Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 30 | June 10, 2019
Crowder
gives back in
retirement
Name: Patricia Crowder
Award: Retired Administrator of the
Year
Region: 18
ACSA highlights: Member since
1989; 22-year Region 18 Board member
serving as Director of Communications,
President, Ways and Means Director and
Vice President of Legislative Action;
State Board Representative for Region
18 (2009-2012); ACSA State Retirement
Committee.
•••
Patricia Crowder
doesn’t believe in taking
things easy or accepting
the status quo. Though
she retired in 2012 after
a decade as principal
of Patrick Henry High
in San Diego, Crowder
continues to be driven to
serve students, adminis-
Crowder
trators and her communi-
ty in retirement.
Throughout her long and impressive
career as a teacher, mentor teacher, AVID
coordinator, middle school vice principal
and principal, and finally high school prin-
cipal, Crowder’s achievements cover every
aspect of student and teacher improvement,
such as improving school climate, facili-
ties, and academic and arts education. Her
leadership can be seen in many ways, for
instance, launching a project to alter the
landscape of a quad to encourage outdoor
learning, supporting a suicide prevention
program, starting a highly successful engi-
neering academy, establishing an Arts,
Media and Entertainment career path, and
building a performing arts center.
Since her retirement and in addition to
her extensive volunteer work with ACSA,
See CROWDER, page 8
Celebrate Pride. June is Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride
Month, a celebration of how Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Amer-
icans have strengthened our country
by using their talent and creativity to
help create awareness and goodwill.
This year, Pride Month is celebrated
on the 50th anniversary of the June
1969 Stonewall riot in Manhattan,
which was a tipping point for the Gay
Liberation Movement in the United
States. For more information, visit
www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/.
Ray Curry nominations.
Dave Scroggins, Rescue Union School District assistant superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction, poses for
a picture with students at Wensan School, one of his district’s sister schools in Hangzhou, China.
Scroggins ‘walks the talk’
Name: David Lee Scroggins, Jr.
Award: Curriculum & Instruction Administrator of the Year
Title: Assistant Superintendent Curriculum & Instruction
District: Rescue Union School District
Region: 2
ACSA highlights: Region 2 President (2018-present); Social
Emotional Task Force (2018-present); El Dorado Charter
President (2010-2012)
•••
As an administrator in a smaller district of around 3,600 stu-
dents, Dave Scroggins wears many hats.
Whether visiting a classroom to support teachers implementing
See SCROGGINS, page 6
Editor’s note:
EdCal is
featuring ACSA’s
Administrators
of the Year in a
series of Q&A
interviews with
the winners, who
will be honored
at Leadership
Summit State
Awards Banquet
Nov. 8 in San
Francisco.
Push for full and fair funding reaches Capitol
ACSA joined student advocates and
education stakeholders at the state Capitol
May 22 to support a permanent funding
source for our public education system that
is needed to prepare California students for
college, career and civic life.
“We’re back to the pre-recession fund-
ing level for students, but we still rank
near the bottom nationally,” said Linda
Kaminski, superintendent of the Azusa
Unified School District and ACSA
President-elect. “Other states look to
California for leadership on student issues
and we can’t let funding put our students at
a disadvantage.”
ACSA and the California School
Boards Association are jointly exploring
options to pursue a ballot initiative as early
as November 2020 intended to increase
school funding. If California supported
schools at the national average, funding
could increase by approximately $1,961 per
pupil. For a 25-student classroom, that’s
$49,025, and $980,500 for a 500-person
school. The money could support expanded
curriculum, class-size reduction, student
services and interventions among others.
Kaminski spoke to education supporters
including teachers, classified employees,
Nominations are currently open for
the Ray Curry Award, which honors
an outstanding human resources or
personnel administrator. Each year,
the ACSA Human Resources Council
Personnel Institute Committee pres-
ents this award during the Personnel
Institute, which will be held on Oct. 2,
2019 at the Hilton Long Beach in Long
Beach. Nominees must be a member
of ACSA and have contributed or dis-
played accomplishments in the role
of human resources/personnel admin-
istrator at the district, region or state
levels. To make a nomination, visit
https://www.acsa.org/raycurryaward.
The deadline for nominations is June
28. For questions, e-mail marthofer@
acsa.org or call (916) 444-3216.
Health materials reviewers.
The California Department of Educa-
tion and State Board of Education are
seeking reviewers to participate in
the 2020 Health Education Instruc-
tional Materials Adoption. Reviewers
will evaluate the instructional mate-
rials for alignment to the California
Health Education Content Standards
and the newly revised health educa-
tion curriculum framework. Meetings
are April 21-24, 2020, and July 21-24,
2020, in Sacramento. Reviewers may
be current credentialed health educa-
tion teachers, teachers of other sub-
jects, administrators, parents, local
school board members, or interested
members of the public. Visit www.
cde.ca.gov/ci/he/im/ for more informa-
tion. The deadline is July 24, 2019.
See FUNDING, page 3
ACSA delegation advocates in D.C.
to increase retirement benefits
Periodicals
Dated Material
A team of retired ACSA education-
al leaders and ACSA Governmental
Relations staff headed to Washington,
D.C. in May to advocate for changes to
the Social Security Act that would increase
retirement benefits to California educators.
The delegation, led by Senior Director
of Federal Advocacy Adonai Mack and
supported by Legislative Advocate Iván
Carrillo, included longtime ACSA lead-
er and former ACSA president Alice
Petrossian (Region 15), Moohay Choe
(Region 16), Cheryl Lynn de Werff
(Region 4), Linda Hutcherson (Region 6),
and Chair of the Retirement Committee
Gayle Olsen (Region 18).
The delegation represented ACSA
in conversations about the Windfall
Elimination Provision (WEP) and the
Government Pension Offset (GPO).
WEP is a formula that can reduce Social
Security benefit payments to beneficia-
ries who receive a pension, such as from
the California State Teachers’ Retirement
System (CalSTRS). Teachers whose work
See RETIRE, page 5