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S CHOOL BUS INESS AF FAIRSsbaApril 2009 | Volume 75, Number 4 Association of School Business Officials International®

Taking TechnologyAcross the DistrictUsing Geospatial Tools for Education PlanningDemystifying Remote AccessRadio-Frequency Identification for Asset ControlALSO: Building Schools in a Tight Economy

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Local Government · Public Safety and Justice · K-12 Education · Central and State Government · Software as a Service

2 APRIL 2009 | SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS www.asbointl.org

table of contents | APRIL 2009

TAKING TECHNOLOGY ACROSSTHE DISTRICT8 Demystifying Remote Access

By Grant Howe

12 Radio-Frequency Identification:Asset Control at Your FingertipsBy Marcus Scholes

14 Get a Grip on Demographics withGeospatial TechnologyBy Randall E. Raymond

18 Put Power into Your Presentations: UsingPresentation Software EffectivelyBy Robert J. Safransky, Ph.D. and Marsha L. Burmeister,Ed.D.

20 Keeping Students and Staff Safefrom Technology Abuse By Robert Ruder

23 Performance Contracting:Taking School Technology Green By Dane Taival

26 Building Schools in a Tight Economy?Do Your HomeworkBy Chris Watts

30 Raising Global Citizens: Focus onCultural Competency By Sirin Koprucu

34 Meeting the Needs of Studentswith Autism Spectrum DisorderBy Timothy E. Morse

DEPARTMENTS4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

6 PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

7 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

38 LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUESSocial Networking Sites and the Free SpeechRights of School EmployeesBy Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D.

42 LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARDTeacher Salaries

43 CORPORATE CORNER

44 SPOTLIGHT ON RICK GAY

11 AD INDEX12

20

30

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Sharing challenges

and successes with

our peers is one of

the best ways to

facilitate out-of-the-

box thinking.

president’s message

We Cannot Fail! By Angela D. Peterman, RSBS


lthough the economic news doesn’tseem to be improving, schoolbusiness officials are workingharder every day to find inno-

vative ways to meet the increasing challengeswe face as we try to provide a quality educa-tion to our students amidst diminishingresources. While reading through some ofthe early issues of School Business Affairs, Ifound this poem from the January 1938issue. It seems appropriate to share.

NEVER SAY FAIL!Keep pushing–’tis wiser than sitting aside,And dreaming and sighing, and waiting the tide.In life’s earnest battle they only prevailWho daily march onward and never say fail!

With an eye ever open, a tongue that’s not dumb,.And a heart that will never to sorrow succumb–You’ll battle and conquer, though thousands assail:How strong and how mighty who never say fail!

The spirit of angels is active, I know,As higher and higher in glory they go;Methinks on bright pinions from heaven they sail,To cheer and encourage who never say fail!

Ahead, then, keep pushing, and elbow your way,Unheeding the envious, and asses that bray;All obstacles vanish, all enemies quail,In the might of their wisdom who never say fail!

In life’s early morning, in manhood’s firm pride,Let this be your motto your footsteps to guide;In storm and in sunshine, whatever assail,We’ll onward and conquer, and never say fail!

–Anonymous

The profession we’ve chosen doesn’t allowus to consider failure. No matter how difficulttimes become and no matter how insurmount-able the odds seem, the end game is far toocritical for us to give up. We must persevere,seeking new and innovative ways of providingquality programs to students.

This is the time of year when ASBO affili-ates begin hosting their annual meetings. Astempting as it is to say that we can’t afford to

participate this year, I firmly believe this is atime when we can’t afford not to participate.Sharing challenges and successes with ourpeers is one of the best ways to facilitate out-of-the-box thinking.

My participation in these and ASBOInternational professional development activ-ities has afforded me the opportunity todevelop an amazing network of friends and“experts” that I can call upon at any time forassistance. I bring best practices back toOregon from every meeting I attend.

I encourage you to seek ways to share ex -penses with your peers so you can reduce thecost of participation and take advantage ofthe outstanding training and networking op -portunities these conferences afford us. In thespirit of the MasterCard ads: Airfare $198.Meals $75. Lodging $350. Networkingresources…Priceless.

In addition, ASBO and many of its affili-ates are making resources available on theirWebsites. Visit ASBO’s Website, www.asbointl.org, and participate in ASBO’sEconomic Recovery Blog to find up-to-the-minute updates about how your colleaguesare preserving education and unleash yourown creative ideas to share with others.You’ll also find a summary of the educa-tional funding in the federal government’sstimulus package, a report of the EconomicCrisis Summit ASBO sponsored in Decem -ber, and additional resources focused oneconomic recovery for schools.

Each of us has unique talents and insightsto offer our colleagues. Get involved. Be apart of the solution. Share your knowledgeand expertise.

President, ASBO InternationalExecutive Director, Oregon Associationof School Business Officials

A

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School Business Af fairsApril 2009 | Volume 75, Number 4

SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS (ISSN 0036-651X) is the professional journal of the Association of

School Business Officials International and is published monthlyby the association. Periodical postage paid at Herndon, Virginia,

and additional mailing of fic es.

Postmaster: Send address corrections to School Business Affairs,11401 North Shore Drive, Reston, VA 20190-4200; 703/478-0405.

2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORSPRESIDENT — Angela D. Peterman, RSBS

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT — Jerome E. Brendel, RSBAVICE PRESIDENT — Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR — John D. Musso, CAE, RSBA

DIRECTORSEdward Emond, RSBA

Charles E. Linderman, RSBAPaul M. Bobek, CPABrian L. Mee, RSBA

Shirley A. Broz, CPA, RSBARon McCulley, CPPB, RSBO

PUBLICATIONS POLICYThe materials published in each issue represent the ideas, beliefs,

or opinions of those who write them and are not necessarily theviews or policies of the Association of School Business Officials

International. Material that appears in School Business Affairs maynot be reproduced in any manner without written permission.

2009 EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEECHAIR — Charles J. Russo, J.D, Ed.D.

BOARD LIAISON — Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBAStephen B. Lawton, Ph.D.

Richard Hunter, Ed.D.Marilyn A. Hirth, Ed.D.

Joy E. CoulbeckGail M. ZemanEllen Skoviera

EDITORIAL STAFFDIRECTOR — Siobhán McMahon

EDITOR — Patricia GeorgePUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR — Lauren A. Konopka

DESIGN — Laura Carter and Jim DodsonCarter Publishing Studio

www.carterpublishingstudio.com

EDITORIAL OFFICES11401 North Shore Drive, Reston, VA 20190-4200

Phone: 703/478-0405Fax: 703/478-0205

Home Page: www.asbointl.orgEmail: [email protected]

ADVERTISING INFORMATIONAscend Media

7015 College Blvd., Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66210Phone: 913/ 469-1110 • Fax: 913/ 344-1492

Jason [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION RATESixty-five dollars of ASBO members’ annual dues are designated

for School Business Affairs subscription.

© 2009, ASBO International


publisher’s messageYOU’RE THE EXPERT!I know I’m not the most tech-savvy person out there,although I do have a family blog, recently became“Linked In,” and am a self-confessed Blackberry addict.Technology is one of those areas you just can’t fight…and it’s an area that is constantly changing.

Here at ASBO headquarters, we’ve been using tech-nology to improve our services to you, our members.For example, we’re making it even easier for you toconnect with your colleagues. For the first time, theASBO membership directory is completely online,allowing you to have the most up-to-date informationwithout being slowed down by the press. It’s a prettyimpressive tool. You can search by city, state, and coun-try, and if you’re looking for something more specific,you can personalize your search by district size, budgetdollars, and member interests.

At our Leadership Conference in Denver, I needed toquickly contact an attendee. I jumped online and used themember search. Within seconds, I had his phone numberand was able to contact him.

On our Website you’ll find more than just a great linkto your colleagues. We offer some wonderful resourcesand tools for school business managers. You can viewWebcasts on school district budgeting, leadership, health-care, and more, and tune into the Live Learning Centerfor recordings from the most recent annual meeting. Rightnow there is a complimentary Case Studies in SchoolFraud presentation that you don’t want to miss.

Another great online tool is the Buyers’ Guide. It makesyour research easier and more efficient, with companiesthat provide the very products and services your districtneeds.

And, every morning, Monday through Friday, youshould be receiving School Business Daily, a customizednews briefing selected specifically for you and compiledinto one email that you can scan in just a few minutes. Ifyou’re not getting this valuable tool, please ensure you’veshared your current email address with us.

Yes, I love technology. I love the fact that although Iemigrated to the United States from the UK nearly 10years ago, I still talk to my mum every day. I love thatwith the use of Web technology my parents are able to“see” their grandchildren growing and know when theirgranddaughter has had a haircut or a scraped knee. And Iam thankful that before picking my dad up at the airport,I had a “heads-up” that he had begun to go grey. I lovethe fact that with a Webcam I can read my daughters theirbed time story when I am on the road.

—Siobhan McMahon, Managing Editor

Colophon: Lauren traveled to Spain and added another stamp toher passport; Siobhan got her dad to create a Facebook account; andPat finally finished off the last of the Girl Scout cookies.

www.asbointl.org

www.asbointl.org SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS | APRIL 2009 7

s the months pass, issues surroundingthe economic crisis are manifestingthemselves in all aspects of ourlives. We face them at work and

at home. They have become all encompassing,overwhelming, and in many cases, seeminglyunmanageable.

ASBO is providing as many opportunities aspossible to help our members address the eco-nomic issues they are facing. In addition, there isa wealth of expertise and best practices—peoplewith solutions to problems you may now be fac-ing—throughout the ASBO membership com-munity. You certainly will be able to networkwith them in October at the annual meeting, butuntil then, ASBO is providing a virtual venue foryou to engage in that network of solutions.

In February, ASBO launched a blog for mem-bers to post issues and solutions to economicissues they may be facing or have faced and suc-cessfully solved. ASBO also is using this blog asa way to gather input from members about leg-islation that may affect school systems acrossthe nation. With this information, ASBO is bet-ter equipped to help carry your ideas and con-cerns to the policy makers and law makers inour nation’s capital. ASBO has forged relation-ships with the new administration, but we needyou to be part of one collective voice that ASBOcan represent.

This past December, ASBO held an EconomicCrisis Summit that culminated in a document wehave disseminated widely. The document providesinformation and ideas that you can use to takeyour school system and community through thesame process used at the summit to identify solu-tions to economic challenges. Please take advan-tage of this wonderful resource put together bysome of the most creative minds in the profession.

For every problem, there is a solution. As soit is with the economic crisis. I have said manytimes that this is the perfect opportunity to trythings in our school systems that we have nevertried before.

As billions of new dollars are funneled intoour economy and our schools, you will befaced with many decisions about where andhow to spend these dollars. As soon as threedays after President Obama signed theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act(ARRA), companies were sending out massemails offering to help you secure and evenspend your share of the money. So while youmove forward with urgency, make sure youperform the necessary due diligence.

The ARRA is intended to advance withaggressive time lines. All school systems havepolicies and procedures in place to ensure pru-dent spending of public monies. Often, thesesystems unintentionally slow down processes.

While we do not advocate the elimination orweakening of these internal control or checksand balances, school business officials andother education leaders must make those sys-tems more efficient as not to lose sight of theintent that these stimulus dollars begin circu-lating in our financial system immediately.Sometimes it’s a simple solution such as havinga special board meeting to approve expendi-tures instead of waiting until the next meeting.

As you move forward, trying to break outof the four walls of the box in which we typi-cally work, do not do so at the expense of vio-lating state or local policies or regulations.Understand the laws and the system that youare working in and under. Understand com-pletely the spending authority you have withthe ARRA monies, as well as the policies andprocedures that have been promulgated at thefederal and state levels. Understand the timelines. Do not put yourself in a situation whereyou have unspent dollars left on the tablebecause of an overlooked deadline or piece oflegislation that slipped by.

I encourage you to check the ASBO Websitedaily for additional information and updates thatmay prove helpful as you work through thesechallenges and opportunities.

Weathering the Storm…Tools to UseJohn D. Musso, CAE, RSBA

For every problem,

there is a solution.

As so it is with the

economic crisis.

executive director’s message

A

With money tight, more and more districts are considering remoteaccess as a way to reduce expenses and budget informationtechnology costs more effectively. But what exactly is remoteaccess and what’s the best way for a district to implement it?

Remote access allows staff members to work with a hosted software appli-cation from any school campus without being tied to a specific physical loca-tion. Each school can access critical business applications directly from thehosted server, ultimately leading to increased productivity, more accurate data,and better collaboration across campuses.

For example, remote access to a financial management system allows schooladministrators to enter budgets directly into the district system or enter invoic-es or payments into the district’s centralized accounting system, reducing timeand the chance of transmission errors and freeing district staff from daily dataentry tasks.

By combining infrastructure costs, schools can save a significant amount ofoverhead without sacrificing any resources for students.


technology

Demystifying Remote Access

Remote access

can reduce expenses

and increase

productivity.

By Grant Howe


How Remote Access WorksMost application providers today use a remote accessprotocol, such as Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol(RDP) or Citrix’s XenApp, to offer secure remote accesswith a reasonable amount of bandwidth.

A remote access protocol allows an organization tohost an application on a remote server and transfer whatamounts to screen shots back to the user. Once set up,staff members can work remotely with the hosted soft-ware solution from their laptop, classroom desktop, orhome computer as though they were in the office.

A virtual private network (VPN) is another way to cre-ate remote access. With this method, the user creates asession with the VPN server, which is a secure “tunnel”directly into the network. Although secure, this technolo-gy option passes more data and, therefore, requires morebandwidth than a remote access protocol. It also requiressavvy information technology (IT) staff to maintain theserver hardware and security updates.

Flavors of Remote AccessIf your school has a solid IT department, with the skillsets necessary to manage an application server and keepit secure, you may be able to host your own solution.Locating the server and equipment you purchase in aremote data center that provides the network access,power, and sometimes firewall configuration is a greatoption for schools that have an established and experi-enced IT staff, but lack a secure data center, reliablepower, or enough Internet bandwidth to host internally.

If your hardwareinfrastructure is older, orneeds replacement,consider hosting.

If your hardware infrastructure is older, or needsreplacement, consider hosting. With hosting, vendorsprovide the equipment, including the power and band-width, for a fee. Generally, the vendor is responsible forkeeping an organization’s servers up and running andadhering to a service level agreement to maintain theserver’s operating system.

Although the vendor does not generally support anysoftware that resides on the operating system, hosting isstill a good opportunity to alleviate some of your ITstaff’s burden and possibly reduce costs.

Managed service takes hosting to the next level. Here,you get everything a hosting provider would normallysupply, plus management of the common services neededto run your business application, including the database,Web server, and the remote access technology itself

(remote access protocol or VPN). Managed services arean ideal choice for schools that have few or inexperi-enced IT staff or are looking to reduce IT burdens.However, even with managed services, some IT staffing is required to run your application.

Application service providers (ASPs) pick up wheremanaged service providers leave off. ASPs offer Web-enabled remote access to popular applications. Theygenerally charge a monthly fee for access, and possiblya licensing fee for the application itself.

Partnering with an ASP generally eliminates the needfor IT staffing for the particular application you wish touse, making it an attractive option for schools with fewor no IT staffers. The drawback is that you must find anASP that offers the application you want. For niche soft-ware, this can sometimes be an issue.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications typically use astandard Web browser interface and are built to be exclu-sively sold by the software developer as SaaS. Although itis simple to begin using a SaaS product with no IT staff atall, the most significant drawback of SaaS is that the ven-dor owns your data. You can get a data export, but youcannot buy the software and run it yourself. To do that,you would need to transform and import the data toanother package, so making the switch to another hostingmodel would incur high costs.

Security and Compliance ConsiderationsSecurity is serious business. There is no quicker way to giveyour school district a “black eye” than to have a securitybreach that results in a loss of personal information. Beforehosting your school’s applications, you must consider gen-eral security best practices, such as using a properly config-ured firewall, virus protections, automated patching ofoperating systems, and security policies and procedures.

In addition to IT security considerations, your remoteaccess solution may also need to satisfy compliance regu-lations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PaymentCard Industry Data Security Standard, the Health

VALUE OF REMOTE ACCESS• Lessening of considerable and possibly all IT burden

• Removal of complex hardware considerations andupdates

• Partnering with someone who truly knows IT

• Security

• Compliance

• Disaster recovery

• Accessibility

• No more worries about backing up a server oryour data

• Ability to focus on your true mission

Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or theStatement on Auditing Standards No. 70.

If executing a solid security plan using your school’sexisting resources is prohibitively expensive, then it maybe a good idea to seek professional help.

Getting More for LessHosting not only reduces overhead for both staff andinfrastructure, it may also make accurate budgeting of ITcosts more straightforward.

Many schools evaluate the purchase of a softwaresolution based only on the cost at the time of purchase.However, the total cost of upgrades, maintenance, infra-structure, and IT staff resources can add up quickly.Licensing fees and maintenance and support costs areapproximately the same. But over the first five years ofownership, hosting can save as much as 70% over on-premise solutions in infrastructure, staff, consulting, andimplementation costs.

Application serviceproviders (ASPs) pick upwhere managed serviceproviders leave off.

Partnering with a hosting service provider not onlyreduces total cost of ownership but can also simplifyexpense and cash flow budgeting, because you have regular, predictable payments. Equipment replacementand upgrades are included in most service agreements,so you will not have to absorb the cost of emergencyserver repairs.

Evaluating Your OptionsWhen evaluating remote access options, ask these ques-tions:• What application(s) do we need hosted?• Do users need remote access when working from

home or traveling?• What type of compliance do we need? (Health

Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, etc.)• How many personnel hours are spent each month

maintaining servers, workstations, connectivity, soft-ware updates?

• What is our price tolerance for monthly hosting fees?To further improve the success of your decision, avoid

lowest-cost providers or vendors on the cutting edge oftechnology and read your service level agreement, look-ing for 99% plus uptime. Hosting providers should striveto understand your needs, not simply prescribe a solutionthey want to sell.

Value of Remote AccessSchool administrators must constantly search for newways to save money that do not cut into the primary mis-sion of educating students. Remote access can be a valu-able tool for reducing overhead expenses and improvingproductivity.

Education administration is complicated enough with-out also having to be an IT specialist. Look for criticalsoftware applications, such as your accounting or fund-raising solutions, that offer remote access options andpartner with a hosting provider who offers the level ofservice you need to focus on your true mission—yourstudents.

Grant Howe is vice president of research and development forSage North America’s Austin, Texas–based Nonprofit Solutionsbusiness.


REMOTE ACCESS VOCABULARYASP (application service provider): A businessthat not only manages the hosting but also providesthe business application remotely using a remoteaccess protocol or similar tool.

Managed hosting: Hosting services plus manage-ment of common server administrative tasks, butnot specialized applications.

Remote access protocol: Software tool that allowsyou to connect to a remote server securely with areasonable amount of bandwidth.

SaaS (software as a service): Business applicationthat uses a standard Web browser interface to con-nect users with their data.

SLA (service level agreement): Legal documentdetailing what is included (or not included) withyour services. Read it carefully!

VPN (virtual private network): A very secure andmore bandwidth-intense method to connect to yourremote server.

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technology

Times are tough for everyone, including publicschool districts. During the past decade, schooldistricts have faced the dual challenges of tight-ening budgets and increasing fiscal responsi -

bility and oversight.Many school districts have found a way to manage

their assets, reduce staff requirements, increase account-ability, and save money on insurance premiums byimplementing unified fixed-asset management programsand accompanying asset-tracking technologies, such asradio-frequency identification.

Most people recognize RFID as the tiny tags placed inor on an item to help determine its location. RFID isincorporated in automated toll-road payment systems,ID cards, and retail products. In fact, the technologyevolved from retail store security methods and fromtechnologies such as bar coding, which was initiallygeared toward inventory management.

RFID has been making waves for over a decade ascommercial organizations sought to leverage the easeand accuracy of goods tracking to drive down costs and improve product availability. The technology is stilladvancing in this arena, especially with the continueddecrease in pricing for the individual RFID tags, whichcan now cost just a few cents each. The technology hasbeen strongly embraced by other entities as well, includ-ing libraries, museums, industries, and higher-educationinstitutions to track valuable assets ranging from com-puters to vehicles.

With increased focus on improving asset accountabil-ity and saving money, the time is optimal for schooldistricts to also consider the benefits of RFID.

RFID in School AdministrationSince the adaptation of more stringent reporting require-ments such as Governmental Accounting Standards

Radio-Frequency Identification:Asset Control at Your Fingertips

By Marcus Scholes


Board Statement 34, one of the more time-consumingtasks for school and district administrators has beenmaintaining accurate asset registers. Studies have shownthat as much as 50% of an organization’s listed assetsare no longer in use, are missing, or are so poorly identi-fied that they may not be located. These issues can leadto difficulties with planning asset maintenance, replace-ment, and even insurance coverage in the event of a fireor other disaster.

Districts can take two important steps to remedy theseproblems:• Institute a dedicated fixed-asset management program. • Incorporate asset-tracking technology like RFID or

barcodes.The first step provides greater overall fiscal manage-

ment and responsibility, with streamlined and con soli -dated control features, while the second ensures reliableasset location monitoring. The return on investmentresulting from decreased staff time, reduced asset loss,and lessened insurance premiums generally covers theimplementation costs for both undertakings within a year or two. The benefits also extend to enhanced fiscalreporting, which allows for greater accountability up the administrative chain of command.

The Asset ChallengeThe next generation of accounting principles for entitiesin the United States is the International FinancialReporting Standards (IFRS). These standards will soonreplace the existing generally accepted accounting princi-ples and other traditional rules at commercialinstitutions; similar requirements for public entities suchas school districts will undoubtedly follow.

IFRS require greater fixed-asset management accounta-bility and the provision of a full audit trail. Unfortunately,many school districts currently use antiquated and ineffi-cient methods, like spreadsheets, which produce poorfixed-asset management processes and inaccurate assetregisters.

From highly mobile items, such as laptops and PDAs, todistrict buses and vehicles, and even information technol-ogy infrastructure that may include multiple componentsthat are frequently changed by staff, some school districtshave no idea what happens to many assets once they are inuse. But how can a district af ford to devote valuable stafftime to a manual audit? Furthermore, manual audits canbe notoriously inaccurate; horror stories abound of organi-zations that have embarked on manual audits only todiscover many months into the exercise that only 60% oftheir assets have been checked.

The ability to use RFID technology to scan hundredsof assets at once from a single point, while ensuring the

continuity of the educational mission, has the potentialto transform the entire asset management process.

RFID in PracticeThe first decision a district must make when implement-ing RFID is whether to opt for active or passive RFIDtags. Active RFID tags use internal batteries to powertheir circuits and to broadcast radio waves to a reader,which can be situated more than 300 feet away. Becausethese tags contain more hardware than passive RFIDtags, they are more expensive—$40–$60 per tag.

Passive tags are significantly cheaper—well under 50cents each. They rely on the reader as their power sourceand have lower production costs, so they can be appliedto less-expensive merchandise. Like the merchandise onwhich they are placed, these tags are disposable.However, passive tags are limited to about a 20-footrange and hold little information, constraining the devel-opment of a single source of all asset history.

For example, organizations can leverage the additionalmemory on active RFID tags to create a complete historyof each asset, from initial purchase order number, loca-tion, and unique serial number to maintenance historyand child/parent asset relationships.

With this technology, one person at each school orcampus can be responsible for maintaining a list of theassets at his or her location. Using a handheld PDA, heor she can simply walk through a facility on a regularbasis; the assets are automatically scanned and informa-tion is input directly into the district’s asset register andmaintenance system. Exception reports can be instantlygenerated to highlight any missing assets.

By creating a single source of asset purchase, location,maintenance, and disposal information, organizationscan reduce errors and immediately view maintenancestatus at any time. This up-to-date and automated infor-mation system not only saves significant time but is alsosimple and straightforward, requiring minimal resources,which drives down costs.

Despite growing pressure to deliver greater fiscalresponsibility and asset accountability, school districtssimply cannot afford to undertake repeated manualaudits, each of which can take months. By adoptingRFID, not only can scan-based audits be done easilyand regularly in a matter of minutes without affectingthe other functions or the district’s educational mission,but RFID can also integrate with the full asset historyto ensure unprecedented accuracy and auditability ofthe entire asset register.

Marcus Scholes is vice president of U.S. operations for RealAsset Management International in Boston, Massachusetts.Email: [email protected]

Where are student population changestaking place in your community? Howmuch change has occurred? Should youclose some facilities? If so, which ones?

Aging school infrastructure, changing populationdynamics, decreased funding, and increased accountabili-ty for reporting school success all require today’s schoolbusiness officials to combine a variety of disparate data

sets into a coherent system that enables effective and effi-cient decision making. School business officials arerequired to • Plan for change• Monitor patterns and trends in land use, housing,

and population characteristics• Make decisions and allocate resources for service

delivery and costs


Get a Grip on Demographicswith Geospatial Technology

By Randall E. Raymond

technology

Figure 1. View schools by high school attendance area.

businessoperations

facilityoperations

informationtechnology

• Negotiate agreements with city, county, and state offi-cials

• Communicate with school board members, parents,students, and members of the community aboutchanges, contentious issues, and district policies.A geographic information system (GIS) does all of these

things by integrating the hardware, software, and data forcapturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all formsof geographically referenced information. GIS allows usto view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize datain many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, andtrends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.

For example, understanding student populationdyna mics requires school business officials to knowwhere the students live in the community. Workingwith GIS makes it possible to place student addresseson a map using the address matching or “geocoding”tools. This data layer, made up of data points on themap, can carry with it all of the demographic andschool success indicators of a particular student, suchas age, sex, date of birth, school, free or reduced-pricelunch status, special education needs status, andtransportation eligibility.

At the core of the GIS is a powerful relational databasemanagement system. This makes it possible to query thedata points based on the various fields (attributes in GIS)found in the data. School business officials can view these

data points in a variety of ways; for example, they cansee only those students who attend a particular school orthey can see where all of the elementary school-age stu-dents live. This information can be provided to schoolprincipals to help them understand what neighborhoodsare represented in their school community.

Additional data layers enable the principals to see allof the business locations near their schools as well asfaith-based organizations, police stations, fire stations,and other agencies.

Most local government agencies use GIS systems tomanage their critical infrastructure, which includesschools and district buildings. Using GIS, school businessofficials can integrate their data with the data of the localhomeland security agencies, providing information aboutbuilding floor plans, classroom schedules, and high reso-lution aerial photoes—all of which can prove importantin a crisis situation when officials need to know wherepeople are during an emergency.

Data AnalysisThe real power of a GIS is in the way data can be ana-lyzed. Student data points can be converted easily into“population density” diagrams. When student popula-tion density is layered with age-appropriate school build-ings, it is much easier to see facility needs in relation tothe number of students.


Figure 2. Identify where students who attend a particular school live.

Working with local health agencies, school business offi-cials can obtain information about the types of environ-mental health issues, such as lead poisoning, that might beaffecting the learning potential of the local school popula-tion. Here again, these data can be layered with otherschool-related information to help plan intervention.

The best way to learn more about GIS, geospatialtools, and technologies is from the EnvironmentalSystems Research Institute (ESRI), the world leader inGIS software and related technologies. The mainWebsite is www.esri.com. ESRI also maintains a Websitethat has a direct focus on the education community athttp://edcommunity.esri.com. On this education commu-nity Website you can obtain information about theadministrative uses of GIS in schools along with class-room education applications.

The report from the National Research Council (NRC)released in 2006, Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as aSupport System in the K-12 Curriculum, points to theimportance of instilling spatial thinking skills across sub-jects and into the lives of learners of all ages. As thereport contends, GIS can be significant in cultivatingthose skills. School business officials must be life longerlearners.

Learning to use GIS and apply it to the work that youdo for your school system could be one of the best deci-sions you make for your future and the future of yourschool district.

Randall E. Raymond is geographic information specialist for the Detroit Public Schools Office of Research, Evaluationand Assessment, Accountability, and Pupil PopulationManagement. Email: [email protected]


Figure 3. Integrate many different types of data, including high resolution aerial photos and building floor plans.

Figure 4. Examine student population change by elementaryschool attendance boundaries.


Put Power into Your Presentations:Using Presentation Software EffectivelyBy Robert J. Safransky, Ph.D., and Marsha L. Burmeister, Ed.D.

ware so popular? As the Chinese pro -verb declares, a picture is worth athousand words. We like visual pre-sentations. Presentation software canmake even a dull subject come to lifewith colorful text, videos, and hyper-links.

Presentation software is easy to use(as evidenced by the many onlinetutorials as well as at least one bookin the famous For Dummies series). A short course on creating presenta-tions gets one up and running quick-ly; however, many tips and tricks canmake them “more presentable.”

First Things FirstBefore jumping full force into creat-ing a presentation with the softwareof your choice, however, first askyourself, “What is the general topic

of my presentation?” As with anykind of presentation, it’s importantto know your audience, your goals,and the information you want toshare. Outline your key points beforeyou start generating slides, not dur-ing the process.

When you have an outline “onpaper,” it’s time to get creative. Youmight begin by developing a “masterslide” using one of the design tem-plates that offers a preset color scheme,font, and general format. Your in -structional technology departmentmay be able to help you incorporateyour district’s logo onto the masterslide—and carry it through the entirepresentation.

Because readability is a goal, con-sider the font style and size. Point sizemust be sufficient for easy readingfrom a distance. Fine print is unsuit-able for presentations.

Equally important is the colorscheme. The clearest and most famil-iar color scheme is black on white, ofcourse. Projectors vary in their bright-ness; a low-lumen projector or aroom that is insufficiently dark willwreak havoc with visibility. Avoidsharp contrast color schemes (red onblue, yellow on red, and so on); theyare not only distracting but can actu-ally hurt the eyes.

Clear ContentOnce you have settled on a colorscheme and overall theme, your nexttask is to outline your key points oneach slide. The outline view featureof the software can help you inputyour outline and automatically addslides.

“Death by PowerPoint” is common corpo-rate parlance. Some companies and confer-ence organizers have prohibited Power -Point, and the press perennially skewers itas a thought-free plague. One legal scholar,tongue-in-cheek, proposed a constitutionalamendment banning its use.

—J. Sandberg, Wall Street Journal,November 14, 2006

What was the last con-ference you attendedwhere PowerPointor something akin to

it was not used during at least onepresentation?

Microsoft PowerPoint, AppleKeynote, and OpenOffice Impress arerelatively common tools in the class-room and in the boardroom thesedays. What makes presentation soft-

technology


Crafting the content slides may bethe hardest part of developing yourpresentation. For it to be most pow-erful, you should practice the KISSprinciple: Keep It Short and Simple.Include only a few words on a slideas a path for your viewers.

The age-old formula of instructionapplies as you begin to generate yourcontent slides: tell your audience whatyou will say, say it, and then reviewwhat you have said. After an initialintroductory slide that includes thetitle of the presentation or the topic,your name, and contact information,include an “agenda” slide that brieflylists your presentation’s content.

How much content should you fiton a slide? Many presenters use theunwritten “six-by-six rule”: no morethan six lines on a slide and no morethan six words to a line. If you can’tfit the content into this rule, thenbreak the content into two or threeslides or pare down the content.Proofread carefully—your credibilitymay be at stake! Use the spelling andgrammar check tools.

Adding VisualsPresentation software provides avisual that attracts the attention ofthe audience and helps maintaininterest. This software has many fea-tures that, when used in moderation,enhance the visuals. These featuresinclude custom animations, graphics,and photographs. The presentationsoftware comes with a variety of clip

art options but you may also insertgraphics or photos from outsidesources. Hyperlinks to Web-basedresources allow you to access theInternet during your presentation as well.

Cornell University’s Department ofApplied Economics and Managementoffers a searchable online database of more than 6,000 digital video clipsthat address such topics as leadership,business, real estate, energy, technol-ogy, and even Hollywood. These“eClips” are available online at www.eclips.cornell.edu.

Remember that adding videos,photos, charts, and other graphicsmay dramatically increase the size of your presentation file. If you aretransporting your presentation toanother computer, you may have toburn a CD or use an appropriatelysized thumb drive. Size is also a con-cern if you plan to upload your pres-entation for online viewing. Largefiles take time to upload and down-load; the connectivity of your audi-ence may make this a difficult orfrustrating task.

Also, proper attention to copyrightis necessary. Always obtain permis-sion to use copyrighted materials.

Don’t use all the bells and whistlesjust because you can! Sound can beespecially irritating. The “typewritereffect” is annoying, to say the least.Little is gained from using the soundof breaking glass or whizzing bullets.When discussing money, it might be

tempting to insert the “ka-ching” of a cash register; please don’t!

Custom animations can be useful(dim content bullets as you progressthrough the presentation, for exam-ple). Again, don’t overdose with thesetechniques just because you can. Swi -veling and spinning text has little edu-cational value. And the best use ofsound is not to use it at all!

Other ConsiderationsInvesting in a wireless remote con-trol for your computer is worth con-sideration. By using a USB connec-tion, you won’t be tethered to thepodium. Remote devices usuallyhave a laser pointer and mouselikefunctionality to advance slides, goback, or blank the screen. If aremote is not an option, place themouse as far from the computer aspossible so you can click withoutstanding behind the computer.

People like handouts. They can beprinted from your slides in a varietyof layouts. In addition to printing theentire slide (useful if you are going touse transparencies and the overheadin lieu of a data projector), you canalso print six slides per page (athumb nail approach) or three slidesper page. The latter layout provideslines for handwritten notes. Youmight print out the slides for yourpresentation and then add notes toyourself to guide you throughout.

While some question the effective-ness of presentation software, it iscertainly here to stay. Our best adviceis to focus on content rather than onthe software itself.

Robert J. Safransky, Ph.D., is adjunctprofessor of school law and Americangovernment at the Fischler School ofEducation and Human Resources, NovaSoutheastern University. Email:[email protected]

Marsha L. Burmeister, Ed.D., is directorof instructional technology and programprofessor in the Fischler School ofEducation and Human Resources, NovaSoutheastern University. Email:[email protected]

PRESENTATION CHECKLIST• Do you have an appropriate master slide, color scheme, and font size?• Did you follow the six-by-six rule?• Did you use custom animation, sound, and transitions judiciously (or

not at all)?• Do you have at least one appropriate visual per slide?• Do you have a concluding slide?• Have you checked the venue for your presentation to ensure that the

audience can see the slides?• Have you rehearsed your presentation to check the equipment?• Are you familiar with the content so you can speak about it rather than

read it?• Have you proofread your slides carefully?• Have you developed an appropriate handout?

www.asbointl.org

technology

Keeping Students and Staff Safe from Technology Abuse

By Robert Ruder

Recently, while changing into their bathingsuits for physical education class, female stu-dents at a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, highschool saw a camera phone being held in a

ceiling vent. They reported the incident, and furtherinvestigation by the school administration revealed thata male student had crawled into the building’s ductworkfrom a nearby room. Additional sleuthing by school offi-cials determined that no photographs were taken orimages transmitted.

The male student avoided criminal charges but facedschool district disciplinary proceedings for entering anunauthorized area of the school with a camera phone inhand.

In addition to invading a student’s privacy in a lockerroom or bathroom, students can use camera phones tocheat on tests. Students can photograph a test and sendit to fellow students so they know what to study. Withthe number of students who own cellular phonesincreasing at a dazzling rate, designing a school dis-

Not all chocolate milk tastes the same. Especially if over time, tight budgets have impacted the quality of your school’s milk. There can be a big difference between the chocolate milk sold in stores and what many students are drinking in schools today.

Research shows that the richer the taste, the richer a school’s food service program.Investing in yummier milk means higher sales, less waste – and fewer kids drinking sugary sodas and fruit drinks. Plus, drinking flavored milk increases kids’ intake of vital nutrients without increasing added sugars or total fat.

For more healthy information about students and flavored milk, visit milkdelivers.org today.

Now taste for yourself. Sample what your school district is buying, compare it to the chocolate milk on store shelves. Then put your money where your chocolate milk mustache is.

Talk to your local milk processor about better-tasting flavored milk for your school.

Not all chocolate milk is created equal.

© 2009 America’s Milk Processorsgot milk?® is a registered trademark of the California Milk Processor Board

trict–wide multilevel firewall to address electronic intru-sions is a prudent course of action.

Creating a District PolicyA first step in developing a district policy is to becomefamiliar with other districts’ policies. Policies vary acrossthe country: some school districts ban cell phone use;others limit their use to before and after school, at lunch,and between classes; and others prohibit students fromusing the camera function. Find out what other districtsare doing, how their policies are working, and how thecommunity feels.

Using in-house personnel and guidelines provided bythe district’s legal counsel, the policy should be crafted toconsider the district’s needs. The policy should addresspolicy violations and the consequences. As with all poli-cies, the adoption of guidelines for technology use in theschool district’s buildings, on grounds, and in vehicles(including school buses) by all district employees andstudents should follow established protocol before theybecome policy.

After becoming official, the district’s varied popula-tions should be informed of the policy. To ensure athorough understanding, I offer school officials the following suggestions:• Present the policy to parents and community mem-

bers at informational gatherings at each of thedistrict’s schools.

• Share the policy in district and school newslettersand on the district’s Website.

• Include the policy in staff and student handbooks,• Conduct orientation seminars for all district staff

members and provide individual training for newemployees.

• Introduce the policy at orientation assemblies for stu-dents and back-to-school nights for parents.

Going One Step FurtherTo add another layer of security, the director of buildingsand grounds and building maintenance personnel shouldsurvey all buildings within the school district to ensurethat all noninstructional areas are secured and accessibleby key only. In addition, spaces adjacent to bathroomsand locker rooms should be locked and inaccessible tounauthorized personnel. Storage areas, faculty lounges,and conference rooms should be limited to use byauthorized school personnel. Catwalks and ventilationducts that are over or adjacent to these areas should alsobe inspected to eliminate unauthorized access.

As new construction or remodeling initiatives arebeing contemplated, the accessibility of ventilation ductsby unauthorized personnel should be considered.Forward-thinking contractors working in concert withschool personnel can devise methods to limit unautho-rized access to air-conditioning and heating ducts.

Advancing Technology in the SchoolsAs school personnel, we must be cognizant of the needto protect the privacy and safety of others within theschool environment. This level of protection extendsfrom those who risk physical harm by choosing to ven-ture into the dangerous labyrinth of a school’s ductworkto those who choose to photograph coworkers and postthe images online to those who use school district tech-nology for private use or gain.

As the use and dependency on technology increase, thepractice of updating technology use policies every fewyears is no longer a viable model. School districts mayfind it necessary to revise policies related to technologyyearly—or even more frequently. Conducting due dili-gence in this regard will help a district remain currentwith trends and practices while safeguarding the safetyof its students and staff.

Robert Ruder is a retired school administrator in Lancaster,Pennsylvania. Email: [email protected]



technology

Energy efficiency makes fiscal and environmentalsense, and so does energy savings performancecontracting.

Because an energy savings performance contract cancreate a self-funding package of products and servicesthat reduce energy and operating costs, over time,school districts’ sometimes-large initial investment inemerging technologies saves money in as few as threeor four years.

Energy savings performance contracting creates sus-tainable schools that improve student and teacherhealth, increase attendance, and decrease energy andoperating costs.

How Performance Contracting WorksAn energy savings performance contract allows schoolofficials to undertake energy-related projects for theirfacilities without up-front capital costs. The school dis-trict partners with an energy services company (ESCO),which conducts an investment-grade audit and identifies

facility improvements that could save energy. At thistime, school personnel can identify green technologies tobe incorporated into the plan.

The ESCO designs the improvement project and, aspart of the performance contract, guarantees that thesavings identified will meet or exceed project costs. Aspart of the performance-contracting process, selectedtechnologies will not exceed the maximum costs identi-fied in the contract.

The length of time over which the project can befinanced—which is determined by state statutes—candrive decisions about the technologies selected. Moststates stipulate a financing time frame of 10 to 20 years.Shorter financing terms may limit the use of some tech-nologies. For example, solar energy typically has apayback that is longer than 10 years.

The availability and key parameters for grants orrebates that the technologies may qualify for should alsobe considered, as they have the potential to dramaticallyimprove the financial return of a particular technology.

Performance Contracting:Taking School Technology Green

By Dane Taival


Green TechnologiesAdministrators interested in using green technologiesshould communicate their preferences before committingto an ESCO. In selecting a partner, ask for experienceworking with specific technologies. Potential partnersshould be able to clearly identify the payback from theirother projects and provide references.

Then, depending on the district’s needs, renewable-energy technologies selected during the investment-gradeaudit may include some of the following:• Solar/photovoltaic technology is especially useful

in warmer regions of the country. Solar panels convertthe sun’s energy into electricity.

• Ground-source heat pump systems are effectivewhere there is enough land for the well field. Duringthe winter, heat from the ground travels through a heatexchanger into the building. In the summer, heat fromthe building is moved back to the cooler ground.Ground-source heat pumps met the needs of ShelbyCounty Schools in Alabama, where they were installedas part of a performance-contracting process. Withother high-efficiency systems and building improve-ments, the project is generating more than $517,000 ayear in savings.

• Daylighting uses natural light to illuminate buildingspaces to reduce reliance on electric lighting duringdaylight hours.

• Cogeneration (also called combined heat and power)involves simultaneous generation of two energy forms—electricity and heat—from one source. Combined heatand power capture the heat generated by electricity pro-duction. The heat, usually vented away as a nuisance, isredirected for the buildings’ heating needs. Thisresource is most effective in large districts.

• Thermal ice storage improves the reliability andcost-effectiveness of the infrastructure by shifting peakcooling loads to off-peak hours. Ice producedovernight is used to cool the building during the day.Because there is greater reliance on the most efficientpower plants during off-peak hours, off-peak electrici-ty is less expensive. This gives the school substantialcost savings as well as environmental benefits.Administrators at William Mason High School inMason, Ohio, are using a thermal ice storage solutionas part of a $30 million high school expansion project.This and other energy-efficient, environmentallyresponsible infrastructure improvements will save thedistrict more than $55,000 in annual energy costs andwill pay them back in fewer than five years.

• Advanced automation controls, including butnot limited to demand ventilation, control outside airintroduction into the building based on building load.Ventilation is a key part of a high-performance class-room and is the most expensive component in heatingand cooling a building.

Identifying PaybackWhen selecting emerging energy-saving technologies,administrators can work with their ESCO to identify sys-tems that fit their building and locale. Once those sys-tems are identified, school officials should weigh the pro-posed infrastructure investment against a conservativeestimate of future energy costs compared with historicalcosts. To derive the identified payback, it’s important todiligently follow the plan through the entire project.

The administrators’ work doesn’t stop when construc-tion is complete. Monitoring utility costs goes a long waytoward confirming the value of the project. Regular com-munication with the ESCO is also important to ensurethat the ESCO remains involved. Most contracts hold theESCO responsible for results that are below what waspromised.

Sustaining Building PerformanceA building requires ongoing assessment to ensure contin-ued energy efficiency. Emerging technologies can be use-ful at this stage as well. They identify preventive mainte-nance needs to remedy potential problems before theystrike and to gather trend data. The following technolo-gies, which are now readily available, meet the increasingdemands for environmental certification:• Infrared thermography creates “maps” of a build-

ing that show temperature variations. Priority can begiven to areas identified as outside the preferred tem-perature range. Heat loss or inefficient airflow (e.g.,too much or too little conditioned air) is often aninexpensive repair.

• Ultrasonic analysis focuses on heating, ventilating,and air-conditioning hardware. It identifies problemsrelated to component wear, steam trap failures, andfluid and vacuum leaks. Ultrasonic analysis is simpleand inexpensive.

• Vibration transducers detect how smoothly amachine is running. This analysis can help techniciansdiagnose problems, such as misalignment, rotor rub,and mechanical instability, which shorten the usefullife of equipment.Analysis by Greening America’s Schools found that

green schools cost about $3 more per square foot tobuild, but the total financial benefits are 20 times greaterthan initial costs. High-performance schools also use anaverage of 33% less energy than conventionally designedschools. More importantly, Greening America’s Schoolsalso found that 70% of districts with green schoolsincreased student attendance. Those are results that cantake any school to the head of the class.

Dane Taival is the comprehensive solutions leader for Trane, aprovider of air-conditioning systems, services, and solutions(www.trane.com).

With unemployment rising and the public more concernedabout the economy than at any other time in recent memory,the idea of a municipality deciding to spend millions of dol-lars to build or refurbish a school seems an uphill challenge

to say the least.In the best of times, voter approval for school construction projects is diffi-

cult to get; during a recession, that difficult task seems all but impossible. Butwhen a community’s schools are too small for the population or their roofsare leaking and causing mold problems, a construction project cannot waitout the economy.

As any teacher will tell you, the secret to success is proper planning andhomework so you have the right information when it’s time to take your test.The same holds true for a municipality that is looking to build a new schoolor to undertake a significant renovation in this troubled economy. The taskisn’t impossible; it just requires the building committee to do a little extrawork to ensure that the project is correctly specified and budgeted.


school construction

Building Schools in a TightEconomy? Do Your Homework

When the economy

is down, the price of

building actually

goes down.

By Chris Watts

SBA_April09_pages 3/18/09 3:02 PM Page 26

“There’s no question that this is one of the most diffi-cult environments we’ve experienced in some time formunicipal building projects,” says Charles W. Boos,CEO of Kaestle Boos Associates, an architectural firmthat specializes in municipal construction projectsthroughout New England. “With taxpayers concernedabout paying for heat this winter, asking them to agreeto spending tens of millions of dollars on a new schoolor a significant renovation project seems foolhardy atfirst glance. But when a town really needs a new build-ing—whether due to a significant increase in studentpopulation or damaged or outdated facilities—the caseneeds to be made to the taxpayers as to why the schoolis necessary. If the facts are presented in an honest wayand voters see that the project is really needed—and thatthere are financial benefits from undertaking a project ina down economy—then that project has a very goodchance of being approved.”

But often, municipalities do not do their homeworkon projects. One only needs to read the newspaper to seestories of towns encountering problems with their cur-rent building projects: towns with school constructionprojects running significantly over budget, “value engi-neering” to reduce costs on current projects, andpostponing building, causing students to learn incrowded or damaged classrooms. Boos offers these tipsto avoid such problems when looking to build or reno-vate a school:

Do You Really Need It?“Ask yourself if this project is really needed. Can it bedelayed? Chances are the project is really needed if it’s got-ten to the point of having a study committee or a buildingcommission. But you need to really think about it and seeif this is truly your best option,” Boos recommends.

“Have you done the studies to determine if buildingnew is really the best option for state reimbursement oris a renovation-as-new a better choice? Does your studyshow that you’re suffering from long-term populationgrowth or is this just a temporary spike in enrollment?Taxpayers won’t support a project that is seen as a lux-ury or something that could be delayed. But if theproject is really the best option for the town, you need tohave the facts in place to prove to the taxpayers it is.”

Do the Groundwork“Every state has its own requirement as to how detailedand involved an advance study needs to be in order forthe project to qualify for state funding. The advice Iwould give is the more you do up front, the less chanceyou’ll have a surprise at the end. That is why doing thebare minimum probably isn’t the smartest way to go,”says Boos.

“Whenever I see a school system that has to send aproject back out to referendum due to cost overruns or

has to ‘value engineer’ a project to reduce costs as theschool is being built, that just tells me that corners werecut in the study stage. You’ll hear excuses like ‘No onecan predict the commodity market’ or ‘Inflation is justout of control,’ but they are just excuses. Most of thetime, it’s just a case of the people behind the project notbeing honest with themselves about the scope of theproject or the costs of materials.”

Do your research and behonest with yourself andthe taxpayers.

States treat the studies differently. In Connecticut, forexample, the law requires a school system to complete abasic study of needs and specs of the new school. But inMassachusetts, the law requires a town’s study to carrythrough to building schematics before sending the planto referendum. The cost difference can be more than$400,000, but Boos says a town will have a better graspof the real costs of the project with the complete study.

Towns in Connecticut will eventually compile all thesame data that a town in Massachusetts would, buttowns in Massachusetts are in a much better position tounderstand all the costs associated with a project.

According to Boos: “One area where a study is vitalis projecting the real costs of the building materials. Inthe past few years, we had a huge increase in the costsof materials like copper pipe and electrical wire due tothe surge in copper prices. And even gypsum boardwent way up after Katrina hit the United States. I’veseen some towns struggling with those factors, but Iknow that a few of those towns chose to ignore thesigns and didn’t properly budget their project with theright contingencies for the rise in prices. They hedgedtheir bets that the price of the materials would go downand they didn’t.”

Be Honest, Expect Opposition“Municipal projects always face the scrutiny of the pub-lic, and every town has its own taxpayers associationthat always sides with the ‘don’t raise our taxes’ vote,”says Boos. “So don’t expect your project to be loved byeveryone in the town.”

“You need to focus on educating those parts of theelectorate who are willing to learn about the project andsee why it is truly needed. Show that you have accountedfor cost and have an answer for why each part of theproject is important. If your plan calls for a gymnasium,you need to know why it is needed. If your project leavesout some features, explain why they were omitted. Mostpeople will be receptive to learning the reasoning behindthe project. And if you’re honest about the project,



you’ll be able to show the voters that your project wasthoroughly vetted and is fiscally responsible.”

An example of this is a school construction projectthat Kaestle Boos Associates is involved with inGriswold, Connecticut. The town’s population hasrecently grown significantly and has stressed the town’sexisting school facilities.

Franklin Everett, chairman of the GriswoldConnecticut School Building Committee, recalls: “I wentinto this project not believing that we needed the extraspace. But once we did the space needs study, we foundout that our town’s housing growth was phenomenal andwe decided to review the options. After some researchand studies, it was determined that it made the mostsense to build an addition onto the middle school andrenovate-as-new our elementary school. We made anhonest effort to educate our voters during the referendumcampaign and because of that it passed on its first vote.”

Think of EverythingThe better you lay out exactly what you need at thebeginning, the better control you will have on the realcosts of the project. For example, if your town wants tobuild a school using green technologies, such as solar-powered electricity or geothermal heating and cooling,it’s better to know at the start rather than to have todelay the project later when the engineering must change.

“When we started our project, the idea of incorporat-ing green technologies was appealing, but it was hard tojustify the higher up-front costs because the payoffperiod was so long. But with the recent spike in oil coststhat type of thinking has changed,” says Everett.

“Now the payoff for green technology is significantlyshorter, and taxpayers are more open to paying a higherup-front cost, knowing that they will save money downthe road. However, because we didn’t anticipate the highcost of oil, it forced us to go back and reevaluate ourplans, and we decided we had to explore the costs of ad -ding geothermal instead of a traditional HVAC [heating,

ventilating, and air-conditioning] system. I would sug-gest that any school system looking to build nowthoroughly investigate green options as the market hasreally changed, making them a more viable choice.”

Buy Low, Sell HighSome of the most successful businesspeople havebecome successful because they acted contrary to themarket. They bought stocks when no one else wantedto buy. The same can hold true for your school system.When the economy is down, the price of building actu-ally goes down.

“Since early 2008, the cost of raw materials hasdeclined significantly and the cost of fuel has alsorecently come down. All this means a municipality cannow build or renovate a school for less money than itwould have cost last year,” says Boos. “So my advice isthat towns that are willing to stomach the challenge ofgetting a project approved will get a better deal for theirtaxpayers. While it’s easier for taxpayers to approve aproject when the economy is soaring, it’s a better dealfor them overall when the market is down like now. It’s areal catch-22. Most towns will be afraid to commit todoing project in a down economy, but they’ll never getbetter prices than now.”

One example of a “benefit” from the hard economictimes can be seen in the Griswold project. The school sys-tem recently received news from its construction companythat the total cost of its project will be reduced by some$1.8 million—more than a 6% savings—because of rawmaterial cost declines and the simple fact that contractorsare willing to cut their profit margins to get business.

When you look at Boos’s advice, you can sum it all upby saying: do your research and be honest with yourselfand the taxpayers.

“When you set the project budget, make sure youhave appropriate design and construction contingenciesand that your building committee puts in the time toensure that all the details of the project are examined,”he advises.

“This isn’t to say that you still won’t have some degreeof scope creep; every project suffers from that. But ifyou’re honest with yourself and are open to hearing hon-est advice from your architect and builder, you’ll have abetter grip on the project and know if it will be able tostand on its own. Because if it gets to the point whereyou’re dealing with a school construction project with aflawed preconceived budget, the truth is it’s often betterto walk away and start again than to subject yourself tothe pain of constantly fixing a critically flawed project.”

Chris Watts is a freelance writer in Windsor, Connecticut, andis the former bureau chief for Metro Networks in Hartford andeditor for the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Email:[email protected]



There’s no doubt about it, we live in a global vil-lage. We’ve seen the Internet transform ourworld and change how we do business. Wenow leverage international opportunities to

run businesses more effectively and efficiently.During the past few months, the worldwide financial

crisis has emphasized how truly connected we are; wecan thrive and collapse together. This is tomorrow’s real-ity as well.

Corporate leaders of high-growth initiative employ-ment sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, aero-space, automotive, biotechnology, health care, hospitali-ty, information technology, and homeland security, are

not the only ones who list intercultural communicationand management skills as business requisites. The entre-preneurs who are expected to revive the American econo-my must also be led by cosmopolitan minds capable ofidentifying global needs and operating inter nationally to succeed.

Individuals who are going to work in this environmentmust gain many skills early on, including foreign lan-guages, out-of-the-box thinking, and the ability to work,lead, and motivate people from different cultures. Thisincreased need for cultural competency skills, combinedwith the many corporate training and employeeexchange programs, is prompting students from Asia,

cultural competency

Raising Global Citizens: Focus onCultural CompetencyBy Sirin Koprucu

Europe, South Africa, and South America to travelabroad to countries like the United States, the UnitedKingdom, Germany, France, and Austria for better edu-cation and international experience.

According to the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD), more than60% of students from its member countries that travelabroad are Asian; only 3.5% of students are from NorthAmerica. It’s true that the reputation of good schoolsdetermines the destination countries in the studentmobility world; however, it also means that significantlyfewer North American students are learning about newcultures during their studies.

Need for Cultural CompetencyLet’s look at some other statistics that indicate an in -creased need for cultural competency—statistics relatedto diversity. According to OECD, the United Statesreceives the most immigrants per year—about 1.26 mil-lion in 2006. Britain ranked second with about 340,000,followed by Spain, Canada, and Germany. This influxcontinuously changes the country’s demographic profile.

If current trends continue, one in five people in theUnited States is expected to be of Hispanic origin in2030; in 2050, that statistic is one in four. In 2050,about 10% of the population is expected to be Asian.The United States’ changing demographic profile bringschallenges but also opportunities to remain competitivein the increasingly global marketplace.

How can schools in the United States help studentsdevelop the essential intercultural skills that globalthinking requires? By increasing their own cultural com-petency, schools will set the best example for theirstudents. By connecting with foreign-born students, byhaving the right programs to integrate them intoAmerican education and the workforce, and by fosteringcultural exchanges, schools can expand their students’minds and better prepare them for the global village.

In addition, abilities to manage diversity among thestaff and to develop partnerships with schools fromother countries are other indicators that a school systemvalues diversity and acknowledges the importance ofeffective intercultural interaction for future success.

Successes and ChallengesRockwood School District in Missouri encountered andresponded head-on to demographic changes in its dis-trict. I had the opportunity to sit down with Shirley Broz([email protected]), the executivefinance director of Rockwood School District, to talkabout the school system’s successes and challenges.Q: Could you tell me a little bit about the cul-

tural diversity in your school district?A: About 10% of students and faculty are foreign-born.

Students’ families come from India, Pakistan, China,

Korea, eastern Europe, and Mexico. While a numberof them participate in our English-as-a-second-lan-guage (ESL) programs, many have great English-language skills.

With regard to staff, fewer than 10% of our staffmembers are foreign-born. Those who are, originatefrom eastern Europe and Latin America. We havevery little diversity within our administration andfaculty.

Q: How did cultural diversity in your schooldevelop? Did you identify any major trends?

A: Major trends in the student population are set by thelocal employers: major hospitals and drug researchcompanies. Therefore, the students tend to comefrom highly educated families. Major trends in thediverse staff population are set by the tendency offoreign-born nationals to attract family and friendsto the same geographic area.

Q: How is educating international students dif-ferent from educating American students?

A: Language is certainly the greatest challenge; 45 dif-ferent languages are spoken here. The district offersan extensive ESL program to improve the English-language skills of foreign-born students. In ad dition,we have several programs tailored for gifted stu-dents and for those students with special needs(slow development, hearing, sight or speech impedi-ments, etc.).

Our teachers must have the adequate skills tocommunicate effectively with the families of our for-eign students. All teachers are certified and receivecultural training in their professional developmentprograms. We have a growing number of NationalBoard–certified teachers.

The district also has a parents-as-teachers programin which certified employees visit families with youngchildren to enroll them in an early child educationprogram. This helps non-English-speaking familiesstart assimilating into the American culture and givestheir children a head start.

Q: How would you define cultural competency?A: It’s the ability to both recognize and celebrate the dif-

ferences in others from a racial, nationality,language, religious, or social perspective. These dif-ferences may manifest themselves in beliefs, values,customs, ways of communication, dress, thoughts,and actions. We must integrate that recognition intothe classroom.

Q: How do you enhance the cultural compe-tency of your students?

A: Throughout the students’ K–12 careers, we focus on• Providing culture lessons alongside language lessons,• Offering site trips and guest speakers,• Exploring different worldviews, and• Stressing respect for different cultures.


Specifically in the high school, we teach studentsabout expectations in the business world and offerinternships in local companies.

Q: Do you advertise the cultural competencyof your school?

A: We inform the real estate professionals about ourschool performance primarily through our Website.The school enrollment has tripled in the past 20years. Achievement is at the top of the state (in the10 highest-performing districts) and the nation (25National Merit scholarship semifinalists and 7 schol-arship recipients; several students last year hadperfect ACT scores).

Q: How do you fund cultural competencyprograms?

A: We have a strong tax base, employ talented adminis-trators, offer a competitive salary and benefitspackage, practice conservative spending, and use titleprograms and grants.

Setting an ExampleSchool leaders who would like to set an example withregard to cultural competency should consider the fol-lowing strategies for success:• Establish a value statement for cultural competency.

For example: “We recognize and celebrate the differ-ences in others from a racial, nationality, language,religious, and social perspective and realize that thesedifferences may manifest themselves in beliefs, values,

customs, ways of communication, dress, thoughts andactions, assumptions, and judgments. We strive tocapitalize on this knowledge to operate our schoolmore effectively and safely and to develop graduateswho are confident with living and working in a highlyglobalized world.”

• Research the diversity and related cultural dilemmasin your school population.

• Understand the drivers of diversity in your area.• Strengthen your school culture by facilitating intercul-

tural interaction through ESL programs, languageprograms in early childhood education, family inte-gration programs, and special-education programstailored for students’ needs, as well as general educa-tional events that celebrate cultural diversity.

• Network among peers, parents, and local employers todevelop better programs and financing for these pro-grams; keep in mind that well-designed, results-orientedprograms have a higher chance of receiving funding.

• Reward good practices of cultural competency.Acknowledging the role of culture in your students’

lives will help you raise confident global citizens whorespect one another in the international arena, who willadvocate for a trusting, peaceful world, and who willchampion their school wherever they go.

Sirin Koprucu is an international business consultant and a cul-tural competency trainer located in Washington, D.C. Email:[email protected]



utism has recently become a more commontopic in discussions about how schools canbest serve special-education populations.

During the 1970s, only 2 to 5 cases per10,000 people were reported as autism (Fombonne 1999).Recent studies have reported the prevalence of autismspectrum disorder (ASD) to be 1 in 152 children (Autismand Developmental Disabilities Monitoring NetworkSurveillance Year 2002 Principal Investigators 2007).

Since educators are increasingly aware of ASD, theyneed more information about how to meet the needs ofthese special students. In accordance with the Individualswith Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), studentswith autism can be eligible to receive special-education

services. Consequently, school business officials havemuch to consider as they work to support teachers andadministrators in the development and implementationof appropriate programs for students with ASD.

Understanding AutismAutism is a brain development disorder that is character-ized by core deficits that have been referred to as the“triad of symptoms”: (1) qualitative impairment in socialinteraction skills, (2) qualitative impairment in communi-cation, and (3) ritualistic, repetitive behaviors (Bruey2004). It is one of five pervasive developmental disordersassociated with abnormal social and communicationbehaviors and highly repetitive behavior. The others are

Meeting the Needs of Students withAutism Spectrum Disorder

By Timothy E. Morse

special education

A


Asperger’s syndrome, Rett’s syndrome, childhood disinte-grative disorder, and pervasive developmental disordernot otherwise specified.

Autism is defined as a spectrum disorder since individ-uals with autism display different behaviors at differentlevels along the spectrum (Fein and Dunn 2007). Someare considered low functioning if their condition is asso-ciated with mental retardation, limited or no speech, andsignificant maladaptive behaviors. Others are relativelyhigh functioning with fairly mild social and communica-tion problems.

Although autism is characterized by its specific coredeficits, individuals with ASD are noteworthy for theiroverall uneven patterns of development. One studentmay be capable of completing complex mathematicalcalculations but may be unable to dress himself. Con -sequently, the individualized education programs (IEPs)for students with this disorder must address both theiracademic needs (i.e., performance in academic areassuch as math or reading) and functional needs (i.e., dailylife activities such as using the toilet and dressing).

Recommendations for PracticeThe following suggestions for creating appropriate dis-trictwide and individual programs for students with ASDare based on relevant literature and are offered with theunderstanding that when planning for the needs of stu-

dents with ASD, one is simultaneously planning for theneeds of many other students with disabilities.

1. Employ personnel who are capable of conducting acomprehensive, individualized evaluation of students sus-pected of having ASD. Diagnosing autism is a complex,challenging endeavor that entails a detailed examinationof a student’s developmental history and current behav-iors. Issues that should be addressed include• Identifying a psychologist who is well-versed in ASD

to lead all diagnostic efforts,• Allowing for the time necessary to conduct the evalu-

ation activities and write reports (10–20 hours percase), and

• Ensuring that the data collected lead to the develop-ment of an appropriate IEP, as this is the foundationon which all appropriate educational programmingefforts are based.Some districts may have to subcontract with appro-

priately trained personnel rather than employ them fulltime. The multidisciplinary teams that conduct evalua-tions could include students’ primary caregivers, aspeech and language pathologist, an occupational therapist, and both a general education teacher and a special-education teacher. Assessment instrumentswould include measures that focus on autism, as wellas instruments that identify a student’s academic andfunctional needs.

2. Follow the IDEA’s procedural requirements whendeveloping an IEP for a student with ASD. The NationalResearch Council (2001) reported that no one interven-tion has proved effective for all students with ASD.Therefore, school personnel should follow the proce-dural requirements put forth in the IDEA to develop anIEP that provides a free appropriate public education inthe least restrictive environment for each student withASD. This includes using data as a foundation for theIEP and creating an IEP team that involves parents.

3. Address students’ academic and functional needs,paying particular attention to the core deficits of autism.By definition, students with autism display deficits insocial interaction and communication skills. Therefore,IEPs for students with ASD should include long-termgoals and short-term instructional objectives and bench-marks related to these deficit areas, as well as the provi-sion of relevant services by qualified personnel, such asspeech and language pathologists who are knowledge-able in ASD.

4. Create a long-term plan for developing a school sys-tem’s internal capacity to provide an appropriate educa-tion for students with ASD. As was the case when theIDEA category of specific learning disabilities was estab-lished, the creation of autism as an IDEA category of dis-ability in 1990 resulted in a tremendous increase in thenumber of school-age children who have been identifiedas eligible to receive special-education services. There isno reason to believe that this trend will not continue.

Districts are best served by developing their internalcapacity for meeting the needs of students with this dis-order. Plans for developing this capacity should, at aminimum, include the following components:• Large-scale initial training to provide as many key

personnel as possible (e.g., administrators, teachers,instructional assistants, parents, related serviceproviders) with basic information about ASD andeffective interventions.

• Specialized tools and curricula to support studentswith ASD.

• A multiyear plan of sustained professional develop-ment that addresses the range of issues relevant tostudents with ASD, such as classic autism versusAsperger’s syndrome, visual supports, sensory inte-gration, and effective means of home-schoolcollaboration. Training should be conducted byqualified personnel, some of whom the district willneed to subcontract with and others who are cur-rently district personnel with relevant expertise.

• Inclusion of parents as informed team members. Insome instances, school personnel and parents are atodds at the outset of the IEP development processsimply because both groups come to the table withdifferent information about how to design and

implement an appropriate program for a studentwith ASD. Including parents in all school-sponsoredprofessional development activities will, at the veryleast, establish common ground from which pro-gram planning can evolve.5. Collect and analyze data, and adjust programs

accordingly. As students with ASD acquire targeted skillsand the programs that service them evolve, educatorsmust adjust the services they provide. In all instances,data-based decision making must guide everyone’s efforts.

ConclusionThe increasing number of students diagnosed with ASDhas created a heightened awareness about this disorderamong school personnel and the need to develop appro-priate instructional programs for them. Accordingly,school business officials and other education leadersshould educate themselves about ASD and the issuesthey must address to meet the needs of these students.

Fortunately, many professionals in the field of devel-opmental disabilities recognize that once you haveplanned for and implemented an appropriate educationprogram for an individual with ASD, you most likelyhave planned for the needs of many other IDEA-eligiblestudents who are not labeled autistic.

ReferencesAutism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring NetworkSurveillance Year 2002 Principal Investigators. 2007. Prevalenceof autism spectrum disorders: Autism and DevelopmentalDisabilities Monitoring Network, 14 sites, United States, 2002.Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 56 (SS-1): 12–28.

Bruey, C. T. 2004. Demystifying autism spectrum disorders: Aguide to diagnosis for parents and professionals. Bethesda, Md.:Woodbine House.

Fein, D., and M. A. Dunn. 2007. Autism in your classroom: Ageneral educator’s guide to students with autism spectrum disor-ders. Bethesda, Md.: Woodbine House.

Fombonne, E. 1999. Epidemiological findings on autism andrelated developmental disorders. Paper presented at the firstworkshop of the Committee on Educational Interventions forChildren with Autism, National Research Council, December13–14, 1999.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 etseq. (2004).

National Research Council. 2001. Educating children withautism. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309072697/html/R1.html.

Timothy E. Morse is an associate professor in the Departmentof Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at theUniversity of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast (USMGC) wherehe teaches undergraduate special-education teacher prepara-tion courses. He also led efforts to establish the USMGCAutism Assessment Clinic that provides autism consultationservices to public schools along the Gulf Coast. Email: [email protected]



Social Networking Sites andthe Free Speech Rights ofSchool EmployeesBy Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D.

legaland legislative issues

The more proactive

and thoughtful board

policies are, the more

likely they are to

survive judicial

challenges.

s Internet technology—including theuse of social networking sites, mostnotably MySpace and Facebook—becomes more common in

schools, novel legal questions involving personalcommunications and free speech that could noteven have been imagined barely a decade ago,let alone when ASBO International was found-ed a century ago, present challenges for schoolbusiness officials and other education leaders.

In the midst of growing controversy overthe limits of student expression on the Inter -net, a federal trial court in Pennsylvania ad -dressed the extent to which education officialscan restrict the ability of student teachers and,by extension, teachers and other school em -ployees to exercise their rights to free speechon Internet social networking sites.

In Snyder v. Millersville University (2008),the court upheld the authority of universityofficials who, acting in response to requestsfrom educators in a local school district, ter-minated the assignment of a student teacher.Officials agreed to end the plaintiff’s place-ment because, in addition to concerns abouther subject-area knowledge, she violated uni-versity directives that she received during herstudent teacher orientation by posting aninappropriate remark about her cooperatingteacher on her personal MySpace page thatwas accessed by her students.

Based on the legal issues that Snyder pres-ents for school business officials and othereducation leaders with regard to the freespeech rights of employees, however broadlythis term is understood, this column is divid-ed into two substantive sections.

The first reviews the court’s analysis insome detail since it can provide school busi-ness officials and other education leaderswith insights into preparing policies for usein their own districts. The second section

offers suggestions that school business offi-cials and other educational leaders mightwish to incorporate into their policies withregard to employee use of Internet social net-working sites and their effect on districtoperations. The column rounds out with abrief conclusion.

Snyder v. Millersville UniversityThe facts in Snyder are straightforward.Litigation ensued when the plaintiff filed suit after university officials, acting on therequest of local education officials who didnot want her to return to the high schoolwhere she was placed, terminated her stu-dent-teaching assignment in the EnglishDepartment due to her poor performance.

During her placement, the student tea -cher’s university-based supervisor rated herprofessionalism as good or reasonable inmost areas, grading her overall performanceas satisfactory. Still, the supervisor advisedthe plaintiff to improve her communicationskills and to learn to establish boundaries in her relationships with students.

As the situation evolved, the plaintiff’scooperating teacher also indicated that sheneeded to act more professionally with stu-dents and not, for example, discuss privatematters in class, such as how meeting her ex-husband while at dinner with her boy -friend “ruined” her Valentine’s Day.

More importantly, the cooperating teachercriticized the plaintiff’s professional compe-tence as an English teacher, highlighting herignorance of basic grammar, punctuation,usage, and spelling along with her poor class -room management skills. The cooperatingteacher evaluated the student teacher’s over-all performance as being in need of “signifi -cant remediation.”

A

In response to the criticisms, theplaintiff ignored warnings that sheand the other student teachersreceived during orientation not torefer to their students or teachers ontheir personal Web pages. After learn-ing from a colleague that the plain-tiff’s students were visiting the studentteacher’s MySpace page, the cooperat-ing teacher urged her to discontinuepostings about the school. The plain-tiff had also posted a picture of her-self wearing a pirate hat, holding acup that read “drunken pirate.”

After another teacher viewed thephotograph along with the plaintiff’sposting of a critical remark that wasapparently about her cooperatingteacher, the latter voiced her concernsto her supervisor, who, in turn, con-tacted the district superintendent.

Ultimately, the superintendent in -formed the student teacher that sheshould not return to her placement.Further, disturbed by the plaintiff’serrors in grammar and usage, the su -perintendent wrote a letter stating thathe did not think that she should havebeen able to pass student teaching.

A final review of the student tea -cher’s performance by the university-based supervisor and cooperatingteacher revealed that while they weredispleased with the posting of thephotograph, they ranked her “profes-sionalism” as unsatisfactory primari-ly due to the content of the postingabout the cooperating teacher. Thereviewers rated the student teacher at various grades of acceptable inother areas. The student teacher was not allowed to return to theschool to complete her assignment.

On returning to the university cam-pus, university officials informed theplaintiff that since she did not com-plete student teaching, she could notreceive a Bachelor of Science in Edu -cation nor qualify for a recommenda-tion for teacher certification. How -ever, officials were able to work withthe courses that she had completedand allowed her to graduate with aBachelor of Arts in English.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, theplaintiff initially filed suit allegingthat university officials violated herrights to due process and freedom ofspeech. After the federal trial courtdismissed the due process claims, itallowed the former student teacher’sFirst Amendment free speech claim toproceed to trial.

Judicial RationaleBefore rendering its conclusions of lawin the nonjury trial, the court beganwith a discussion of the plaintiff’s sta-tus. The court reasoned that the plain-tiff was “an apprentice more akin to apublic employee/teacher than a stu-dent” (Snyder 2008, p. 9) during hertime in the district since her duties,which included teaching, writing les-son plans, and grading papers, aroseentirely from her full-time assignmentas a student teacher. Accordingly, thecourt was satisfied that the plaintiffcould have been disciplined in thesame manner as a public employee.

As a prelude to reviewing her sub-stantive charges, the court rejectedthe plaintiff’s request to enjoin offi-cials from taking the actions that theyhad already completed because shewas unlikely to prevail on the meritsof her case.

Turning to the first two of the for-mer student teacher’s overlappingclaims, the court rejected her requestthat she be granted a BSE. The courtrefused to order university officials toaward the plaintiff a BSE becauseinsofar as she failed to complete stu-dent teaching, Pennsylvania law for-bade university officials from granti-ng her the degree she sought.

Similarly, the court found thatsince the plaintiff failed to completeher student-teaching assignment, itwould not order university officials toprovide her with a recommendationthat was a prerequisite for obtainingteacher certification. The court main-tained that granting such a requestwould have been a disservice to thepublic interest based on the plaintiff’spoor performance as a studentteacher.

As to the third and most significantissue in the case, the one that goes tothe heart of this column, the courtexamined the former student teacher’sallegation that university officials vio-lated her First Amendment right tofree speech. The court began its ra -tionale by acknowledging that sincedifferent judicial standards apply de -pending on whether the plaintiff wastreated as a student or as a public

LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUES


employee, it was crucial to apply theappropriate test.

Relying on precedent from theSupreme Court and the Third Circuit,the court reiterated that as long aspublic employees speak out on mat-ters of public concern, education offi-cials could limit their speech only tothe extent necessary to enhance effi-cient and effective school operations.

Conversely, again relying on Su -preme Court precedent, the court rec-ognized that due to concerns aboutacademic freedom, these same offi-cials could not limit student speechabsent a reasonable and specific fore-cast that the challenged speech wouldmaterially or substantially disrupt orinterfere with school operations or the rights of other students.

In explaining how these differentstandards applied, the court pointedout that if the plaintiff were treatedas an employee, she would have bornethe burden of proving that her speechwas on a matter of public concern, a dubious proposition under the cir-cumstances, thereby affording herspeech a lower level of protectionthan if she were considered to be astudent. The court determined that if it viewed the plaintiff as a student,rather than as an employee, universi-ty officials would have had to demon-strate that they had a constitutionallyvalid basis for limiting her speech.

When applying the judicial stan-dards, the court ruled that consistentwith a case from Massachusettswhere in the First Circuit affirmed thedismissal of a student teacher’s place-ment due to inappropriate remarksthat he made to students about hispersonal beliefs (Hennessy v. City ofMelrose 1999), albeit in a school set-

ting rather than on a social network-ing site, the plaintiff’s position wasmore like that of a public employeethan a student. The court also citedother similar cases, involving studentswhose participation in practicumplacements in a prison (Andersen v.McCotter 1996), in a psychiatric hos-pital (Watts v. Florida Int’l Univ.2007), and as a special-education stu-

dent teacher in a high school (Millerv. Houston County Bd. of Educ.2008) were terminated because theirspeech did not involve matters ofpublic concern.

Rounding out its opinion, the courtrejected the plaintiff’s claim that be -cause the consequences of her speechhad academic ramifications, it wasprotected since she was, in a signifi-cant way, a student while serving inthe district. In rejecting this conten -tion, the court pointed to the fact thaton her MySpace page the plaintiffwent so far as to describe herself as“the ‘official teacher’ of [her] stu-dents” (Snyder 2008, p. 13).

In concluding that since the plain-tiff’s posting on MySpace did notinvolve a matter of public concernand her speech was not entitled toFirst Amendment protection, thecourt denied her request for relief inthe form of an injunction preventinguniversity officials from acting asthey did.

RecommendationsSnyder highlights the need for schoolbusiness officials and other educationleaders to develop up-to-date com-prehensive computer use policies forall staff, whether regular employees,student teachers, or others. Mostimportantly, these policies must

address the appropriate limits ofemployee speech on the Internetwhen Web sites can be accessed bystudents or the public.

As an initial matter, policies oflocal school boards should specifythat since district-owned and -operat-ed systems are board property, theiruse can be restricted to legitimateacademic and administrative purpos-es, thereby limiting access to socialnetworking sites, such as MySpaceand Facebook. This means that sincesystems are board property, personalcomments and information such asphotographs that are posted on socialnetworking sites that are accessibleon district-operated Internet systemsmay not be entitled to the free speechrights and expectations of privacythat they might enjoy on private sites.

The upshot is that unless schoolemployees limit their comments tomatters of public concern, they canbe disciplined for speech that is criti-cal of other staff or internal boardpolicies or for inappropriate use inaccessing social networking sitessince more than 40 years of precedentfrom the Supreme Court emphasizesthat such speech by employees isunprotected by the First Amendment.

At the same time, board policiesshould specify that, at least when itcomes to district-owned and -operat-ed systems, controversies over theiruse aside (McVey 2009), educationofficials have the right to install fire-walls or filtering software that blocksaccess to social networking sites, suchas MySpace, in a manner consistentwith those that limit access to otherobjectionable sites, such as pornogra-phy, in schools. Of course, the use offirewalls would not prevent employ-ees from posting information on sitesthat are not accessible on district-owned and -operated systems, there-by leaving open a gray area over theextent to which individuals can bedisciplined for nonworkplace speech.

While future litigation willundoubtedly set the parameters foremployee speech on the Internet on



Policies should identify sanctions,ranging from loss of access tosystems to dismissal for those whoengage in more serious offenses.

non-district-owned Web sites, themore proactive and thoughtful boardpolicies are, the more likely they areto survive judicial challenges.

Board policies should also, as apractical matter, remind users thatonce they have posted on the Inter -net, their words take on lives of theirown, seeming to exist independentlyin cyberspace, all but ensuring thatthey cannot be retrieved. Policiesshould thus advise employee users tobe careful about the content of theirpostings.

Consistent with the outcome inSnyder, local education officials, act-ing in conjunction with universityfaculty, should remind student teach-ers (as well as interns) in particularthat due to the professional dutiesthat they are assuming in schools,such as preparing lesson plans, teach-ing classes, grading papers, andattending faculty meetings, they areto be treated as employees ratherthan students. In other words, sincestudent teachers are likely to be treat-ed as employees rather than students,they, too, should avoid inappropriatepostings or criticisms of staff mem-bers and board policies on social net-working Web sites.

Regardless of their status as regularor student teachers, board policiesshould require all teachers, and otherstaff, to sign forms indicating thatthey agree to abide by the terms ofacceptable use policies when workingon district-operated Internet systems.Such provisions should stipulate thatindividuals who refuse to sign formssignifying their willingness to complywith acceptable use policies, or fail tocomply with their provisions, can bedisciplined for inappropriate use offacilities. Policies should identify pos-sible sanctions, ranging from loss ofaccess to systems to dismissal for fac-ulty and staff who engage in moreserious offenses, such as makinginappropriate postings on social net-working sites.

As part of the process of keepingemployees abreast of updates in

board policies, education leadersshould hold orientations to explainthese provisions in more detail fornew employees and student teachersspecifically since college studentsseem to rely so heavily on social net-working sites. Additionally, officialsmay wish to consider providingupdates on policy developments inprofessional development sessionsbecause insofar as the growth of tech-nology continues to outpace the abili-ty of the law to keep up with emerg-ing developments, keeping everyoneup-to-date can proactively avoidchallenges as time passes.

Finally, education leaders shouldensure that their personnel and com-puter use policies are updated regu-larly, typically annually. Updatingpolicies regularly can help ensure thatthey are consistent with changes inboth the law and technology, particu-larly in advising employees to avoidsocial networking sites on district-owned and -operated systems.

ConclusionIn light of Snyder, school businessofficials and other education leadersshould develop new and innovativepolicies designed to encourageemployees to engage in the responsi-ble use of the Internet. After all, just

as the Internet is constantly expand-ing, education leaders owe it to them-selves and other school employees tokeep pace with legal developments bykeeping abreast of the rapid growthand development of technology so asto be able to devote district resourcesto the most effective use in educatingstudents rather than fending offavoidable litigation.

ReferencesAndersen v. McCotter, 100 F.3d 723 (10thCir. 1996).

Hennessy v. City of Melrose, 194 F.3d 237(1st Cir. 1999).

McVey, M. 2009. To block or not to block:The complicated territory of social net-working. School Business Affairs 75 (1):27–28.

Miller v. Houston County Bd. of Educ.,2008 WL 696874 (M.D. Ala. 2008).

Snyder v. Millersville University, 2008 WL5093140 (E.D. Pa. 2008).

Watts v. Florida Int’l Univ., 495 F.3d 1289(11th Cir. 2007).

Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D., PanzerChair in Education and adjunct professorof law at the University of Dayton inOhio, is chair of ASBO International’sEditorial Advisory Committee and vice-chair of ASBO’s Legal AspectsCommittee. Email:[email protected]




Teacher SalariesEditor Note: The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in theOctober 1937 issue of School Business Affairs. It was written by Willard S. Elsbree,professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.

looking back, looking forward

Since 1933–1934 there has been a definite trend upward in teachers’salaries. Following a marked annual rise in the cost of living, most com-munities have been forced to make adjustments in the wages of civil ser-

vants along with the higher compensation commanded by labor. Some boardsof education have restored teachers’ salaries to their former levels and havereturned to old schedule provisions. Others have abandoned, or are now aban-doning, their former scales entirely, and are attempting to substitute salaryarrangements more in line with the many changes that have taken place in thecharacter of the teaching personnel and in educational policy.

The foundations upon which the majority of the older schedules were builtare decidedly weak. Erected at a time when training requirements of teacherswere markedly lower than those now commonly accepted and drafted as theyfrequently were without any comprehensive study of economic conditions, theyare ill adapted to modern needs. In a few instances they are financially unsoundand are likely to produce a taxpayers’ rebellion if not a bankrupt community.

Perhaps the issue that is of greatest financial concern is the matter of thenumber of annual increments to be awarded. In the older schedules it was com-mon practice to provide eight or ten increments. Under this arrangement manyteachers arrive at the maximum salary by the time they are thirty-four or thirty-five years of age and expect to remain at this vantage point for another thirty orthirty-five years until forced out by retirement. So long as teaching was a peri-patetic profession, communities could count on enough turnover to offset thehigh cost of maintaining the few whose tenure equalled or exceeded the num-ber of increments allotted.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how one views it), teachers noware looking at teaching as a life career rather than as a stop-gap until matrimonyor a stepping-stone to some other profession, with the result that their averagetenure has more than doubled in many sections of the country within the pastdecade. If this trend continues, the proportion of teachers who will achieve thehighest rung of the salary ladder will increase drastically and salary budgets willmount accordingly. . . .

A further weakness in such an arrangement lies in the absence of financialincentive for teachers who survive beyond this brief decade. A thirty-five yearold teacher with no further monetary worlds to conquer is apt to lose some ofher zest and enthusiasm. The time may come when teachers are paid a “singlewage” and when salary increments will no longer be considered necessary forstimulating professional growth. When that day arrives, if ever, American psy-chology will have been radically modified and other equally potent substituteswill have been created for money. . . . The newer schedules for teachers mustunquestionably provide longer spans between the minimum and maximum. It seems probably that eighteen to twenty-five years will be the usual length of time required for a beginning teacher to arrive at the highest point on thesalary schedule.

For a long while after April 22,1990, it seemed that the businessworld was on the cusp of monu-mental change. That date marked

the 20th anniversary of the original EarthDay, which sparked a renewed emphasis onthe importance of treating the planet with ahigher degree of responsibility. Peoplebecame accustomed to looking for thosethree little arrows that symbolized recycledmaterials and learned new terms such as“high-density polyethelene.”

Since 1970, the impetus for businesses tomake decisions that are environmentallysensitive has risen to a level where thosedecisions are not simply socially responsi-ble, but good business decisions. Now, fac-tor in that school districts have emphasizedthe importance of environmental steward-ship in their classrooms, and you get an ideaof how important it is for companies whowork within the education community toanswer to a higher standard when it comesto “being green.”

For schools, it comes down to “walkingthe walk,” according to Bill Sloan, director ofpurchasing and transportation for the Rock -wood School District in Missouri. “Ourschool district places a lot of emphasis in ourscience curriculum about conserving the envi-ronment, recycling, and global warming,” hesays. “We need to support the curriculum anddo more than talk by putting our words intoaction, which is why we ask vendors howthey support the green movement.”

What do schools look for when it comesto such stewardship? “Vendors that havesustainable practices in place,” says JohnMcHugh, assistant director of purchasing atthe University of Virginia, “such as develop-ing sustainable policies and practices,

designing or using products that are envi-ronmentally safe, or developing productsthat qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy& Environmental Design) certification.Vendors promote their ‘sustainability’ asbeing LEED certified, being Greenguardcertified, which is verification of low chemi-cal emission for indoor products, and usingproducts that are FSC (Forest StewardshipCouncil) certified.”

When it comes to purchasing decisions ofa school district, a lot of people are watch-ing, and environmental issues often toptheir list of concerns, according to RonHull, purchasing coordinator for theFairfax County School District in Virginia.“I think there is a high level of interest andvisibility from the community, from faculty,and from students,” he says.

Obviously, once standards are put in place,school districts no longer are looking at justa desire to purchase eco-friendly productsand services, but a mandate to do so. At thatpoint, those companies that have an existingreputation as environmentally friendlyand/or environmental-related certificationswill have a big leg up when it comes to land-ing new business from school districts.

Those enterprising companies that take ita step further—and position themselves aspartners to help school districts become moregreen—will be in an even stronger position.“Most government agencies sincerely desireto take positive action in regard to green ini-tiatives, but most are struggling with quanti-fying goals, procedures, and results,” Hullsays. “ We are probably doing good things,but not doing a good job of defining goalsand then measuring against those goals.”

Maybe you can be the company thatshows them the way.

How “Being Green” Can HelpKeep You in the Black

Rarely does an RFP

issued by a school

district not include

some questions

about environmental

issues these days.


corporatecorner


Spotlight on Rick Gay:At Home in Public Education

Rick Gay, RSBO, has had a dis-tinguished career spanning avariety of disciplines, from the

United States Armed Forces to fed-eral and state government to corporate

business. “I had an opportunity to gointo public education, and the minute I

walked in, I felt I belonged…and had theability to help kids,” says Rick, who has served as the purchas-ing manager with the department of fiscal services in the busi-ness services division for Baltimore County Public Schools(BCPS) since 2001.

BCPS is Maryland’s third largest school system and the 25thlargest in the United States, serving more than 104,000 stu-dents with an annual budget of $1.5 billion. Among its vari-ous academic honors, the district has been recognized byEducation Week for having the fourth highest graduation rateamong the nation’s largest school districts.

BCPS is guided by a set of standards outlined in its Blueprintfor Progress. These standards align all aspects of school systemoperations with student achievement. Even the management ofall business practices is governed by such a standard: “All stu-dents will receive a quality education through the efficient andeffective use of resources and the delivery of business services.”

To accomplish such a high level of performance with con-sistency and focus, it is especially important to have ready

access to information as well as the means to assess thatinformation and how it relates to students. As such, technol-ogy advances have played an important role in BCPS. Rick isgrateful that Superintendent Joe A. Hairston supports tech-nology’s role in the budget process and allows the businessservices department to try new approaches to streamlinetheir practices.

“I’ve got the best purchasing staff in the state,” says Rick,adding that smaller school systems look to them for help,which is gladly provided. BCPS has earned ASBO International’sMeritorious Budget Award (MBA) for the past five years aswell as the Government Officers Finance Association awardand the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement award.

In addition to carrying out his duties at BCPS, Rick finds timeto volunteer his time and expertise in the field. He has servedas president of ASBO-MD&DC and is the current vice chairmanof ASBO International’s Purchasing & Supply ManagementCommittee.

“ASBO brings together school business officials from acrossthe nation,” Rick says. “I realize that no one person has alock on all the best ideas. By attending leadership confer-ences and the Annual Meeting, I can pick the brains of oth-ers. You shouldn’t be afraid to take someone’s idea to see ifit will work in your district,” he advises.

Outside the office, Rick is a devoted family man and looksforward to becoming a grandfather for the first time this month!

• Approximately $555.3 billion was collected in rev-enues for public elementary and secondary educa-tion in the 50 states and the District of Columbia infiscal year 2007 (FY 07). The greatest percentageof revenues came from state and local govern-ments, which together provided $508.3 billion, or91.5% of all revenues; the federal government’s con-tribution was $47.0 billion, or 8.5% of all revenues.

• Current expenditures include expenditures for theday-to-day operation of schools and school dis-tricts (salaries, benefits, supplies, and purchasedservices) for public elementary and secondary edu-cation. They exclude expenditures for construction,equipment, property, debt services, and programsoutside of public elementary and secondary educa-tion such as adult education and community servic-es. Current expenditures totaled $476.8 billion in FY07. Current expenditures per pupil for public ele-mentary and secondary education were $9,683.Adjusting for inflation, current expenditures perpupil have grown 29.0% since FY 95 ($7,504) and55.7% since FY 85 ($6,219).

• In FY 07, $290.7 billion was spent on instruction. Thisincludes spending on salaries and benefits for teach-ers and teacher aides, classroom supplies and servic-es, and extracurricular and cocurricular activities.

• Looking at per pupil current expenditures for publicelementary and secondary education in FY 07,instruction expenditures ranged from $3,605 inUtah to $10,740 in New York.

• Instruction accounted for 61% of all current expen-ditures for public elementary and secondary educa-tion in FY 07. Total support services accounted for35%, food services accounted for 3.8%, and enter-prise operations made up 0.2% of total currentexpenditures.

• When expenditures for instruction are combinedwith instruction-related services such as libraries,media centers, and instructional staff development,they totaled $313.9 billion, or $6,373 per student inFY 07. This included $210.7 billion for salaries and$68.4 billion in employee benefits. Instruction andinstruction-related expenditures made up 66% of allcurrent expenditures in FY 07.

Education Statistics for Fiscal Year 2007From the National Center for Education Statistics

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