ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Trimming the Budget: How to Make the Cuts
Author: Cortner-Castro, Christy
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Budgeting,Retrenchment,Educational Finance,School Districts,Participative Decision Making,Community Involvement

The fiscal problems of today's school districts are a reflection of the national economy. Taxpayers are struggling to make mortgage payments and are reluctant--or unwilling--to pass bonds and levies that will raise property taxes. Local, state, and federal grants have dwindled, and the effect of the education stimulus dollars is uncertain. The time has come for many districts to tighten their belts and attempt to retain some of their contingency funds for more difficult times that may be on the horizon. A collaborative decision-making process that involves as many stakeholders as possible, yet is realistic and easy to implement, goes a long way toward helping school districts stretch what few dollars they have.
Maintaining High-Performance Schools after Construction or Renovation
Author: Luepke, Gary
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Buildings,Physical Environment,Climate Control,Pollution,Energy Conservation,Facilities Management,Maintenance,Access to Information,Management Systems,Educational Facilities Improvement,School Construction

With taxpayers' considerable investment in schools, it is critical for school districts to preserve their community's assets with new construction or renovation and effective facility maintenance programs. "High-performance" school buildings are designed to link the physical environment to positive student achievement while providing such benefits as sustainability and energy efficiency. A critical element of a high-performance school is energy-efficient heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) and control systems that allow schools to maintain a comfortable environment while reducing energy consumption, saving money, and improving the school's indoor air quality. Properly designed, installed, and maintained energy-efficient HVAC systems keep operating costs low and offer an environmentally responsible solution. Web-based facility management systems connect building systems and provide a common view of energy-use patterns in multiple schools across a district. These systems enable better access to information that leads to better decision making, superior performance, and a more sound investment for a school district.
Limits on Union-Backed Political Speech: &quot;Ysura v. Pocatello Education Association&quot;
Author: Russo, Charles J.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Unions,Teaching (Occupation),School Districts,Collective Bargaining,Fees,Justice,Court Litigation,Labor Relations,Organizations (Groups),School Business Officials,Freedom of Speech,Accountability,Politics of Education

Free speech concerns associated with collective bargaining become important when unions impose fair-share fees that charge nonmembers for costs associated with the benefits they receive through labor negotiations. When unions collect fair-share fees, those payments often support causes with which nonmembers and dissenting members disagree. Although most people agree that unions should have the right to recoup legitimate bargaining expenses, questions arise as to what limits should be placed on the use of those fair-share fees. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in &quot;Ysura v. Pocatello Education Association&quot; (2009) should be of interest to school business officials and other education leaders who are concerned with labor relations between teachers and their school boards. In &quot;Ysura,&quot; the Court placed further restrictions on the ability of unions to spend the fair-share fees of nonmembers by upholding as constitutional a ban on public-employee payroll deductions for political activities at the local level because it furthered Idaho's interest in separating the operation of government from partisan politics. Given the significant role of teachers unions, this column is divided into three parts. The first briefly reviews Supreme Court litigation on fair share-fees, whereas the second examines its recent opinion in &quot;Ysura.&quot; The third part reflects on what school business officials and other education leaders can do to mitigate labor conflicts while protecting the free speech rights of nonunion members and dissenters who must pay fair-share fees.
Opportunity and Danger: The Two Sides of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Author: Warner, Carolyn
Date: 2009-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Presidents,Politics of Education,Federal Aid,Access to Education,Equal Education,School Business Officials,Opportunities,Strategic Planning,Needs Assessment,Documentation,Listening,Context Effect

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is likely the greatest single infusion of federal dollars into education since Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. When President Johnson signed that act, he said its purpose was to give every child in America &quot;all the education they can take.&quot; The author believes this is very much the philosophy of President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and she's still trying to decide which is the most refreshing: the attitude of the president and the secretary or the sudden availability of billions of dollars for the schools. In this article, the author discusses the opportunities inherent in the ARRA, as well as some of its potential hazards. She offers four cautionary notes and accompanying recommendations or suggestions to school business officials as they help lead their district's management team through the ARRA opportunities they face. These four cautions are: (1) listen closely; (2) plan carefully; (3) proceed cautiously; and (4) document thoroughly.
Identifying and Mitigating Sources of School Revenue Erosion
Author: Prombo, Michael
Date: 2009-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Districts,School Business Officials,School District Wealth,Income,Educational Finance,School District Spending,Tax Allocation,Taxes,State School District Relationship,Economic Climate,Adjustment (to Environment)

Preserving existing revenues is an essential component of the work of school business officials. The broad ranges of activities that can affect school district revenues make identifying potential threats difficult. By understanding the issues that affect school district revenue, school business officials are better able to diminish its erosion--a critical task in today's unsteady economic environment. This article addresses some of the areas on which school business officials should keep a keen eye.
ERS Survey: 2008-09 Salaries of School Business Officials
Author: Licciardi, Chris
Date: 2009-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Districts,School Business Officials,Salaries,Surveys,Tables (Data),Educational Research

How much were school business officials being paid during the 2008-09 school year? How do their salaries compare with those of other administrators, with those of classroom teachers, and with increases in the cost of living? In this article, the authors provide school business officials with information to address these and related questions. The data come from the National Survey of Salaries and Wages in Public Schools, conducted annually by Educational Research Service (ERS). Each year since 1973, school districts throughout the United States have reported salary and wage data to ERS for 33 professional and support positions. Reporting school districts for the 2008-09 school year form a stratified sample of school districts selected by ERS to represent school districts of various sizes across the United States. This information serves as a national database for school management and policy decisions concerning staff compensation. The data can be used to compare compensation in a local school district with that of other districts, and to provide comparisons of changes in salaries over time with changes in the consumer price index (Contains 1 figure and 11 tables.)
Do Schools Owe a Special Duty of Care to &quot;Special-Needs&quot; Students?
Author: Fossey, Richard
Date: 2009-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Business Officials,Legal Responsibility,Campuses,Safety,Interior Space,Special Needs Students,Sexual Abuse,Court Litigation,Boards of Education

Schools officials owe a duty of care to all the students in their custody. An emerging, but not unanimous, judicial consensus seems to agree that school board officials have a greater legal duty when supervising students with disabilities. A case on this important issue arose in &quot;Jennifer C. v. Los Angeles Unified School District&quot; (2008), wherein an appellate court in California ruled that school board officials had the duty to protect a middle school student with &quot;special needs&quot; from an assault that occurred in an out-of-the-way alcove under a stairway at her school. The court rejected the board's argument that this tragic event was unforeseeable because such an assault had never before happened on the school's grounds. The &quot;Jennifer C.&quot; case highlights significant safety and liability issues for school business officials, other education leaders, and their school boards. Education leaders must ensure that isolated areas on school campuses are closely monitored or firmly secured. The fact that schools may not have histories of assaults in specific locations does not mean that educators have no duty to take reasonable precautions to prevent isolated spots on school grounds from becoming the scene of a crime. School business officials and other education officials must be ever mindful of the need to ensure the safety of all children, paying particular attention to the special needs of students with disabilities.
Four Strategies to Help Keep You out of Court
Author: Teh, Mui Kim
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Court Litigation,Legal Problems,Prevention,School Business Officials,Parent School Relationship,Teacher Education,Educational Legislation,Risk,School Administration,School Law,Student Rights,Teacher Rights,Knowledge Level,Principals,Leadership Effectiveness,Interpersonal Competence,Perspective Taking

School business officials and other education leaders worry now more than ever about facing legal battles. Maybe today's parents are more likely to run to the lawyer's office. Or maybe they simply expect everything to be a certain way--their way. Regardless, the result is the same: today's school leaders are likely to find themselves having to defend their actions in a legal arena. In this article, the author offers four viewpoints that can arguably be described as "solutions" to avoiding legal difficulties: (1) the "training" solution; (2) the "guidelines and leadership" solution; (3) the "relationship" solution, and (4) the "blended" solution.
The Many Faces of Compliance: The Supreme Court's Decision in "Horne v. Flores"
Author: Thro, William E.
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Court Litigation,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),School Business Officials,Federal Legislation,State Officials,Federal Courts,School District Autonomy,Cost Effectiveness,Compliance (Legal)

At first blush, the Supreme Court's recent decision in "Horne v. Flores" (2009) appears to be about the proper standard for determining when to modify a previous judgment, a topic that would interest only civil procedure geeks. Yet, on closer examination, "Horne" is about giving local and state officials discretion to solve education problems and, ultimately, about solving education issues without spending more money. "Horne" offers three straightforward implications for school business officials. First, there are many ways to comply with federal law. Second, it is easier to modify or dissolve injunctions. Third, state and local control of education remains a paramount constitutional value. In sum, "Horne" is not just a case for those who obsess about civil procedure and the role of the federal courts. "Horne" is a decision that expands the discretion of education officials, limits the role of federal courts, and reaffirms the importance of local control.
Know the Law: Reimbursement under the IDEA
Author: Osborne, Allan G., Jr.
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Education,Public Schools,Disabilities,Court Litigation,Private Schools,Tuition,Economic Impact,School Responsibility,Identification,Access to Education,Administrator Role,Knowledge Level

When school boards fail to provide the free appropriate public education (FAPE) guaranteed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students with disabilities and their parents can be compensated in various ways. One of the more common remedies is to reimburse parents for tuition and other costs they may have incurred in obtaining special-education and related services privately. In spite of numerous cases on the issue of tuition reimbursement and an IDEA amendment that delineates conditions under which parents can be reimbursed for private school tuition, litigation in this area continues. In "Forest Grove School District v. T.A." (2008), the Supreme Court handed down its third pronouncement on tuition reimbursement, this time addressing whether a parent who places a child with a disability in a private school is entitled to tuition reimbursement if the child has never attended a public school. The Court held that students are not barred categorically from receiving private school reimbursement simply because they did not receive public school services first. Although critics of "Forest Grove" may argue that it will result in a significant increase in unilateral private school placements, resulting in tens of thousands of unexpected and unbudgeted expenditures, the reality is not so grim. As in the past, to be reimbursed, parents will have to show that school boards failed to provide a FAPE and that their unilateral placements in private schools provided an appropriate education for their children.
The Supreme Court and Strip Searches
Author: Russo, Charles J.
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Environment,School Safety,Student Rights,Privacy,Courts,Court Litigation,Drug Use Testing,Athletes,Constitutional Law,Assistant Principals

Maintaining a safe, orderly learning environment is a significant challenge for education leaders, especially when students insist on bringing alcohol, weapons, and drugs into schools. To compound that challenge, educators who wish to uncover contraband must do so within the confines of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fourth Amendment as permitting searches of students and their property and drug testing of student athletes. With regard to a more controversial type of search, lower courts have reached varied decisions regarding the constitutionality of strip searches. Although most courts have rejected their use, some have ruled that they do not violate the Fourth Amendment. Still others have rejected claims for imposing personal liability on officials who performed such searches. However, in a dispute from Arizona, &quot;Redding v. Safford Unified School District No. 1&quot; (2008c), the Ninth Circuit rejected an assistant principal's motion for qualified immunity shielding him from liability after he ordered the strip search of a student who violated board policy by possessing ibuprofen in school. On further review, the Supreme Court affirmed that the search was unconstitutional, but also ruled that the assistant principal was entitled to immunity since the student's rights were not clearly established at that time the search occurred. &quot;Redding&quot; raises questions about the limits of strip searches and the need for student privacy if local officials develop policies for such searches. When dealing with strip searches, educators should proceed with extreme caution in balancing legitimate student expectations of privacy and school safety.
Business Intelligence: Turning Knowledge into Power
Author: Endsley, Krista
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Business Officials,Access to Information,Information Management,Accountability,Data Collection,Resources,Data Analysis,Decision Making,Performance Factors,Self Evaluation (Groups),Visual Aids,Computer Oriented Programs

Today, many school districts are turning to business intelligence tools to retrieve, organize, and share knowledge for faster analysis and more effective, guided decision making. Business intelligence (BI) tools are the technologies and applications that gather and report information to help an organization's leaders make better decisions. BI tools allow school leaders to drill down, up, across, and into specific trends; monitor budgets and stay abreast of spending trends; conduct up-to-the-minute analyses; use fast-access critical decision tools; and gain insight into organizational performance. By having precise, up-to-date information at their fingertips, education administrators at every level can gain deeper insight for strengthening stewardship, improving agility, and, ultimately, securing the success of their institution and its students.
Top Model: Self-Auditing Your Leadership Skills
Author: Spanneut, Gene
Date: 2009-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Districts,School Business Officials,Leadership,Skills,Job Performance,Public Opinion,School Community Relationship,Self Evaluation (Individuals)

Central-office leaders, like every top model, should take a good look at themselves. How do their leadership skills affect their job performance, the outside world's perception of them, and, by default, the public's perception of their district? Self-assessments can help them better understand how they model their leadership skills. By reflecting on the information they gather during their self-assessment, they can determine the skills they may need to enhance their job performance. Self-audits need not be sophisticated, but they should have enough structure to provide consistency for seeking, recording, considering, and then using the information. The process of preparing and conducting a self-audit is presented in this article.
Leasing Retirees: Smart Business or Gaming the System?
Author: Lawton, Stephen B.
Date: 2009-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Principals,High Schools,Boards of Education,Teacher Supply and Demand,Teacher Selection,Teacher Retirement,Employment Opportunities,Employment Practices,Educational Finance,Tenure,Employer Employee Relationship,Politics of Education,Retirement Benefits,Mathematical Formulas,Personnel Policy,Incentives,Generational Differences

In April 2009, a high school principal in a large Arizona school district met individually with 18 of his most senior teachers to inform them that they would not have a job the following year. Why didn't tenure protect them from wholesale dismissal? The answer is they all had one thing in common: they were retirees who had been leased or hired back to fill their former positions and were collecting state pensions. Looking at the options and considering the overall high level of seniority of its teaching staff, the school board decided to preserve the jobs of recent hires and dispense with all rehired retired teachers in order to have a balance of new and experienced teachers. On the other hand, senior administrators had already forgone the protection of tenure and were under at-will or term contracts even before they took their pensions. The 18 Arizona teachers who took early retirement with the expectation of consistent reemployment in their old jobs seriously underestimated the risk they were taking.
Looking within to Improve Office Organization
Author: Malinowski, Matthew J.
Date: 2009-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Economic Climate,School Districts,School Business Officials,Economic Change,Economic Impact,Cost Effectiveness,Efficiency,Work Environment,Productivity,Self Evaluation (Groups),Organizational Communication,School Organization,Administrative Change

When tough economic times set in, school business administrators heighten their normal zeal in finding ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The author's school district recently underwent a yearlong internal self-analysis to examine and determine the proper staffing levels for the administrative functions within the school district's central office. The district approached the project with a detailed internal examination of all job functions, work processes, and the ebb and flow of peak workload levels. The process included input from administrators, support staff, and building-level personnel regarding appropriate workload distribution and staffing levels. This article describes the process which serves as a useful &quot;do-it-yourself&quot; model for school business officials seeking to thoroughly examine their district's school business operation from the ground up. (Contains 1 table.)
HR Technology Tools: Less Time on Paper and More on People
Author: Tillman, Tom
Date: 2009-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Human Resources,Personnel Management,Work Environment,Labor Force Development,Cost Effectiveness,Efficiency,Recordkeeping,Documentation,Computer Software,Management Information Systems

Many human resource managers face a dilemma. They would like to spend more time improving the overall work environment for employees. They want to help their executives save on workforce-related expenses, find and hire better talent, and improve existing talent through training and development. Unfortunately, most days, HR managers are stuck doing paperwork. In fact, according to a Forrester Research report, on average, more than 50% of a human resource department's time is spent processing employee information and answering questions. With so many resources dedicated to maintaining the workforce, it is often necessary to identify ways to improve results, increase efficiency, and lower costs. A human resource management system can help schools find and capitalize on such opportunities. A human resource management system (HRMS) provides an integrated software solution for automating and managing an organization's core workforce administration, including employee job and personal information; government compliance; employee benefits; attendance; pay roll; recruitment; employee development, compensation, and retention; and planning, analysis, and reporting. The author discusses the role and benefits of HRMS technology.
From Stalled to Successful: The Art of Negotiating
Author: Dolph, David A.
Date: 2009-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Business Officials,Employer Employee Relationship,Work Environment,Negotiation Agreements,Strategic Planning,Interpersonal Communication,Needs Assessment,Labor Relations,Holistic Approach,Employees,Motivation,Attitudes,Conflict Resolution

In times of limited resources, the likelihood of difficult negotiations between labor and management may increase even in the best of school districts. The negotiation process can range from traditional to positional to competitive to a more collaborative and cooperative interest-based approach. The most productive approach is a matter of debate and can vary from district to district. Regardless of the negotiation model used, bargaining can break down because of poor relations between parties, a lack of understanding of each other's needs, and a variety of other reasons. When breakdowns occur, it is difficult for either side to achieve its desired goals. In addition, hostile negotiations can contribute to a negative work environment and tarnish the reputation of the district. What can the negotiating parties do to get back on track and move toward a reasonable solution when things go wrong? By exercising prudent leadership and considering the three strategies offered in this article, school business officials may be able to turn stalled negotiations into positive outcomes.