funding. But past years of proration are like an after-noon thundershower compared to the current economic tsunamithat is playing out nationally and has been rated the most severesince The Great Depression.

The damage will come in waves. The first storm surge willclaim jobs — hundreds of them for a system the size of the oneI serve and thousands statewide. In addition, the rising tide willsweep away programs, professional development and other pillars of educational advancement that have recently anchoredsome of the finest academic achievement this state has everknown.

It will not be pretty. Much of the damage this storm is caus-ing right now is happening in the dark — out of the sight of par-ents and the communities that we serve. They’re hearing ofimpending program and job cuts, but they have yet to see thedevastation in the daylight. Morning will come, however. Thissummer — when parents show up for registration and familiarteachers’ names aren’t on class rosters anymore, when home-room counts have increased and band and art classes have beenstricken from their children’s schedules — the trail of destructionwill begin to be apparent. It will get clearer when the first day ofschool arrives and students discover that the number in theirclassroom is larger than it was last year. When the school day isover and the wait for the bus is longer, parents and students willlearn that drivers are pulling extra routes because many of theircounterparts no longer have a job.

We have to own up to reality. Most of us are eternal optimists, which is a very good thing. We’re still hoping prora-tion will just go away. Maybe a high pressure system in the formof economic stimulus money really will make this monster veertoward open waters. Let’s hope. But hope alone isn’t going to seeus through. The first step in leading our organizations throughthese dark times requires that we have to own up to the fact thatwe’re dealing with a crisis. As a leader, it is okay to say “crisis.”A crisis requires a different approach, a different mindset. Oncea crisis is declared, most people are willing to do what theywould otherwise not be willing to do. We cannot continue to dobusiness as usual. We must declare a crisis. We must act. We mustlead. Most importantly, we must communicate.

Communication is critical. An event this size demands awell-thought-out and executed communications strategy. Just asthe damage will unfold in waves, likewise, our communicationstrategies must be designed to meet the need of the phase inwhich we find ourselves. In pivotal moments like these, howwell we perform as leaders will make the difference — whetherwe’re remembered as former New York Gov. Rudy Giulianiwhen terrorists struck on 9/11 or as Michael Brown, head of theFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during Hurri-cane Katrina. How well an organization rebounds from thisfinancial disaster is dependent upon its leadership team. Whetherleaders remain in place to manage the cleanup and recovery willbe largely dependent upon communication skills.

The rules changed overnight. Did anybody tell you? If wethink we can communicate like we did three years ago, not tomention 10, reality will prove us wrong. The difference betweenwinning and losing will depend on one’s knowledge of whatworks with current communication strategy and technology.Look no further than the recent presidential election as proof ofwhat communication strategies and tactics work. Here are somekey words and concepts we must now embrace to be effectiveleaders and communicators.

STRAIGHT!Communication is based upon trust. While advice to “shoot

straight” might seem blatantly obvious, it is not. Like it or not, thepublic throws us into the same distrustful pot as every other cor-porate or government leader, and we often fail to realize thatwhile we see ourselves as very trustworthy, our would-be follow-ers do not see us that way at all. We have to work triply hard tocommunicate clearly, to build trust one word and one person atthe time and to quickly straighten out any erroneous informationwe may unintentionally impart.

W

N o matter how solid the working relationship,

it is easy for the superintendent, board,

key staff and principals to stray from the primary

message. Anything less than unity will be readily

detected and rejected by our stakeholders, and

most assuredly, it will be exaggerated by the media.

It is important to have a professional on staff to

coordinate the information effort. The public will

not tolerate confusion and discord during a crisis.



✔MARK YOUR CALENDAR

APRIL 20094-7 NSBA Annual Conference

and ExpositionSan Diego

14 Teleconference/Webinar on Personnel Law

MAY 200918 Regular Legislative

Session Ends

JUNE 20097-10 SSA Summer Conference

Perdido Hotel, Orange Beach

TBA Board Secretary Workshop

JULY 20098-10 NSBA/Southern Region

Little Rock, Arkansas

25-26 AASB Leadership IPerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

26-27 School Board Attorneys ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

26-28 AASB Summer ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

DECEMBER 20093-5 AASB Annual Convention

Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham ■

Credibility with our stakeholders does not come from where wemay first think. The rule changed. It no longer originates from aposition or educational degree. When I was a communicator in theelectric utility business, we could bring in an industry expert in ratedesign to explain why power bills were on the rise. However, a“good ole boy” on the tailgate of a pickup truck had far more swaywith our clientele with his homespun knowledge of electric rates— namely, in his words, that they were a rip-off. Such “authorities”gain instant credibility and followings. In the education business,no doubt, we’ve experienced similar. We had better find out whothe real influencers are and spend a lot of time with them. That iseasier said than done because many of them are anonymous andnow hang out on Internet blogs with huge followings. They will bethe key to our success and can be our best allies. But, we have tomethodically work through the issues with them, and to be credi-ble, these influencers must appear to keep their distance from usand relay to their followers information in their own words.

SPEED!By the time we’ve called our legal counsel and consulted with

key players to develop talking points, “citizen journalists” — manyof them our employees — have already posted developments totheir blogs, dispatched their opinions via Twitter (Google it if youdon’t know what it is) and e-mailed hundreds of people on theircontact lists who then, almost simultaneously, hit “forward” ontheir own e-mail. Of course, much of the information is probablynot accurate at all. False information travels faster than the truth.As Winston Churchill said, “A lie is half way around the worldbefore you can get your pants on.” If that was the case inChurchill’s day, imagine what it is now. Speed is everything. If wedon’t communicate rapidly, somebody will reach our stakeholdersfaster than we do and fill the void with incorrect information.

For years, I have heard it said that we as leaders need to be ableto contact our key stakeholders within 45 minutes. In this instanta-neous day and age, 45 minutes is light years. Such length is unac-ceptable. In our school system, one of the most invaluable commu-nications services that we’ve put together is our key communicatornetwork. Within a minute, our superintendent can contact everyelected official in our county, every youth minister, every policechief, every fire chief, every mayor, every councilman and a hostof other influencers. We can choose to send them an e-mail, textmessage or a phone recording. The speed happens by using rapidnotification technology. I am amazed that 1,000 key communica-tors can be updated by a recorded message in less than 60 sec-onds. That sort of speed is the expectation of the day. No less willsuffice.

DIRECT!As Gerald Barron said in his book, Now Is Too Late (a highly

recommended read about crisis communication), “It is no longer aviable excuse to say, ‘We communicate through the news media.’That is like saying, ‘We prefer to use a town crier, if you don’t mind.’”While media relations are important, employees and other key



t’s that diversity, in my opinion, that makes this associ-ation such a wonderful haven for all school boardmembers — be they novices or experts — who need

skills, knowledge, advice, information or just a networkof peers to tap into.

It’s that diversity that ultimately led to the formation ofthe Alabama Caucus of Black School Board Members. Thecaucus brings together those who recognize the uniquechallenges associated with ensuring a quality educationfor minorities — including persistent poverty andachievement gaps.

Progress has been made, but there is more to accom-plish in this state where 41 percent of our 743,000 stu-dents are minorities, including more than 260,000 AfricanAmerican students. That’s why, as we diligently worktoward student success for all students, our caucus alsokeeps a watchful eye on those who have statistically andhistorically fallen through the cracks.

The caucus is hard at work.As a member of AASB’s Multicultural Committee, I

communicate with AASB’s leadership and the committeeon matters relating to minority board members, educationleaders, communities and students.

We are affiliated with the National Caucus of BlackSchool Board Members, and members who are involvedwith the national Council of Urban Boards of Educationcome back and report what they’ve learned. Through indi-vidual members’ local, state and national connections, weare able to bring important information back to the caucus,including the latest on policies and practices that affectminority students. And, we have long served as a forum forthe distinct issues faced by the state’s minority schoolboard members — who comprise about 25 percent ofAASB’s 800-plus membership.

In December 2008, the caucus came together for ourannual board meeting. We discussed the possibility of an Alabama Caucus of Black School Board Members

Scholarship to encourage minorities to enter the teachingfield. We also appointed a committee to create an archivethat will become the historical record of the caucus’ accom-plishments. We took a look at the state’s dropout rate andtalked about issues prevalent among black youth thatcould be contributing to that problem. We encouraged cau-cus members to actively participate in AASB by joining thevarious committees.

We passed a resolution in support of AASB’s effort toderail the movement to force a school start date onschools through legislative action. We honored long-timecaucus member and outgoing Montgomery County boardmember Henry Spears for his dedicated service to school-children, AASB and the caucus. Later in the meeting, welooked ahead to 2009.

Our goals for this year are as follows:■ Increase our membership and better inform

members of the caucus’ goals.

■ Maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with AASB.

■ Support AASB within our goals and vision.

■ Inform legislators of our goals and vision.

■ Revisit our bylaws.

■ Address the dropout rate.

■ Implement a scholarship foundation.

■ Increase the number of graduates who pursue a profession in education by asking that there be state and federal incentives, such as paid tuitionfor those who agree to teach for a set period.

If you’re interested in participating in the black caucus,look for details in the near future about our next meeting. ■

The Rev. Preston Nix of the Attalla school board has served as president of theAlabama Caucus of Black School Board Members since 2007.


CAUCUS PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVEBy The Rev. Preston Nix

From the Black Caucus The Alabama Association of School Boards brings together school board members from a variety of backgrounds — from farmers to professors and high school graduates to Ph.D.s.

I

photo©istockphoto.com



APRIL 14TELECONFERENCE/WEBINARON PERSONNEL LAWLooking for low-cost, high-quality training on the state’s tenure,dismissal, contract principal and other employment laws?

We’ve got a $40 value for you!For more information, contact AASB at 800/562-0601 or visit www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

ACADEMY DATES TO REMEMBER:July 25-26, 2009. . . . . 2009 AASB Leadership I

Perdido Hotel, Orange Beach

July 26-27, 2009 . . . . School Board Attorneys ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

July 26-28, 2009 . . . . 2009 AASB Summer ConferencePerdido Hotel, Orange Beach

December 3-5, 2009 2009 Annual ConventionThe Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham



ep. Greg Canfield of Vestavia Hillsbelieves there is a way to end deepeducation budget cuts. He calls it the

Rolling Reserve Budget Act, a bill he hasintroduced into the 2009 legislative ses-sion.

Canfield said his proposed legislationwould create a new budget process for the Education Trust Fund that provides

sustainable growth in education funding, beats inflation, buildsreserves, prevents proration and generates funds to help payfor capital construction for schools as well as unfunded liabili-ties associated with teacher retirement and the Public Educa-tion Employees’ Health Insurance Plan (PEEHIP). Because thecurrent ETF budget process requires annual forecasting of rev-enues, Canfield said the budget is consistently revenue shortone-third of the time. Indeed, Alabama has declared proration17 times in the last 59 years, and the state is now experiencingits most challenging budget crisis in recent history.

Rolling Reserve Budgeting is based on averaging the growthin ETF revenues over a long period of time, since revenues thatfund education are highly sensitive to economic changes.Annual revenue growth rates, for example, can vary as muchas the -3.1 percent of fiscal year 1982 to the +13.7 percentboom in 1983. The extreme revenue fluctuations make fore-casting ETF revenues year-to-year a difficult task.

Rolling Reserve Budgeting, in Canfield’s opinion, is a betterway to fund education in Alabama. The Alabama Association ofSchool Boards, School Superintendents of Alabama, BusinessCouncil of Alabama and the higher education community sup-port the measure. In this interview, Canfield shares his thoughtsabout legislative service and education funding with AASBChief Operating Officer Ken Roberts.

▲ Roberts: I am so glad you could talk with us today. Just tostart off, tell us a little bit about yourself and what broughtyou to public service.

◆ Canfield: Well, Ken, I am 48 years old. I have been mar-ried for 25 years to my wife, Denise. I have two children,Rachel and John. Rachel is a junior in college at the Uni-versity of Alabama. My son, John, is a freshman at VestaviaHills High School. I’m originally from Birmingham andgraduated from public school at Huffman High School inBirmingham. I became interested in public service as I had

started my own business. I got more and more involved inthe community because of being in business in VestaviaHills and became very active with the chamber of com-merce and in supporting our local public school system. Itjust sort of grew from there. I felt that oftentimes we tendto complain about our public servants, but we’re not alwayswilling to step forward. Somebody at the right time invitedme to do it, and I did.

▲ Roberts: In general, what do you feel are the biggest chal-lenges facing the Legislature?

◆ Canfield: Beyond the shadow of doubt, the biggest chal-lenges facing the Legislature this year are going to be thetwo budgets (General Fund and Education Trust Fund),especially the Education Trust Fund budget. Now, thosebudgets are to the point now where the Legislature is goingto have to make some tough decisions in moving forward.And, unfortunately with respect to the Education Trust

FACE TO FACEBy Ken Roberts, AASB Chief Operating Officer

Rep. Greg Canfield

Rep. Greg Canfield

R

“Public education in Ala-bama represents the sin-gle best opportunity thatwe have to move our statefoward.”— Rep. Greg Canfield, announcingthe RollingReserve Budget bill he introducedin the 2009 legislative session



Fund, those decisions have some very chilling effectsthroughout school systems, communities and countiesacross the state of Alabama.

▲ Roberts: We’re certainly going through a troublesometime for education and looking for solutions to help usweather this economic storm. I understand you’ve pro-posed legislation to help. Please tell us about your RollingReserve bill.

◆ Canfield: Certainly. Aside from the fact that we aregoing through a very difficult recessionary period, thebiggest problem facing public education in Alabama isthe cycle of proration that we have that seems to be builtinto the legislative budget process for public education.

From 1979-2009, 30 years of budgets have beenpassed. Unfortunately, eight of those years have ended inproration, usually during the middle of a school year. Thecuts that come from proration have a horrible affect onour school systems. County and city school systemsacross the state of Alabama end up bearing the brunt ofmaking very significant cuts in programming, having tolay off support personnel, laying off untenured teachersand cutting back on school support for things like tuto-rial programs for students who might be struggling inschool.

In all of that, proration ends up setting Alabama back.Basically, for every two steps forward we take in Ala-bama, we’re taking one step back because our budgetprocess is broken. Rolling Reserve budgeting seeks toend proration and create an environment where we canuse historical growth averages as a benchmark for budg-eting to (1) end proration and (2) create an environmentwhere education spending in Alabama can always be ina growth mode.

▲ Roberts: In the kindergarten through 12th grade educa-tion world, local school boards struggle for every dollaras they strive to help students achieve and to address themany needs in our schools. What do you think aboutunfunded mandates to local boards of education?

◆ Canfield: As a House member, I’m in a little unique sit-uation from most. I have a district, District 48, whichencompasses five separate school systems, and I talk reg-ularly to each of the school superintendents and mem-bers of the school boards. I hear quite clearly their con-cerns about any legislation passed in Alabama that cre-ates a requirement for funding yet doesn’t create thefunding mechanism itself. I know their struggles, and Iunderstand their concerns. I have always taken the posi-tion that I will not support legislation that createsunfunded mandates, as long as I know that is what’s hap-pening. I just think that it’s not a very responsible way togovern, and it’s not very responsible in terms of the Leg-

islature’s responsibility to public education for us to dothat either.

▲ Roberts: Is local control by school boards on behalf oftheir schools and communities at risk in your view?

◆ Canfield: Well, today we’re seeing an environmentwhich is reflecting and mirroring in some ways what’shappening at the federal level. We’re beginning to see thesame kind of thing happening at the state level, which isa trend toward more state government control just aswe’re seeing a trend toward more federal control. And,my concern is — as we continue to move in that direc-tion at the state level — we’re going to get into areaswhere the state doesn’t belong. And, we could get intoareas where we’ve got a lot of individual school systemsacross the state that have achieved high success levels inpublic education, but if the state gets too over-involved,we could see that success deteriorate. So, I am a firmbeliever in the local control of school boards over theirschool systems, except in those extreme cases where weend up in financial difficulty or mismanagement or some-thing along those lines.

▲ Roberts: What grade overall do you give local, state orfederal government for their support of public educationin Alabama?

◆ Canfield: Well, I would say the federal governmentwould have to get a C- because I think the federal gov-ernment’s commitment to education seems to be suchthat it ebbs and flows with whatever is politically impor-tant in Washington, D.C., at that time.

I would give the state, in terms of support of education,probably at this point a C+. There are some efforts thathave been made to improve education. We see some initiatives, such as the reading initiative and AMSTI (Ala bama Math, Science and Technology Initiative),where we’ve seen clear progress, but on the funding side,

ABOUT REP. GREG CANFIELDA Vestavia Hills resident and native of Birmingham; graduate of Huffman HighSchool, attended the University of Alabama and earned a bachelor’s degreein finance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; a member of Delta Chi

Fraternity, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church and charter member of the Vestavia Hills Civitan Club; and married to Denise, father of Rachel and John.What he does: Has served in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2006;founder and former president of Canfield Insurance & Financial Services, which hesold before joining J.H. Berry Insurance Agency of Birmingham.Committees: Government Appropriations, Constitution and Elections, JeffersonCounty Legislation and Shelby County Legislation.Contact him: 205/325-5308 in Jefferson County; 205/620-6610 in Shelby County




ur 60th anniversary offers an opportunity to reflect onyour association’s past accomplishments and to lookahead to our ambitious future — one that AASB’s 128

founders may have only imagined on June 16, 1949.We’re well on our way.For years we’ve enjoyed 100 percent membership from all 132

city and county boards of education. Compare that to the 40county and 13 city boards of education represented at our orga-nizational meeting at the grand old Jefferson Davis Hotel indowntown Montgomery.

AASB’s 1,000-strong membership includes not only city andcounty school boards, but several special school boards, as wellas associate, honorary and professional sustaining members. Alsounder the auspices of AASB is the more than 100 members of theAlabama Council of School Board Attorneys.

From the outset our association hashelped local education leaders

improve student achievement.Our mainstay has always

been cost-effective serv-ices that target the

unique needs ofschool boards.

We continue that tradition through advocacy, board training,leadership development and by providing the latest resources foreffective governance of kindergarten through 12th-grade educa-tion.

Members today have access to an award-winning SchoolBoard Member Academy for ongoing training, self-insured riskmanagement programs, a legal assistance fund, a special educa-tion Medicaid reimbursement program and an array of policyservices, publications, consultation services, full-board work-shops and award/recognition programs.

Our staff brings elected and appointed board members froma variety of backgrounds up to speed on how to improve theeducational opportunities for this state’s 740,000 students.

And AASB represents Alabama school boards before the stateLegislature, state Board of Education, U.S. Congress and as partof a number of state, regional and national education policygroups and education task forces. Our collective voice speaksloudly now that AASB has matured into a public educationresource often tapped by government, political and educationadvocacy leaders.

By pooling resources through its membership, AASB is able toprovide these services and resources to boards that otherwisecouldn’t afford them on their own.

Join us this year as the Alabama Association of School Boards celebrates six decades of service to school boards and support for local decision-making in public education.

O

The entrance to today’s Alabama Association of School Boards reflects the growth

and comtemporary role of the association when compared to the signage of the

first AASB office.


1940s1949• AASB was organized in 1949

as the Alabama Association ofMembers and Executive Officers of

County and City School Boards by 128individuals from 40 county and 13 cityschool boards. It was the 39th stateschool boards association formed in theUnited States.

• N.F. Nunnelley, superintendent ofTalladega County, served as secretary-treasurer of AASB from1949 until 1951.

• Dr. L.E. Kirby of JeffersonCounty became AASB’s first presi-

dent. Membership dues were set at$1 per individual board member.

• By July 1949, the association’sname was changed to the Alabama

Association of School Board Members.

1950s1950• An official member of the National School Boards Association,

AASB had its first convention at the Birmingham YMCA.

• The association approved its first constitution and bylaws, draftedwith the help of the Alabama Education Association and produced by a committee led by C.B. Gillmore.

• Dr. George Howard of Tuscaloosa becameAASB’s first official chief executive. Hewas part-time executive secretary of AASBwhile serving as professor and chair ofeducation administration at the Universityof Alabama. The university lent Howard’sservices to AASB and an office to serveas its headquarters.

• In 1952, AASB began sending members aperiodic publication called The Bulletin,which was produced in-house.

1950• Alabama’s Legislature — as noted in Alabama Code Section

16-1-6 — recognized AASB as school board members’ official rep-resentative agency and authorized members of the state, countyand city boards of education to pay dues and to join as bodiesrather than individuals.



Our history filled withachievements and pioneer-ing breakthroughs has cre-ated for us the opportunityto offer members newand enhanced services.

Last year, we ex -panded field services toinclude more sophisti-cated research and datacollection, more answersto school finance questions and new customizable boarddevelopment training that the association brings directly toyour full board.

In recent years, your association has landed severalgrants to increase school board awareness about suchissues as pre-kindergarten, community engagement andthe connection between board action and studentachievement.

We’ve compiled the results of a membership survey —with a 29 percent response rate — that is helping us adaptto meet your modern-day needs. (See page 19; full surveyis posted online at www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.)

A number of you, along with AASB’s 14-member Boardof Directors and other stakeholders, are involved in shap-ing the strategic plan for this organization’s future. SoonAASB will have a bold mission, defined objectives and aplan of action to develop excellent school board leadersdedicated to the ideal that all students can succeed.

Needless to say, we will always hold dear our roots. Yet,we are also compelled to forge ahead in this new age ofhigh intensity to pursue our mission and advance thehuman condition through quality education.

Organized as the Alabama Associa-tion of Members and Executive Officers ofCounty and City School Boards in 1949, theassociation was initially comprised of 128individuals from 40 county and 13 city schoolsystems and led by Dr. L. E. Kirby, the associ-ation’s first president.

In 1949, the organization’s name was officially changed to the Alabama Association of School Boards.

In 1949, AASB was founded at ameeting in the Jefferson Davis Hotel

in downtown Montgomery.

Dr. George Howard of Tuscaloosa became AASB’s served as part-time executive secretary from 1951-1969.



1950• The legislative act caused the association to adopt a new

Constitution and change its name in 1956 to the AlabamaAssociation of School Boards.

1957• Carl Bottenfield became president of

AASB. His eight-year leadership endedin 1965, making Bottenfield AASB’slongest serving president. The 22-yearJefferson County board member wasalso the first Alabamian elected to theNSBA Board of Directors.

1960s1965• AASB began its quest to halt funding to

non-public schools from the Education Trust Fund.

• AASB set aside $5,000 for a building fund.

1968• Geographical regions of member school boards were reor-

ganized from eight into nine districts to coincide with thenine Congressional districts at that time.

1969• Dr. Randy Quinn became

AASB’s second part-time chiefexecutive in 1969. He retired asexecutive director in 1988 tobecome executive director ofthe Colorado Association ofSchool Boards.

• The Very Important Paperbecame AASB’s first commer-cially printed, monthly newslet-ter. V.I.P. was a black-and-white, four-page publication thateventually grew to eight pages before its last issue inDecember 1979. V.I.P. replaced The Bulletin.

1970s1970• AASB expands its services to include an annual conference

for new school board members and policy development.

• A state Board of Education member was added to the AASBBoard of Directors to serve as a liaison — a position nowheld by Dr. Mary J. Caylor.

1974• AASB moved its headquarters from Tuscaloosa to Mont-

gomery in the Union Bank Building downtown. In 1977, theassociation constructed its own $122,000 office building on a$19,000 lot near the Perry Hill Road exit of I-85. Adjacent tothat property, at 4240 Lomac St., the current headquarters wasbuilt in 1992.

1975• AASB began publishing Leg-Alert, a weekly report on educa-

tion-related bills and activities during the legislative session.

1976• AASB published its Legal Reference Manual.

• For the first time in the association’s history, 100 percentmembership is achieved. All 127 Alabama school boardsjoined AASB.

1980s1980• The Legal Assistance Fund was

created to assist membersinvolved in court cases ofstatewide significance and thatwere of common interest toschool boards. LAF is governedby a board of trustees.

• In January 1980, the first issue ofthe 16-page Alabama SchoolBoards magazine debuted with a“Crawford” cartoon on its cover.

• The board of directors approved a plan to create a legislativenetwork of school board members in each legislative districtknown as the ALERT Network. It has evolved into today’smore targeted Leader to Leader grassroots network that linksboard members to legislators to serve as local sources of education information.

1981• To honor an outstanding news media representative or organ-

ization, the AASB Board of Directors approved the “Service toEducation” award. That award has been expanded to anannual Media Honor Roll.

1982• The Alabama Council of School Board Attorneys were

founded under the auspices of AASB, though the council hasits own board and is affiliated with the National Council ofSchool Board Attorneys.

Alabama Association of School Boards

Celebrating 60 Years of Service to School BoardsContinued from page 17

Carl Bottenfield retired as AASB president in1965 and was the firstAlabamian elected to theNSBA Board of Directors.

Dr. Randy Quinn became AASB’s secondpart-time chief executive in 1969.

In 1984, AASB recognized political cartoonist John Crawford for his contribution to the association’s flagship publication.




AASB’S PRESIDENTS1949-20082008 - Sue HelmsPresent Madison City Board of Education

2005-07 Jim MethvinAlabama School of Fine Arts

2003-05 Tommy McDanielAlabama School of Math & Science

2001-03 Linda SteedPike County Board of Education

1999-2001 Neal HowardColbert County Board of Education

1997-99 Robert A. LaneLowndes County Board of Education

1995-97 W.E. “Buster” SmithMuscle Shoals Board of Education

1993-95 Ken WashburnOzark Board of Education

1991-93 Elton RalstonDallas County Board of Education

1989-91 Barbara JonesFairfield Board of Education

1987-89 Ed StarnesHuntsville Board of Education

1985-87 Dr. Mac IrvingOzark Board of Education

1983-85 James McCartyMuscle Shoals Board of Education

1981-83 Joe GrimesDallas County Board of Education

1979-81 Nellie C. WeilMontgomery County Board of Education

1978-79 Dr. Norman BergerMobile County Board of Education

1978 James HollowayHomewood Board of Education

1977-78 Raymond GrissomRussellville Board of Education

1975-77 Richard Moss Florence Board of Education

1973-75 Judge Miller ChildersSelma Board of Education

1971-73 William B. CraneMobile County Board of Education

1965-71 Dr. Ralph D. HigginbothamAnniston Board of Education

1957-65 Carl R. Bottenfield Jefferson County Board of Education

1952-57 Dr. A.R. Moseley, Sr.Sylacauga Board of Education

1951 V.V. Mitchell Elmore County Board of Education

1950-51 Dr. A.R. Moseley, Sr. Sylacauga Board of Education

1949-50 Dr. L.E. Kirby Jefferson County Board of Education

Survey Says: ‘AASB Does an Outstanding Job!’By Denise L. Berkhalter

To improve the quality of the Alabama Association of School Boards’ services and programs and to better under-stand members’ needs and concerns, AASB asked all members to take a survey in 2008. More than 28 percentresponded, including one person who said, “Bottom line: AASB does an outstanding job.”

Of the 271 completed surveys, nearly 72 percent represented board members while 15 percent were superintend-ents. There was a nearly even representation of men and women. About 80 percent identified themselves as Cau-casian and nearly 17 percent as African American. About 56 percent were age 55 or older.

HERE ARE SOME OTHER SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS:■ 55% Former educators or board of education employees ■ 5% No children *■ 15% Parents of school-age kids * ■ 4% High school graduate■ 23% Grandparents, school-age kids * ■ 13% Some college■ 55% Older (non-K-12) kids * ■ 33% College graduate/some post college■ 3% Parents of ages 0-4 * ■ 51% Post graduate degree

ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY E-MAIL USAGE■ 78% Personal computer * ■ 69% Very comfortable using e-mail■ 77% E-mail * ■ 20% Moderately comfortable using e-mail■ 75% Internet/World Wide Web * ■ 8% Not very comfortable using e-mail■ 61% Fax machine * ■ 3% Not at all comfortable using e-mail■ 36% Teleconference facilities *

IMPRESSION OF AASB’S STAFF/WORK■ 98% agree that AASB equips members with the necessary governance skills■ 97% agree that AASB regularly informs them about activities and events■ 96% agree that AASB models “professional excellence”■ 96% agree that AASB updates boards on lobbying and advocacy issues■ 96% agree that AASB is a “trusted resource” on governance and boardmanship■ 93% agree that AASB is a “good steward of membership dues”■ 93% agree that AASB is highly influential in the development of public education policy■ 91% agree that AASB provides timely and accurate responses to member inquiries■ 91% have participated in some type of AASB School Board Academy training■ 79% have called AASB with a governance, legislative or policy question

PUBLICATIONS■ 99% of members are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with Leg-Alert (newsletter that covers state government)■ 99% of members are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with the Boardmanship Basics series■ 99% of its readers are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with Alabama School Boards magazine■ 99% of members are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with FYI (newsletter that covers state board)■ 86% of members are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with the www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org■ 80% are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with the FYI e-newsletter■ 79% are “extremely satisfied/satisfied” with the Leg-Alert e-newsletter

ADVOCACY & TRAINING■ 94% of those familiar with the news and information service say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 92% of those familiar with academy training say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 89% of those familiar with the lobbying/advocacy service say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 89% of those familiar with the policy assistance service say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 89% of those familiar with the risk management service say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 86% of those familiar with the Legal Assistance Fund say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 85% of those familiar with full-board training say it is “extremely valuable/very valuable” ■ 83% of those familiar with AASB’s networking and information-sharing opportunities say

they are “extremely valuable/very valuable”

* Won’t add up to 100% because respondents were allowed to choose all answers that applied to their status as parents/grandparents and their access to technology.



1982• AASB conducted its first

district meetings, which arestill held every spring andwinter in all nine regions.

• The self-funded AlabamaSchool Boards InsuranceTrust — renamed the Ala-bama Risk ManagementProgram for Schools in1999 — was created to provide low-cost risk managementservices and insurance coverage to school boards.

• AASB purchased a mini-computer system to send instanta-neous mail via “Electrolert,” an electronic network designedto keep members informed about legislative and educationnews. Today, AASB e-mails “calls to action,” and “newsalerts” and two e-newsletters — Leg-Alert and FYI.

1983• In September, the board of directors endorsed formation of

KID-PAC in conjunction with other education organizations.The political action committee was discontinued in 1991 dueto poor financial support.

1984• On April 2, Montgomery County school

board member Nellie C. Weil becamethe first Alabamian to hold a nationaloffice in the National School BoardsAssociation when she was elected sec-ond vice president. She was AASB’s firstfemale president.

• The first inductees into the new Ala-bama Educational Leadership Hall ofFame — housed at Troy State Univer-sity and co-sponsored by AASB and theAlabama Council for School Administra-tors and Supervisors — were named.

1986• On Jan. 11, AASB officially launched its School Board Mem-

ber Academy, a four-level school for school board members.

• Dr. George Howard, along with Carl Bottenfield, were in -ducted into the Alabama Educational Leadership Hall of Fame.

1988• After serving three years as assistant executive director, Dr.

Sandra Sims-deGraffenried was promoted to executive direc-tor July 1, 1988, to become the first female executive direc-tor of AASB and any major Alabama education organization.

She was also the first female to winNSBA’s Thomas A. Shannon LeadershipAward (2005). The former teacherretired from AASB in 2007.

• AASB won its struggle to convince theLegislature to establish a ProrationPrevention Account to protect schoolboards in the event of an educationbudget shortfall.

• Alabama celebrated its first SchoolBoard Member Appreciation Week,which Gov. Guy Hunt declared for Nov. 15-21. Since 1993, AASB has promoted January asSchool Board Member Recognition Month.

• Court Report, a monthly legal newsletter that recaps educa-tion-related court decisions, was launched and distributed tomembers of the Alabama Council of School Board Attorneys.

1989• AASB began its tradition of hiring a Business Office Educa-

tion program student from area high schools to promotelearning opportunities for students.

• The For Your Information newsletter was launched to pro-vide timely education news — between issues of themonthly magazine — to AASB members. FYI is now pro-duced twice per month.

• The first booklets were produced in AASB’s BoardmanshipBasics series — concise, easy-to-read publications on therole of the board president, superintendent searches andother education topics.

• Field services were expanded to include board evaluationand conducting tax referendum campaigns.

• AASB revamped its dues structure.

1990s1990• Calls could be made to AASB at 800/562-

0601 on its new toll-free, in-state line. • Attorney Barbara Fox Jones, J.D., of the

Fairfield Board of Education became thefirst African American president of AASBand only the second female president.

1991• AASB made history when it sought “friend of the court”

status — a neutral position — in an Alabama Coalition forEquity lawsuit challenging the equity and constitutionality ofthe state’s education funding formula. Thirty-four boardsmade up the coalition. In 1993, a judge found the state’s K-12 system was neither adequately or equitably funded.

Nellie C. Weil, AASB presi-dent from 1982-83, becameNSBA’s first vice president in1985 and was elected in1986 as NSBA president —still the only Alabamian toserve in that position.

Dr. Sandra Sims-deGraffenried wasthe first female executive directorof the Alabama Association ofSchool Boards.

Barbara Fox Jones,J.D., became the firstAfrican American toserve as president ofAASB.

The first Alabama Leadership Hall of Fameinductees were Tuscaloosa Superintendent Dr.Thomas E. Ingram Jr., Frances E. Nungester ofDecatur schools and Dr. William H. “Zeke” Kim-brough, former assistant state superintendent.


Celebrating 60 Years of Service to School BoardsContinued from page 18



1992• The board of directors approved an education orientation

conference to acquaint legislators with AASB and pertinenteducation issues.

• AASB established its All-State School Board Member awardto annually recognize up to five past or present outstandingschool board members.

1993• AASB won the Ameri-

can Society of Associa-tion Executives’ Excel-lence in GovernmentRelations Award for theassociation’s “Champi-ons for Children” cam-paign that yielded $40 million for K-12 school boards’ critical needs.

1994• The board of directors approved a resolution — that

evolved into AASB’s “Defending the Trust” campaign — urging the Legislature to allocate all education funds to public schools and not to divert any to non-state agencies.

1996• AASB’s School Board Member Academy won the Award of

Excellence from the American Society of Association Execu-tives.

1999• AASB celebrated its 50th anniversary.• AASB launches its Medicaid Administrative Claiming Program

in January to help schools recapture up-front costs for serv-ices provided to Medicaid-eligible students.

• AASB’s “Great Expectations Graduation Exam Communica-tions Kit” was created and later won awards from theNational School Public Relations Association and the Ameri-can Society of Association Executives.

• The www.theaasb.org Web site was launched in October toprovide 24-hour access to association news and information.It drew 844 visits and 15,000 hits in the first four months.

2000s2001• A multicultural committee was established to ensure AASB

remains sensitive to the cultural differences of its membersand the children they serve.

2004• AASB revised its School Board Member Academy in

alignment with the National School Boards Association’s Key Work of School Boards, a study of best practices.

2005• AASB offerd a fee-for-service program that still helps systems

recover costs of therapy, treatment and other medical serv-ices provided to Medicaid-eligible students.

2006• The first President’s Award was presented. Each year boards

with 60 percent or more of members having attended threeor more AASB academy courses are honored.

• AASB leadership took steps toward revamping the associa-tion’s mission, goals and objectives to create a comprehen-sive strategic plan to guide the association.

2007• After serving six years as assistant executive director,

Sally Howell, J.D., was promoted to executive director July 1, 2007. The association’s current chief executive hadserved in various AASB roles, including communicationsdirector, since 1986.

• A comprehensively redesigned Web site was launched.www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org has grown to average40,000 hits and 8,000 page views per month.

• AASB expanded its school finance expertise by hiring a chiefoperating officer and research specialist with a backgroundin fiscal management of schools.

• All-State School Board Member Robert Lane of LowndesCounty shattered the record for AASB School Board MemberAcademy hours with 798.

2008• AASB completed a thorough technology audit designed to

upgrade existing technology and increase efficiency throughimprovements.

• AASB expanded its field service offerings by hiring a boarddevelopment director focused on creating customized training for full school boards. Efforts to market AASB’s services were also enhanced by hiring a marketing andmeetings coordinator.

• AASB leadership took a strategic look at the association’smission, goals, objectives, strategies and services and askedfor an NSBA Program and Operations Review.

• AASB received a two-year Pew Charitable Trusts grantthrough NSBA’s Center for Public Education for collaborationwith child advocates in the state and to inform school boardmembers, policymakers and others about the benefits ofhigh-quality pre-kindergarten education.

2009• AASB celebrates 60 years of service to school boards and

public education in Alabama and boasts 100 percent mem-bership (132 boards) and more than 1,000 total members.

• AASB received a state Department of Education grant for atwo-year research project designed to help Alabama’s school boards govern for higher student achievement. ■

AASB Executive Director Sally Howell, J.D.,confers with current AASB President SueHelms of Madison. In 2006 when she waspresident-elect, Helms became the firstAlabamian to serve on the national 100 District Leaders for Citizenship and Service-Learning Network.

wasor

Former AASB President Robert Laneserved for eight yearsas a member of theNSBA board — the third Alabamianto do so.



10 QUESTIONS By Shannon Hendricks

hildren have a voice. Linda Tilly, exec-utive director of VOICES for Alabama’sChildren, is among the child advocates

who see to that. Established in 1992, VOICES focuses on

health, safety, education and economicsecurity — all issues that deeply affect chil-dren and families. It is an entity that

espouses the belief that all children deserve an education thatprepares them for the future and inspires them to achieve theirpotential.

Tilly’s tenure with VOICES has been busy. Nationally, shehas served on the Kids Count Network Steering Committee forthe Annie E. Casey Foundation and on the Voices for America’sChildren Board of Trustees. In Alabama, she’s a member ofmany statewide committees, including the Children’s PolicyCouncil, which monitors annual spending of Alabama’stobacco settlement funds for children’s programs, and on theGovernor’s Council on Pre-Kindergarten Policy.

Q. What is your role with VOICES, and how did youcome to join the organization?

A. I am a mother, which makes me a natural child advocate.I have one daughter, who will be a senior in college thisyear. I have been with VOICES for Alabama’s Children asexecutive director for 12 years, and my background wasnot in nonprofit or child advocacy. In fact, I have master’sin business, and my field was corporate marketing. Afterstaying at home with my daughter for 10 years, I thought itwas time for me to return to work. I was really surprisedwhen my friend (A+ Education Partnership Director CathyGassenheimer) approached me about a position that shethought I would be interested in and would enjoy. When Ilook back, this is just one of those things I was meant for.

Q. What is VOICES’ primary mission?A. Our mission is to ensure the well-being of all of Alabama’s

children. We do that through public research, public aware-ness and through advocacy. That really makes the organi-zation unique. We annually publish our Alabama’s KidsCount data book that tracks 19 measures of child well-being. We look at measures of health, measures of eco-nomic security and measures of education. Poverty is a keyissue for a child in Alabama, when looking at the demo-graphics, as well. VOICES for Alabama’s Children is theonly organization in the state that publishes this kind of

information. So, this researchgives us a foundation — a start-ing point — for working towardour mission of well-being for all

of our children. And, it gives us a way to determinewhether we are improving or getting worse — county bycounty and in the state as a whole.

Q. How does your mission relate to K- 12 education?A. I like to think about overall well-being as if it were fabric. All

the threads have to be strong. Education is one of thosethreads. There are groups in the state, A+ Education Partner-ship being one, that focus just on education. We work withthem and look to those experts in particular issue areas.

Our Kids Count data book takes a look at several edu -cation indicators as measures of well-being. For instance,the first-grade retention rate right now is sort of an earlyeducation measure we’ve been reporting. Our dropout ratesthis coming year will switch to graduation rates as the state moves in that direction. We also look at specialeducation enrollment.

Former Gov. William Winter of Mississippi said, “Theonly road out of poverty runs by the schoolhouse.” We cer-tainly believe that in a state like Alabama where 25 percentof our population lives in poverty that education is a realkey toward improving overall child well-being and thepoverty rate.

If we look at the numbers — whether they are measuresof health, safety or education — it’s amazing how manystatistically correlate to poverty. But, I don’t want anyoneto think we are saying if children are poor they will not dowell. That is absolutely not true because we have wonder-ful high profile examples like Alabama Congressman ArturDavis. On the other hand, children who grow up inpoverty do face significant challenges and don’t start witha level playing field.

Q. Can education level the playing field?A. Education really is one of the great levelers, and that’s the

primary reason we have placed the emphasis that we havehad for the past several years on expanding the availabilityof high-quality, state-funded pre-K to more of Alabama’schildren. That will continue to be a focus for us. All fami-lies who want this for their children will be able to gethigh-quality pre-K that will go a long way to getting chil-dren off to a good start and on a better playing field. The

Linda Tilly, Executive Director, VOICES for Alabama’s Children

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better you start out in life, the better off you are. We have done research to get opinion from public

school teachers, and they would agree that having a more high-quality pre-K experience for children would be greatly beneficial to K-12 school systems. If we couldpair our top quality, state-funded pre-K — Alabama andNorth Carolina are the only states that have met 10 out 10national quality benchmarks — with the resoundingly successful Alabama Reading Initiative, then we really couldoffer children a greater chance to succeed.

Q. What new and exciting work is VOICES doing thatwill impact K-12 education?

A. The nature of our work is such that that it takes 3-5 yearsto do things we set out to do. I am tremendously excitedabout the fact that we have over the last two years dramat-ically expanded the budget for Alabama preschool throughthe Office of School Readiness. That’s something we aregoing to continue to work on. It takes years to see thingscome into fruition and become more of an ongoing pro-gram rather than a new one.

As for an upcoming new program, there will be morefocus on public awareness throughout the state and betterways to deal with young people who get into trouble. Inthe last legislative session, the Legislature revised the juve-nile code (Alabama Juvenile Justice Act of 2008). It calls formore appropriate treatment for children in need of super-vision. Maybe they are truant or have run away from homeand have done things that, since they were underage,would not be considered a crime. We have often looked toincarceration as our first option when dealing with thesejuveniles, which is sometimes the easiest. As a state, underthis code, we are going to be calling on family courts andattorneys to find more appropriate ways of dealing withthese children. But, we need to create a lot of publicawareness. VOICES has been awarded an Annie CaseyFoundation grant to work on that this year.

Q. Last year, didn’t VOICES have a couple wins in theLegislature?

A. Our biggest success, which was our No. 1 priority, was toincrease the funding for our pre-K program. While I knowthe budgets are extremely tight and there are so manyneeds, pre-K is one of the best investments that the statecan make. Four-year-olds who benefit from the expandedpre-kindergarten program will go into the K-12 systemmuch better prepared to succeed and less likely to needspecial education. They will be ready to go, and the K-12school teachers can expect these children to be eager andready to learn as a result of our funding for that program.

The other piece that we worked on was revising the juve-nile code. Parts of the code went into effect in January 2009,and the other part kicks in at the start of October 2009. We

will not see an overnight transformation, but over time we will see school-age children from ages 8 to 18 years oldhaving better chances to succeed in school and in life.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish this year?A. We will continue to work on expansion of high-quality

pre-K. The large expansion that we have had for the lastseveral years is still only reaching about 5 percent ofAlabama’s 4-year-olds. So, we have got to keep movingand calling attention to what is important to that program.

There were attempts at this last legislative session toimprove our teen drivers’ license law, and I expect we willwork on that. That is a multi-step procedure. Restrictionsneed to be placed on teen drivers because they are soinexperienced. For example, 16-year-old licensed driversshould have a limited amount of passengers in the car atone time, and the first six months of driving should berestricted to driving to school and work. Students 16 and17 years old have the highest crash rates than any othergroup, not because they are reckless or don’t possess goodjudgment but because they are inexperienced.

Q. What has been your greatest accomplishment at VOICES?

A. Increasing the understanding of children’s issues amongstate policy writers. Over 12 years ago, people at the StateHouse did not talk about children’s issues, but we haveincreased the visibility of multiple children’s issues since Ihave been here.

Q. What has been your greatest challenge in your role?A. Increasing the understanding of advocacy.

Q. If you had one message for the school board members and other top education leaders in this state, what would it be?

A. At VOICES, we see all of public education as truly impor-tant. It needs to be adequately funded and supported. Wetruly believe that education is going to be the single biggestway to impact child poverty in Alabama. We don’t everwant to pit one part of education against the other. But, bystarting early, we can contribute to improving K-12 edu -cation and be partners and work hand in hand with every-one in improving our education system. I’m encouraged.Alabama continues to do the good things that improve education, and VOICES wants to be a part of that. ■

LEARN MORE

VOICES for Alabama’s Children seeks to ensure all children in this state have thebest chance to succeed in life. Each year VOICES collects county-by-county datadepicting how children are faring in terms of health, safety, education andfamily income. The result is the annual Alabama Kids Count report. Find moreinfo at www.alavoices.org.



Alabama leads the nation in pre-kindergarten program quality. Jacquelyn Autrey, one

of 16 Alabama Office of School Readiness pre-K technicalassistants, helps keep it that way.

The assistants visit and ensure standards set by the stateand the National Institute for Early Education Research are abided by at 188 sites statewide. Autrey personally

monitors six First Class sites — five in Montgomery and one in Clayton.

By Eve Harmon



First in QualityFirst Class Pre-K is Alabama’s state-funded, voluntary early

education program. It serves 4-year-olds and emphasizes schoolreadiness as well as child health and development. The programis managed by the Office of School Readiness within the Ala-bama Department of Children’s Affairs and has twice met everyquality benchmark set by the National Institute for Early Educa-tion Research, which simultaneously ranks Alabama near the bottom for the State’s low outreach — about 5.6 percent of its 4-year-olds.

Low student access is definitely something Autrey hopes tochange. As she makes her rounds, she often visits committeesinterested in starting pre-K programs. Her advice to these commit-tees is often the same — get a copy of the First Class pre-K grantapplication and try to meet all the standards before applying.

“To find out the need would be the first step,” she added.“Then, they should look at the grant and see if they could reachthose indicators — which include the facility, the playground.One of the major quality indicators of our pre-K program is thatthe community works together.”

First-hand LookAutrey’s days monitoring pre-K programs out in the field begin

early. “I prefer to be at the sites at the beginning of the schoolday, so I can be there when the children first arrive,” she said.

To her, everything is of importance — how students are trans-ported, greeted, play and interact with teachers and one another.It is only when they lie down for naps that she takes a breakfrom observing and talks to the teacher about what is going welland what can be improved.

Each technical assistant is uniquely qualified to mentor teach-ers. Each has a Bachelor of Science degree — and in some

instances a master’s degree — in earlychildhood education or child develop-ment.

Not only do technical assistants pro-vide on-site support to teachers andassess the classrooms, they also modelappropriate practices and provideprofessional development.

Technical assistants are an extrapair of eyes in the classroom, said

Dorothy Colvin of Davis Elementary School’s Success by

6 Program in MontgomeryCounty.

Colvin’s classroom fea-tures hands-on learningcenters equipped withage-appropriate materi-als and activities. As she

rotates to each center, shesometimes misses thosespecial moments when

students do or say something that indicates they’ve made a connection or gained knowledge.

“Mrs. Autrey is a delightful person to work with,” Colvin said.“She observes, takes notes and when she’s finished, she’ll sitdown with me and tell me the wonderful things that she is hear-ing in the classroom. It feels good to know you’re doing the rightthings. And, when there is a need for improvement, she gives mehelpful hints.”

First Class PaperworkAutrey said she often doesn’t leave a site until after 2 p.m.

“But, my day is still not over,” she explained. “There’s alwayspaperwork.”

Contrary to how most people feel about paperwork, Autreysays she finds it “fascinating.” It’s used to determine if a FirstClass site will continue benefiting from the more than $17 millionin pre-K grants and other state funding meant to provide qualityeducational opportunities for the state’s youngest students.Autrey stresses the importance of documenting everything shedoes in the classroom, not just for the children in Alabama, butfor the nation.

“We are under a microscope — Alabama’s pre-K program.We’re designated No. 1, the best in the nation, so if any statewants to find out what we’re doing, we’ve got to be able to showthem,” she said.

Monitoring these sites is important work. When a child learnssomething new and she sees the light bulb behind their eyescome on, it’s an assurance to Autrey of just how significant herwork really is. It’s also a reminder of her former career as ateacher. After 17 years educating students in Lee and Butler coun-ties, Autrey was supposed to retire in 1999 but just found shecouldn’t leave education entirely.

“I saw where they needed people for early childhood education, which was a brand new area opening up,” she said.She had a master’s degree in early childhood education andwas qualified for a specialist position. She wanted to help. Therest is history.

First Things FirstIt’s no coincidence that Colvin, who had retired as a kinder-

garten teacher, answered the pre-K call just as Autrey did. She,too, saw the need for developmentally appropriate educationalopportunities to improve kindergarten readiness.

“I retired four years ago from Montgomery Public Schools andheard wonderful things about pre-K. As a teacher, I saw such aneed in kindergarten,” Colvin said.

“Pre-K teaches those simple things — listening to directionand following through, walking in line, knowing the colors andalphabets, talking in sentences, tying shoes,” she added. “Theseare readiness skills you may take for granted that a child enter-ing first grade should know but that simply may not have beentaught in some homes. With testing ... and benchmarking in first-grade, those readiness skills are being taught hurriedly.”




And there are other benefits to a strong head start in edu-cation through quality pre-K and kindergarten programs,Colvin said.

“It gives them that love for school and sets that routinethey’ll need to get through six hours of school,” she said.

That “love for education” is inherent in Autrey. She lightsup when talking about the pre-kindergarten program, usingher hands to illustrate her points. She talks about her immenseappreciation of the people who have helped get the programoff the ground, of the teachers who devote themselves to pre-K and even the groups of adults who are so dedicated to get-ting a pre-K program in their own communities. It’s easy tothink that she remembers each of their faces and names bet-ter than she does her own.

First Step to LearningAutrey has seen the rewards of the First Class Pre-K

Program. Visiting one site, she said she saw a little boy in thehouse play center. Knowing that interaction is important withchildren so young, she sat at the kitchen table and groaned,“Oh! I am so hungry! I’ve come all the way from Montgomery,Ala.” After the boy politely asked if she would like some break-fast, she said, “Oh, yes, please!” The boy began to cook a hearty,imaginary meal for her and asked, “Would you like that to-go?”

Later, she saw the boy in the writing center and asked himwhat he was going to do there. He replied he was makingbusiness cards for her.

“He was using his language from what I call ‘real-life expe-riences’ to express his own ideas,” Autrey said. “Many childrennever have that chance. Nobody ever asks them to expressthemselves.”

On another occasion, boys were working in the block area. “They had built this real tall stack of blocks, but it was

unusually shaped and had three little teeny-tiny blocks on top.I couldn’t figure out what they were doing,” Autrey said, soshe asked them. The boys replied it was a water fountain andasked if she would like a drink.

“It’s all play, but it has a lot of meaning for them,” she said.“The three boys worked cooperatively to come up with adesign for a water fountain. All that thinking, that planningahead, projecting things, is vitally important.”

Autrey never seems to sit perfectly still, and she neverseems to be off-duty. Even when she isn’t on-site or doingpaperwork, she is looking for articles and information to passon to teachers.

“I think I’m getting ready for my rockersoon,” she jokes. The thought doesn’t linger.She’s far too busy. ■

Eve Harmon is AASB's legislative intern and a graduate of Auburn University. She may be reached at [email protected].

Meet a Guardian of Pre-K QualityContinued from page 25

DID YOU KNOW?Alabama has 16 First Class Pre-K program technical assistants who serve 188 sites in 63 counties and more than 111 cities. The technical assistants are charged with keeping pre-K sites up to National Institute for Early Education Research standards. Here’s what they look for when visiting a site:▲ High-quality instruction▲ Interactions between the children

and teachers▲ A classroom set-up conducive to learning▲ The use of materials in developmentally

appropriate ways

“We are under a microscope —Alabama’s pre-K program.We’re designated No. 1,the best in the nation, so if any state wants tofind out what we’redoing, we’ve got to be able to show them.”— Jackie Autrey,Alabama First Class Pre-K Program technical assistant

FIRST CLASS PRE-K SITES BY TYPEPublic Schools............................................................ 87 46 %

Child Care................................................................... 52 28 %

Head Start ................................................................. 37 20 %

College/University Lab Schools .................................... 6 3 %

Faith-based.................................................................. 5 3 %

Military........................................................................ 1 0.5 %


until the Legislature gets to a point where we’re budgetingmore responsibly, we’re not going to be able to continue to grow these initiatives and improve education aswe want to.

On the local level, I think it depends upon what commu-nity you’re in. I know in the communities that I’m in, I wouldgive my local school boards an A because they are firmlycommitted to education. But, there are other areas around thestate that struggle more economically, so it’s more difficult forthem to provide local support.

▲ Roberts: Is the role of public K-12 changing, and is the roleof school boards changing along the same lines?

◆ Canfield: I’ll deal with the last half of the question first. Therole of local school boards has changed due to the legal envi-ronment that we’re in here in Alabama, and that’s an unfortu-nate thing because all too often we see local school boardshaving to be engaged in litigation that is both frivolous andunnecessary. That takes away from their focus. They shouldbe able to focus on planning strategic ally to do things to movetheir local systems forward.

As it relates to K-12, I’m not so sure I believe the focus ofK-12 has changed much over history. I see K-12 as being thefoundation of educating children across our country. Thatgoal has always been the same and has never changed. Per-haps, the environment of teaching in K-12 has changed, but Idon’t think the role has changed.

▲ Roberts: What do you hope to accomplish during yourtenure as a state legislator?

◆ Canfield: Well, the Rolling Reserve Budget Act that I’ve intro-duced this session represents the reason why I believe I’m alegislator in the state of Alabama. I have always believed weare called to serve. That call to service requires that we do andact on that responsibility that we have and honor the trust thatthe people who elect us have given us. We must try to seekevery opportunity possible to make a positive difference inthe state.

In this case, I’ve always found public education to be oneof the more important aspects of our state government,because public education in Alabama represents the singlebest opportunity that we have to move our state forward eco-nomically and to provide the environment that is needed inorder to attract new talent into the state, as well as moreimportantly, keeping our talent here in the state. If I can makea difference in terms of how we responsibly pay for educa-tion and help it grow without having systematic setbacks fromproration, I think that would be a nice achievement. And, Iwould be proud of that.

▲ Roberts: Is there a message you would like to send to localschool board members across the state?

◆ Canfield: Yes. The message I would send to local schoolboards is that there is hope. There is hope that there is a bet-

ter way to provide for the funding and underlying budgetmechanisms for education across the state — one in whichthey don’t have to live through the uncertainty of when thenext series of prorations is going to be. We’ve got the resourcesto do it. It just requires the right people in the Legislature get-ting the opportunity for the case to be made to the Legislature.

▲ Roberts: What is it local school boards can do to help makeyour job easier and further your cause?

◆ Canfield: I’ve always believed strongly that change occurs atthe grassroots level, and that probably represents the onething that local school boards could do most to help me in theeffort of getting the Rolling Reserve Budget Act passed. Theyshould continue to make contact with their local representa-tives and senators across Alabama and let them know howimportant this bill is to them. ■

Face to Face: Rep. Greg CanfieldContinued from page 15


Q. Money is tight, but I still feel it’s important forour board members to continue their SchoolBoard Member Academy training. Any ideason how to emphasize the value?

A. Investing in quality board training is necessary todevelop and maintain good governance practices.Boards also need the skill and background to effectively make such major decisions as releasingpersonnel, disputing contracts and determining fiscal policy. Certainly, less revenue means morescrutiny of travel and training costs, so be ready to:• Note your board’s existing commitment to board

development. • Explain that board members are community

representatives who come from a variety of backgrounds and have varying levels of expertisein education leadership and board governance.There are few “built-in” opportunities for boarddevelopment — though the opposite is true foreducation professionals.

• Identify skills you hope to gain and share thatinformation with the board.

• Afterward, ask for time on the board agenda topresent lessons learned for the full board’s benefit.

• Publicly discuss why the training was valuableand if there was a legal or otherwise reasonableobligation to participate in the academy event.

—Denise L. Berkhalter

Help.



&People Schools

Gary WarrenAASB welcomes the newest member of the state Board ofEducation, Gary Warren of state board District 7. He has experience as a bus driver, school administrator andclassroom teacher. Warren, who resides in Haleyville, beganhis term this year and serves until 2013. His district includesColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence,Marion, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston counties.

Dr. Mary J. CaylorAASB congratulates state Board of Education President ProTem Dr. Mary Jane Caylor, who was selected to serve asliaison to the Alabama Association of School Boards. Shereplaces Sandra Ray, who didn’t seek reelection to the stateboard. Caylor is an ex-officio member of the 14-memberAASB Board of Directors that governs the association anddirects its activities as determined by the membership. Theretired Huntsville city schools superintendent has repre-sented state board District 8 for 13 years.

Dr. Suzanne FreemanCongratulations to Dr. Suzanne Freeman, superintend-ent of Trussville city schools, who is the Alabama Super-intendent of the Year. She was one of four finalists for theNational Superintendent of the Year award given by theAmerican Association of School Administrators. She is thefirst finalist from Alabama to compete for the top honor.

Diane Long BlockerCongratulations to Diane Blocker, Alabama’s 2008 Preserve America Secondary History Teacher of the Year.She teaches American and world history at Huntsville High School in Huntsville. The Gilder Lehrman Institute ofAmerican History sponsors the annual award.

Eve HarmonAASB welcomed Eve Harmon aboard this year as its leg-islative intern and to assist with the association’s PEW Char-itable Trusts pre-kindergarten grant. Harmon graduated cumlaude from Auburn University with a degree in English liter-ature. She tutors at Dannelly Elementary School in Mont-gomery County. She has been writing for several years andhas been published in the Auburn Circle. She said she enjoysworking with AASB to help Alabama’s children.

AASB Welcomes Your News Send news of appointments, elections, promotions, retirements, honors, births and deaths to Attn: People & Schools Editor, Alabama School Boards Magazine,

P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL 36123-0488 or [email protected].

Eve Harmon

Diane Long Blocker

Dr. Mary Jane Caylor

Dr. Suzanne Freeman

Gary Warren

OF NOTE■ Congratulations to AASBImmediate Past President Jim Methvin of the AlabamaSchool of Fine Arts board. He was recently elected as vice president for Awards andRecognitions for the University

of Montevallo National Alumni Association.Methvin has served on the UM AlumniAssociation Board for four years.

■ Boaz Middle School recently landed in the national spotlight thanks to principal Ray Landers, who was named2009 Middle School Principal of the Year.The National Association of SecondarySchool Principals and MetLife will present a $3,500 grant to Landers to benefit schoolprograms and students. Despite a high number of disadvantaged students, theschool is top-ranked for its state writingassessment scores and has closed the reading and math gap between low-incomestudents and students not living in poverty.

■ Jacinth Greywoode, LAMP’s2008 valedictorian, is a shiningexample of the success ofMontgomery’s Henry A. Loveless Academic Magnetacademic program. Greywoodearned several prestigious aca-

demic distinctions including U.S. PresidentialScholar, National Merit and National Achieve-ment Finalists, along with several scholar-ships. He was accepted into Princeton.

SYMPATHIES■ Sympathies to the family of the late Dr. Larry

D. Morris, who served as pastor of AlpineBaptist and as a Talladega County schoolboard member for more than 30 years.

■ Condolences to the family of James MitfordSpinks, a retired dentist and former memberof the Thomasville school board from 1962to 1972, who died in January at age 87. He was a World War II veteran.

Jim Methvin

Jacinth Greywoode



Henry A. Loveless Academic Magnet Progam in the Mont-gomery County school system has been recognized as the56th best high school in the nation for 2008 according toNewsweek magazine. The publication ranks the top 1,200American high schools. This is the fourth straight yearLoveless has been recognized as being in the top five per-cent of all U.S. high schools, and the first time it has bro-ken the top 100.

“It is wonderful to be recognized nationwide for some-thing we’ve known all along,” said Montgomery CountySuperintendent John Dilworth. “Loveless is a special place,and with the A+ Education Partnership grant and additionalemphasis placed on advanced placement classes and exams,I am sure we will continue to see Loveless excel in thefuture.”

Loveless Principal Elizabeth Norman agrees. “I am pleasedour school is listed on Newsweek’s list of the top high schoolsin America. Our ranking is a testament not only to the num-ber of students who take and are prepared to take APexams, but also to the quality of teaching and learning thattakes place at the school,” Norman said.

The 2008 public school ranking was based on the numberof advanced placement, international baccalaureate and/orCambridge tests taken in 2007 by all students at a school,divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Ten Alabama high schools were named in the list. Nonewere ranked higher. In addition, LAMP was among two Mont-gomery County high schools named among the state’s top fiveperformers according to a recent edition of Business Weekmagazine.

LAMP was ranked as the state’s Best Overall Academic Performer, and Booker T. Washington Magnet High Schoolwas named the Great School’s Parent Choice Public HighSchool for the state. Both schools received 10 out of 10 points.

Great Schools also gave perfect “10” scores to six otherMontgomery schools. They are: Bear Exploration Center,Floyd Middle School, Forest Ave nue Elementary, MacMillanInternational Academy, Brewbaker Technology Magnet HighSchool and Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet School.

The achievement is one of several prestigious state andnational recognitions Montgomery Public Schools havereceived this school year.

Brewbaker Technology Magnet, Booker T. WashingtonMagnet and George Washington Carver high schools were allrecently recognized by U.S. News and World Report as amongthe top high schools in America.

T.S. Morris Elementary teacher Stephanie Glover receivedthe prestigious Milken Foundation’s National Educator Awardand $25,000, and Floyd Middle Magnet was named among thetop 20 middle schools by the Southern Regional EducationBoard for its Making Middle Grades Work college preparatoryprogram. ■

College preparatory courses, such as this advanced placement English class, area hallmark of the Loveless academic program.

Loveless had a record number of National Merit and National Achievement semi-finalists during 2008-2009. Of the 20 students selected, 14 were National Meritsemifinalists and six were National Achievement semifinalists.

Loveless Named to Newsweek’sTop U.S. High Schools List for the Fourth TimeSubmitted by Mona Davis, public information manager for Montgomery public schools



School BoardMuscle Shoals Board of Education

HometownMuscle Shoals

A Board Member forNine years

Books at BedsideOne of them is The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie and another is Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

InspirationGiving all children the opportunity for a quality education, those who want that opportunity. Some just don’t want that, do they? If so, then we have to create that passion in their minds, that interest.

Motto as a Board MemberChildren first.

Walter Mitty FantasyParasail... I’d like to fly a helicopter.

Advice to New Board MembersSlow to judge, quick to listen and jump in feet first as a team player.

Greatest Accomplishmentas a Board MemberPulling together team spirit and workingtogether as a team.

Pet Peeve as a Board MemberProration and micromanagers.

Reason I Like Being an AASB MemberLeader to Leader and the lobbying that allows us to work with legislators.

My EpitaphWe miss her! She was happy. ■

AT THE TABLEBy Eve Harmon

Pam Doyle

stakeholders want to hear from the superintendent directly. In thebusiness world, the old paradigm was for “corporate” to write thememo, send it down to the supervisors and let them relay the infor-mation to their employees. That strategy does not work anymore inbusiness or education for several reasons. First, it takes too long —our employees are already blogging and e-mailing and forming theirown conclusions. They are ahead of us! Secondly, even when it isrelayed by the principal or supervisor, the information is secondhandsmoke. Whenever possible, a superintendent should give principals a“heads up” that a message is about to be relayed to all employees, butthe actual word needs to come directly from the top. Further, princi-pals should also be equipped to answer employee-specific questions,namely, “How does this affect me and my job specifically?” In otherwords, broad information should come from the top while employeeand school specific information should be relayed by the principal,both as quickly as possible. Board members play a key role in con-necting with their communities. The message board members share,however, must be the same as those relayed by the superintendentand principals. If it is not, the crisis response will come off as chaos,and the communication will not be credible.

CUSTOMIZED!Our audiences do not want general information. Each stakeholder

type expects information tailored specifically to its needs. The mostpopular news format this day and age isn’t printed on paper butassembled via the Internet using software that builds a customizedelectronic “newspaper” based upon reader preferences. The post-Kat-rina FEMA response reminds us just how important it is that all thekey players are united with response and communication. No matterhow solid the working relationship, it is easy for the superintendent,board, key staff and principals to stray from the primary message.Anything less than unity will be readily detected and rejected by ourstakeholders, and most assuredly, it will be exaggerated by the media.This is the reason it is so important to have a communications profes-sional on staff to coordinate the information effort. Ask FEMA’sMichael Brown, discord is the quickest way for leaders to lose controland one’s job. The public will absolutely not tolerate confusion anddiscord during a crisis.

In summary, we have our work cut out for us in these perilous times. When it comes to leadership, our stakeholders expect speedy,straight-shooting communications, directly from the top and cus-tomized messages tailored to specific needs.

The good news is, when relationships are built, understandingoccurs and expectations can be managed. ■

Communication During ProrationContinued from page 11

Terry Wilhite is the communications director for Baldwin County Public

Schools and is a former school board member. He has a bachelor's degree

in broadcast journalism and political science from Troy University, advanced

management training from the University of Nebraska and more than

25 years experience in communications.



• Aho Architects LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoover, AL 205/313-6345

• Alabama Beverage Association . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6621

• Alabama Gas Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/326-8425

• Alabama Supercomputer Authority . Montgomery, AL 334/832-2405

• Almon Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuscaloosa, AL 205/349-2100

• American Fidelity Assurance . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/987-0950or 800/365-3714

• Barganier Davis Sims Architects . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/834-2038

• BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama . . . Birmingham, AL 205/220-5771

• Christian Testing Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/264-4422

• Council of Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/841-2653 Coca-Cola Bottlers Inc.

• Davis Architects Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/322-7482

• Fibrebond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minden, LA 318/377-1030

• Gallet & Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/942-1289

• Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. . . . Montgomery,AL 334/271-3200Birmingham, AL 205/879-4462

Mobile, AL 251/460-4006Huntsville, AL 256/533-1484

• Hoar Program Management . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/803-2121

• Interquest Detection Canines . . . . . . . . . Demopolis, AL 334/341-7763

• Jenkins Munroe Jenkins Architecture . . Anniston, AL 256/820-6844

• JH Partners Architecture/Interiors . . . . . Huntsville, AL 256/539-0764

• Kelly Services Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dothan, AL 334/673-7136

• KHAFRA Engineers, Architects . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/252-8353and Construction Managers

• KPS Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/458-3245

• Krebs Architecture & Engineering . . . Birmingham, AL 205/987-7411

• Lathan Associates Architects PC . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/879-9110

• M.B. Kahn Construction Co. Inc. . . . . . . . Huntsville, AL 803/360-3527

• McKee & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/834-9933Architecture and Design

• Osborn & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Huntsville, AL 256/534-3516

• Payne & Associates Architects . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/272-2180

• PH&J Architects Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/265-8781

• PPM Consultants Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Spanish Fort, AL 251/990-9025

• Rosser International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/244-7484

• SACS CASI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Montgomery, AL 334/244-3163

• Sain Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Birmingham, AL 205/940-6420

• Seay, Seay & Litchfield P.C. . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-5162

• Sherlock Smith & Adams Inc. . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6481

• Siemens Building Technologies Inc. . . . . . .Pelham, AL 205/403-8388

• SKT Architects P.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Huntsville, AL 256/533-6617

• Southland International Bus Sales . . Birmingham, AL 888/844-1821

• 2WR/Holmes Wilkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery, AL 334/263-6400Architects Inc.

• TAC Energy Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/970-6132

• Transportation South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pelham, AL 205/663-2287

• Evan Terry Associates PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, AL 205/972-9100

• Volkert & Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mobile, AL 251/432-6735


Professional Sustaining Members

APartnershipThat Works!AASB appreciates these professional members for supporting association activities and you all year long.


Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDMontgomery, AL

Permit No. 34

Alabama Association of School BoardsPost Office Drawer 230488Montgomery, Alabama 36123-0488


Documents

2009 Spring - Alabama School Boards Magazine