2 EDCAL July 30, 2018
Superintendent honored with national award
Martinrex Kedziora, superintendent of
Moreno Valley Unified School District,
was named the recipient of the Deborah
Kasak Distinguished Leadership Award
by the National Forum to Accelerate
Middle Grades Reform during a gala in
Washington, D.C. on June 29.
The award recognizes an administra-
tor or individual who has made a signifi-
cant impact on leadership in public mid-
dle-grades education. The award criteria
includes promoting reform through advo-
cacy, commitment to young adolescents, the
inspiration of staff, and advancing the vision
of the National Forum.
“The Board of Education is extremely
proud of Superintendent Dr. Martinrex
Kedziora,” said MVUSD Board Vice
President Jesus Holguin, who attended the
award gala along with board clerk Cleveland
Johnson. “The Distinguished Leadership
Award recognizes what all of us at Moreno Valley Unified School District know from
our work with Kedziora. He is a champion
for all students and puts the resources in
place to ensure we meet the needs of the
33,000 students we serve.”
Kedziora received the
award for his contributions
to middle level educa-
tion as part of his work as
superintendent in Moreno
Valley and chairman of
the California League
of Schools. His nomina-
tion from the California
League of Schools noted Kedziora
his strong leadership, abil-
ity to relate to staff and community, and
strong support of teachers and administra-
tors through professional development and
encouragement.
“It is very humbling to receive a national
award for exceptional leadership,” Kedziora said. “I am grateful to the students, staff, and
administration of Moreno Valley Unified
School District and the California League
of Schools for nominating me for this great
honor.”
His leadership with the California
League of Schools has translated into suc-
cesses in Moreno Valley. MVUSD part-
nered with the League in 2013 on a federal
Investing In Innovation Grant for English
Language Learners. The “English Learner
Families for College” grant was one of just
14 awarded out of about 700 applications.
The six middle schools in MVUSD partici-
pated in the extremely successful program
which finished with an exceptional 87 per-
cent of long-term English learners reclas-
sifying to English-proficient. The program
supported strong academic language devel-
opment that is opening doors for students
to, in many cases, be the first to attend col-
lege in their family. “Moreno Valley has become a resource
site for many educators in California look-
ing for positive examples of how to work
with English Language Learners,” said
California League of School Executive
Director Peter Murphy in the award nomi-
nation, “He is the perfect fit for recogni-
tion by the Deborah Kasak Distinguished
Leadership Award.”
The National Forum to Accelerate
Middle Grades Reform is an alliance of
educators, researchers, national associations,
and officers of professional organizations
and foundations committed to promot-
ing the academic performance and healthy
development of young adolescents. The
group awards the National Schools to
Watch recognitions yearly. Moreno Valley
Unified School District has four middle
schools carrying the designation: Landmark,
Mountain View, Sunnymead, and Vista
Heights middle schools.
BILLS school safety plan.
Status: In Appropriations. vide a three-year window in which expired
claims would be revived.
Status: In Appropriations. respondence at the same time as the other
mass communication.
• Prohibits a public employer from
encouraging or discouraging union mem-
bership.
• Prohibits disclosure of the date, time
and place of an employee orientation.
Status: Signed by governor.
Continued from page 1
AB 2808 (Murasutchi)
This bill increases the per-student base
grant funding targets for school districts
and charter schools under the Local Control
Funding Formula.
ACSA is a co-sponsor.
Status: In Appropriations.
AB 1951 (O’Donnell)
This bill requires the Superintendent
of Public Instruction to approve, by an
unspecified date, one or more nationally
recognized high school assessments that a
local education agency may, at its own dis-
cretion, administer in lieu of the grade 11
Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment,
commencing with the 2019-20 school year.
Status: In Appropriations.
AB 1747 (Rodriguez)
This bill revises provisions relating
to comprehensive s chool safety plans to,
among other things: (1) require charter
schools to also develop a comprehensive
school safety plan; (2) require local edu-
cational agencies to conduct drills, not
less than once per year, on their tactical
responses to criminal incidents; (3) increase
the California Department of Education’s
responsibilities relating to school safety
plans; and (4) requires school site councils
to also consult with the fire department and
other first responder entities in the writing
and development of the comprehensive
SB 607 (Skinner)
This bill permanently prohibits the sus-
pension or recommendation for expulsion
of Kindergarten through fifth grade pupils
on the basis of willful defiance in all public
schools, including charter schools. The bill
also prohibits the suspension or recom-
mendation for expulsion of pupils in sixth
through twelfth grade in all public schools,
including charter schools, on the basis of
willful defiance for an additional five years,
through July 1, 2023. The bill encourages
the use of research-based alternatives to sus-
pension or expulsion to improve behavioral
and academic outcomes.
Status: Inactive.
AJR 41 (Thurmond)
Requests the United States Congress to
enact, and the President to sign, legislation
that would repeal the Government Pension
Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision
from the federal Social Security Act, and
instructs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly
to transmit copies of this resolution.
Status: In Assembly Public Employees
and Retirement Committee.
AB 3120 (Gonzales Fletcher)
This bill would extend the time for
commencement of actions for childhood
sexual assault to 40 years of age or five
years from discovery of the injury. It would
provide enhanced damages for a cover up,
as defined, of the assault. It would also pro-
SB 866 (budget trailer bill)
This bill enacts various statutory changes
necessary to implement labor and public
employment provisions for the Budget Act
of 2018. Among the provisions are:
• Public sector unions will notify dis-
trict payroll offices whether an employee’s
request to pay or not pay agency fees meets
their maintenance of membership provi-
sions.
• Requires a meet and confer to dis-
cuss any mass communication sent to an
employee or applicant regarding their rights
to join or refrain from joining the union. If
an agreement cannot be reached, the district
is required to distribute the union’s cor-
AB 1974 (Gonzales Fletcher)
This bill prohibits schools from with-
holding grades, transcripts and other puni-
tive measures from a student or former
student who has a debt owed to the school.
The bill further prohibits a school district
from using a debt collector to recoup these
debts.
Status: On suspense.
ACSA upgrades website design
ACSA’s Content Management Team has updated and redesigned the ACSA web-
site at www.acsa.org.
There is now a mega-menu that includes all the links that were previously in the
old menu. It might look different, but all the links are there, plus some more added
in, to help users navigate the site with fewer clicks and less searching. Check it out by
clicking on the menu icon under the ACSA logo on the homepage.
ACSA has updated the header section of the homepage, which is the top part of
the page. One image links to a Professional Learning event, another image links to
Advocacy, and a third image links to our Resource Hub.
The website now has an updated body and header. The search tool got an update
and now features predictive search, pop out search results box, suggested results, spell-
correct, real-time search analytics, cross-domain search and other features.
There is a now new robust Career Center at www.careers.acsa.org where job seekers
can create a user profile and find a job, and employers can post job openings with ease.
Take a few minutes to visit www.acsa.org and look around.
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