4 EDCAL October 30, 2017
Transitions
Mauricio Arellano has been named
superintendent of Redlands USD. He
moves up to the superintendency after hav-
ing been the assistant superintendent of
Human Resources in Palm Springs USD
for the past 14 years.
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San Bernardino County Superintendent
Ted Alejandre announced that Kim
Cavanagh, is returning to San Bernardino
County as the new director of Standards-
Based
Curriculum/Instruction
and
Academic Enrichment. Cavanagh worked
for the county office from 2003-06 as a
curriculum coordinator, and most recently
was director of Curriculum/Instruction for
Redlands USD.
n n n
Riverbank USD has announced that
Kim Ott and Greg Diaz have joined the
district leadership team. Ott, who spent the
previous 12 years at the San Joaquin County
Office of Education, is now the principal
of Mesa Verde Elementary. Diaz is now
the assistant principal at Cardozo Middle
School after serving as an instructional
technology coach and English teacher in
the district.
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ABC USD Superintendent Mary Sieu
announced the following new appointments.
Gina Zietlow was appointed the assis-
tant superintendent of Human Resources
and Roshelle Chavez is the director of
Pupil Support Services. Kristin Guerrero
is now supervisor of Special Education,
Eddie Hernandez is coordinator of the
BRIDGES Program and Sasha Leonardo
is the coordinator of CTE/School and
Community Partnerships. At site level lead-
ership, Ricardo Brown is now principal of
Tracy High; Michele Robinson is princi-
pal of Burbank Elementary; and Priscilla
Rodriguez is principal of Ross Middle
School.
n n n
Perris Union HSD has announced that
Alisha Fogerty has been named director of
Fiscal Services, and James Heckman has
been named assistant director of Technology.
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Pleasanton USD had several leader-
ship announcements. Pam VandeKamp
has been appointed director of Assessment
and Accountability. Ed Diolazo was
named assistant superintendent of Student
Support Services. Myla Grasso is now
director of Maintenance, Operations, and
Transportation. Julio Hernandez has been
named the district’s assistant superinten-
dent of Human Resources. Correna Kelley
was named assistant director of Clinical
Services for the Tri-Valley SELPA. Nicholas
Olsen was named director of Facilities
and Construction. Nanette Gray has been
named senior director of Tri-Valley SELPA.
And finally, Gina Murphy-Garrett was
named executive director of Fiscal Services.
n n n
Santa Monica-Malibu USD announced
the following administrative appointments
for the 2017-18 school year: Jacqueline
Mora as assistant superintendent,
Educational Services; Susan Samarge-
Powell as director of Early Learning;
Ashley Benjamin, principal of McKinley
Elementary and Patrick Miller, principal
of Webster Elementary. Isaac Burgess III
has been appointed as a house principal at
Santa Monica HS. New assistant principals
are Martha Chacon at John Adams Middle
School, Cynthia McGregory at Franklin
Elementary School and Nauman Zaidi at
Malibu Middle School.
n n n
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Tom Torlakson announced that he has
appointed Barbara Murchison as director
of the California Department of Education
Professional Learning Support Division.
Murchison will oversee the division’s
efforts to support educators throughout
their professional career, from recruitment
to leadership opportunities.
n n n
ACSA-member news for Transitions
should be sent to EdCal Editor Cary Rodda at
[email protected].
Single-gender education programs protected in AB 23
Assembly Bill 23, authorizing and pro-
tecting single-gender institutions and edu-
cational programs, has been signed by Gov.
Brown.
“Today we have given our students and
families additional opportunities to prepare
for the careers of tomorrow,” said bill author
Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas,
D-Los Angeles. “I am pleased to know that
the governor acknowledges the critical value
of single-gender education environments in
public schools.”
Ridley-Thomas has made it his high-
est policy priority to promote expanded
opportunity for families and children. This
bill gives parents access to a specifical-
ly tailored curriculum. In Los Angeles,
that includes mid-city’s Girls Academic
Leadership Academy (GALA), the south-
east L.A. Boys Academic Leadership
Academy (BALA), and Koreatown’s Young
Oak Academy, all of which focus on elim-
inating disparity in science, technology,
engineering and math fields.
AB 23 sanctions single-gender instruc-
tional settings for six years, with up to 1,000
pupils per site, and requires substantial
Opening Doors
for Women in Leadership
As female leaders, do we have the will and the
courage to ensure that our actions reflect our
stated values and belief systems within the
educational system? This workshop will provide
a forum to delve into the unintentional practices
that marginalize female women in leadership,
and the female staff / students who we are
privileged to serve.
January 10, 2018
Camarillo (Ventura COE)
January 18, 2018
Orinda (Orinda SD)
REGISTRATION
http://www.cvent.com/d/z5qbyq
reporting on student performance. The bill
enjoyed broad support by legislators during
the policy development process and takes
effect immediately to allow schools to con-
tinue seamless operations.
Ridley-Thomas partnered with Los
Angeles Unified School District and state
Sen. Holly Mitchell to ensure passage of
AB 23.
“GALA, which is in my 30th Senate
District, is already proving to be an impact-
ful leadership-development option for stu-
dents districtwide,” said Mitchell, who has
been an active supporter of GALA since
its inception. “As the chair of the Select
Committee on Women and Inequality,
I’ve heard countless test imonies and read
numerous reports as to the negative effects
of implicit bias against women, particularly
in STEM-related fields.
“Women and women of color aren’t
targeted, steered or directed to technical
internships, jobs or opportunities.”
Mitchell added that research shows that
single-gender schools create an environ-
ment that encourages a culture of academic
achievement — where it’s cool to be smart
— and equips students with self-confidence
and leadership skills.
“We applaud the governor for signaling
his support of the district’s pursuit of inno-
vation, creativity and specialization within
traditional public schools,” said LAUSD
Board Member George McKenna. “Our
ability to develop unique programs that
meet the needs of our students exemplifies
the spirit of ingenuity that we aim to impart
to the children we serve.”
LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King
said the district is extremely grateful to the
governor for recognizing that education
“does not always fit neatly into a box.”
“As educators, our role is to do every-
thing we can to support our students and
ensure their success,” King said. “Sometimes
that means changing the box. For these
students, and their families, single gender
schools provide an opportunity where they
can share their voice and build confidence
so they can fulfill their dreams and goals.”
Local indicators deadline approaching
School districts should be aware that
Dec. 1 is the deadline to upload their
local indicators to the California School
Dashboard. If the deadline is missed, dis-
tricts will show up as “Not Met” in these
indicators, regardless of if they have been
met or not.
The local indicators address those LCFF
priority areas for which data is not collected
at the state level. All LEAs are required to
determine whether each indicator has been
Met, Not Met, or Not Met for Two or More
Years. The local indicators are only appli-
cable at the LEA level; local indicators do
not apply to individual schools.
Following the Dec. 1 deadline, the next
opportunity for an LEA to display its status
of meeting the standards of the local indica-
tors will be with the Fall 2018 Dashboard
release. More information is available on the
CDE website at https://goo.gl/bK4Zmc.
Every Child Counts Symposium offers outstanding learning
for those in the student services and special ed fields
Tim Calkins, chair of the Every Child Counts Symposium planning commit-
tee, wrote the following article.
I consider myself to be very fortunate to be a member of the Executive Board of
ACSA’s Student Services and Special Education Council. The board is comprised of
a president, president-elect, and a past president who serves as the chairperson
for the Every Child Counts Symposium. The council has a diverse membership with
administrators working in student services, child welfare, attendance, special educa-
tion and SELPA.
The council is also very active and has represented ACSA in many state and federal
level educational capacities, including but not limited to: the AB 114 Work Group,
the Special Education Task Force, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, govern-
ment and legislative policy, state level SELPA, the California Association of School
Psychologists and many more.
In addition to being a strong advocate for students at both the state and federal
levels, the council’s most important task is to hold the annual Every Child Counts
Symposium. The symposium is ACSA’s largest professional development event,
drawing attendees from all over California. For many years the symposium was
held in beautiful Monterey, but in 2017, with much trepidation it moved to Anaheim,
where it experienced a record number of attendees: 1,800. At a growth rate of
almost 200 attendees per year the council is hopeful that the attendee number for
the 2018 Symposium will top 2,000.
The council’s Symposium Planning Committee, which is a subcommittee of the
council, spends many hours reviewing session proposals, recruiting featured and
keynote speakers and paying extra attention to ensure that our speakers not only
share relevant and timely information, but also align with our stated strands of
student services and special education. Past years’ speakers have included Michael
Yudin from the U.S. Department of Education, Flip Flippen from the Flippen Group,
Henry Winkler from the television show “Happy Days,” street artist David Garibaldi,
and Professor Temple Grandin.
For the 2018 ECC Symposium, in addition to our three general session speakers –
Anthony Muhammad, Timothy Shriver, and actress Lauren Potter – the symposium
has added featured speaker sessions that run concurrent with other session offer-
ings. The featured speaker
sessions are presented by
noteworthy individuals with
a message that will resonate
with all symposium attend-
ees. Wednesday afternoon
begins with a session pre-
sented by Randy Sprick, who
will discuss strategies to proactively provide behavioral support systems by first
understanding the strengths and weaknesses of current school climates that will
ultimately reduce the number of suspensions and improve student motivation.
Thursday’s featured speaker offerings including an outstanding presentation by
Sumi Mukherhee, focusing on strong emotional health and positive self-image for
all students, and the afternoon features Doug and Joyce Little, founders of the
facilitated IEP meeting. This session promises to deliver new IEP facilitation tools
and techniques that can be put to use immediately. Friday’s featured speaker ses-
sions end with a look at the U.S. Supreme Court decision on “Endrew F. vs. Douglas
County School District,” presented by lead attorney for the case Stuart Sullar. He
will discuss how the Supreme Court ruling now applies to issues of designing goals,
addressing behavior and placement, and the impact of the decision for all special
education educators.
Help Wanted: We are in need of volunteer support at the 2018 Every Child Counts
Symposium. If you are willing to provide three hours of your time on Wednesday and
Thursday during the symposium, we want to hear from you. Volunteers will be asked
to monitor session rooms, help other attendees during the registration process,
and provide general directions to meeting rooms. If you are willing to help, please
contact Sue Periera at [email protected] or call (800) 608-2272 extension 3831 for
additional information.
Let’s Go to Disneyland! The 2018 ECC Symposium is not all work without a little fun
mixed in for attendees. Special pricing for Disneyland tickets is available on the ECC
webpage at www.acsa.org/ecc for all symposium attendees. The tickets are valid
Feb. 14-25.