Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 17 | February 11, 2019
March 15 Q&A provided by ACSA
Each year the ACSA Member Assistance
and Legal Support Team, under the direction
of Margarita Cuizon-Armelino, senior director
of Member Services and Support, receives more
than 200 calls from members asking questions
about March 15 Notices. Member Assistance
Advocates John Almond, Sharon Dezutti, Joe
Jones, Janet Morey, Gary Rutherford, Bill
Tschida and Lloyd Wamhof provide answers
the following key questions.
Exactly what is a March 15 Notice?
It’s a notice given by districts to adminis-
trators notifying them they may be released,
demoted or reassigned for the following
school year beginning July 1. The courts
have stated that “the legislative purpose of
the statute was to afford the administrator
proper notice of possible change in duties
and assignment in sufficient time to seek
other satisfactory employment as an admin-
istrator.”
What can districts do to help prepare
people who are receiving a March 15
Notice?
It is so important to remember we are
dealing with human lives, and our col-
leagues have earned respect. Understand
how emotional it is to be told you are being
demoted, re-assigned or terminated or that
your job is being changed. How that mes-
sage is delivered speaks volumes for the
culture in the district.
ACSA member assistance advocates
are reminded regularly of the importance
Why is it normally referred to as the
March 15 Notice?
Education Code 44951 states, “unless a
certificated employee holding a supervisory
or administrative position is sent written
notice deposited in the U.S. registered mail
with postage prepaid and addressed to
his/her last known address by March 15
that he/she may be released from his/her
position for the following school year, or
See MARCH 15, page 3
Bill reintroduced
to require ethnic
studies for grads
Meet the candidates
Candidates for ACSA statewide office held an online town hall meeting to introduce themselves to
members. L-R, Dennis Cole and Barbara Martinez are both candidates for the office of Vice President
for Legislative Action. At right, Charlie Hoffman is running unopposed for the office of Vice President.
State ACSA office candidates
participate in online town hall
Candidates for state ACSA officer
elections participated in an online town
hall, scheduled on Feb. 4, and mod-
erated by ACSA Senior Director of
Communications Naj Alikhan.
Charlie Hoffman, superintendent
of Shasta-Trinity ROP/Bella Vista
Elementary and current ACSA board
member, is running unopposed for the
office of Vice President. Hoffman was
joined by Barbara Martinez, principal of
Pacific Grove Adult Education in Pacific
Grove USD and current ACSA board
member, as well as Dennis Cole, director
of Humanities for the Orange County
Department of Education, both candi-
dates for the office of Vice President for
Legislative Action.
of treating others with civility and dignity.
It doesn’t mean you don’t have to make the
tough decisions. It just means that how you
deliver the message will have an impact on
how the individual receiving the message
reacts.
“This town hall provided each can-
didate with a unique opportunity to talk
about their platform and the future of
our organization,” said ACSA President
Holly Edds.
If you missed the live meeting, you
can listen to it on the ACSA Resource
Hub at content.acsa.org.
“We believe there are creative ways
for our candidates to get their informa-
tion out to all 19 regions and members
statewide in a way everyone can benefit,”
Edds said. “I encourage everyone to
access this because so much of what they
have to say will shape ACSA.”
Elections of officers will take place
at the ACSA Leadership Assembly on
May 9.
Assembly member Jose Medina, joined
by co-authors Assembly members Richard
Bloom, Rob Bonta, Lorena Gonzales, James
Ramos and Shirley Weber, introduced
Assembly Bill 331 to mandate Ethnic
Studies as a graduation requirement in all
California high schools. This follows a veto
of AB 2772 last year, which would have
created a pilot program for select school
districts to require Ethnic Studies.
“Knowledge of our history plays a criti-
cal role in shaping who we become. When
I was growing up, the history of those who
look like me was not represented in the
classroom. As a former Ethnic Studies
teacher, I saw firsthand how much more
engaged my students were when they saw
themselves reflected in the coursework,”
Medina said.
This bill would add the completion
of a one-semester course in ethnic stud-
ies, in either the subject of social stud-
ies or English, based on the model cur-
riculum in ethnic studies developed by the
Instructional Quality Commission, to the
high school graduation requirements com-
mencing with the 2023-24 school year. The
bill would authorize local educational agen-
cies to require a full-year course in ethnic
studies at their discretion.
Medina noted that California is one of
the most diverse states in the country.
“Ethnic Studies provide students an
opportunity to learn about histories outside
of the Euro-centric teachings most promi-
nent in our schools,” he said. “At a time
when the national climate drives divisive-
ness and fear of otherness, Ethnic Studies
can play a critical role in increasing aware-
ness and understanding.”
Scholar dollars. ScholarShare 529
is California’s official 529 college sav-
ings plan and is dedicated to providing
support to families in saving for the
costs of higher education. The main
objective of the program is to generate
engagement and meaningful conversa-
tion about the importance of attend-
ing and saving for higher education.
Registration has started as of Feb. 11
on www.myscholardollars.com.
Mid-state conference. The 4th
Annual ACSA Mid-State Conference
will take place March 8-10 in San Luis
Obispo. The three-day conference will
feature renowned general session
speakers such as Pedro Noguera and
Edwin Javius, along with expert break-
out session presenters. Registration is
available at http://bit.ly/2FeftJc.
Addressing absenteeism.
Addressing student absenteeism
continues to permeate education
discussions statewide. California
and a majority of other states have
incorporated “chronic absenteeism”
as an accountability metric under the
Every Student Succeeds Act. A new
PACE Policy Brief outlines a multi-
faceted examination of how schools
measure and reduce absenteeism
and what we need to know going
forward as California and other states
hold schools and districts accountable
for students’ absences. The brief and
other PACE publications can be found
at www.edpolicyinca.org.
Virtual career fairs. Upcoming
dates for the California Center on
Teaching Careers virtual career fairs
are March 13-14 at Los Angeles COE,
April 10-11 at Riverside and San Diego
COEs, and May 8-9 at Shasta and
Sonoma COEs. You can join the live
fairs via mobile device, laptop or desk-
top. For more information, contact
Marvin Lopez at [email protected].
Registration is available at http://bit.
ly/2UKXQ8e.
Voters rank other issues
ahead of ECE in new poll
A new poll out from Policy Analysis for
California Education and USC showed
that voters’ priorities for public schools do
not necessarily align perfectly with those
of Gov. Newsom. According to an execu-
tive summary on the PACE website, the
Californians and Public Education: Views
from the 2019 PACE/USC Rossier Poll
contained nine major findings:
• Across the full span of education issues
facing California voters, the number one
concern is gun violence in schools, and vot-
ers are supportive of a wide array of policy
solutions to this problem. They strongly
oppose arming teachers, however.
• Voters are also deeply worried about
college affordability, which is the second
most cited concern. This worry extends
across demographic groups, and voters are
also not overly confident that earning a
college degree will lead to a middle-class
life. That belief may be reinforced by their
concerns about affordability.
• Voters are supportive of increased
investment in Early Childhood Education,
but their support is far from overwhelming
and is lower than support for initiatives to
improve K-12 or higher education. Voters
express a modest preference for universal
(as opposed to targeted) early childhood
investment.
• Voters are only slightly more aware of
the Local Control Funding Formula than
they were in previous polls, but participa-
tion in LCFF activities has increased. While
both awareness and participation remain
See POLL, page 6
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