We recently participated in our second weekend session for EAD 269. It was another weekend full of valuable information. On Friday evening, we opened with a panel of current HR administrators representing Clovis Unified, Sanger Unified, and Visalia Unified. Among many things, we learned about topics such as hiring practices, employee discipline, having the tough conversations, best interview questions, and ended with some Q & A. Roxanne from Clovis state, “You are who you hire.” This really stood out to me. Who we hire reflects the leader and the school. We have to be very careful and check references before hiring employees. A bad decision may come back to bite us! Most importantly, we cannot afford to hire the wrong people for our kids. Eduardo also confirmed that the most important thing we do is hire people. He also encouraged us to get into the classrooms everyday and not get bogged down with paperwork. My administrator is currently doing this. He has been in our classrooms every day since the beginning of the school year. Judy from Visalia provided us with a handout that helped us understand what aspiring administrators should know about HR. She encouraged us to consult HR if we need clarification on the employee discipline process. One thing I would like to see is the list of “non-negotiables” that Eduardo mentioned.
After the HR presentation, we had some out of town guests that got us up and moving! It was an interactive presentation on the important of co-curricular activities. We formed trios several times and were asked to respond to a series of questions. At the end, I have to admit that sitting in a large group of mostly unfamiliar people was a little nerve-wracking!
Lastly, we learned all about school finance and budgets from Dr. Terry Bradley. It was amazing how much he knows about this topic! His presentation reminded me of my days working in Sacramento. I attended several school finance meetings for my Senator. Although I was familiar with Propositions 13 and 98, I had never heard of the Serrano v. Priest case. This lawsuit resulted in the legislature setting a revenue limit for school districts as a way of making school funding more equitable throughout the state. Dr. Bradley has a talent for explaining school finance in a way that is clear and easy to understand.
Overall, it was another successful session as we near the completion of our program!
Hello Linda,
ReplyDeleteAs usual your blog covers the most important points of the weekend. I too was impressed on how much Dr.Bradley knew about school finances. I have to admit all of this information was overwhelming, but he did present it in a clear and easy way to understand.
A wealth of information in just a few hours. I hope in the years to come, we will be as knowledgable as Drs. Bradley, Buster and Wise! Just amazes me! We're almost there, so good luck to you as complete ending assignments, etc.
ReplyDeleteTiffany
My favorite quote, " You are who you hire". Depending on who a principal hires it is a reflection of themselves and what they stand for.
ReplyDeleteI too was impressed with Dr. Bradley and how much they knew about school finances as well. I agree Linda all of the information for both weekends was very overwhelming.
Thanks for sharing! Megan