Insights & ideas for K-12 education leaders.
Time & Attendance
So you’ve pretty much written off most popular myths: the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, we never really landed on the moon (conspiracy theorists, cover your ears)! But when it comes to time and attendance and workforce management systems, some myths are surprisingly hard to shake off. Here are some of the common myths school districts […]
Special Education
It’s the end of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting, and stakeholders have agreed upon related services prescribed to your student. Before the meeting can conclude and the IEP document is finalized for signature, one last form needs to be addressed: parental consent to bill Medicaid. Outside of service logging, this conversation has the largest […]
Business
You might know what it’s like. The letter arrives in the mail: your district is being audited. As you stare down weeks or months of sweat-inducing, tedious work providing all the documentation that’s going to be required, you wonder… What could I have done to prepare for such a time as this? There’s a lot […]
Human Resources
Remember when introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines seemed to present the bright light at the end of the tunnel from this global health crisis? After closures and a school year of hybrid and remote instruction, remember when we thought the 2021-2022 would be close to normal? Then the Delta variant showed up, and now Omicron, […]
504
Some people who previously tested positive for COVID-19 are now showing symptoms like tiredness, fatigue, difficulty thinking, concentrating, headache, changes in smell, taste, dizziness, or fast beating or pounding heart, usually appearing about a month after that initial positive test. This condition is being referred to as “Long COVID.” Long COVID diagnoses among students […]
School Health
Among the expectations, pressures, and responsibilities placed on school nurses, documentation might be one of the most important, yet tedious, of all. Compliance requirements like those associated with FERPA and HIPAA make proper documentation more complex. And with a mounting mental health crisis in addition to the impact of the pandemic, managing student health along […]
Business
A new year brings the K-12 public school budgeting process into full swing as drafts are written, reviewed, revised, and await approval in the months ahead. And stimulus bills passed to help schools navigate the pandemic and its aftermath make this process even more complex. K-12 school business leaders play a key role in communicating […]
Human Capital Management
What is strategic human capital management (HCM)? Depending on where you look, you’ll see different definitions: People Managing People defines HCM as “the collection of organizational practices related to the acquisition, management, and development of the human workforce.” CPA Practice Advisor goes a step farther, adding that “HCM looks at your workforce differently. Instead of classifying employees […]
504
Unexpected school closures happened so quickly in the early days of the pandemic. Managers of Section 504 programs faced — and still face — a great deal of uncertainty because closures and hybrid learning don’t change the fact that schools are responsible for preventing discrimination and providing the appropriate supports for students with disabilities to […]
A data-centric view on the challenges facing school districts
Recruiting & Hiring
According to a 2021 Frontline survey, about two-thirds of over 1,200 school and district administrators reported having a teacher shortage. Some districts experienced the teacher shortage worse than others. About half of the respondents reported difficulty filling jobs across all grade levels and subjects while the other half felt the effects of the shortage in […]
Teacher Absences & Subs
Troubled by substitute shortages and low fill rates? You’re not alone. These are challenges faced by many districts, and for good reason. Substitute management is no walk in the park: a lot of different elements go into maintaining and managing a healthy substitute pool. To overcome the challenges associated with the substitute shortage, districts […]
Recruiting & Hiring
The Frontline Research and Learning Institute recently published a research brief called “The State of the Instructional Teacher Shortage”. Following a basic supply and demand economic model, the analysis investigates the quantity of candidates applying for jobs (supply) as well as the availability of open positions (demand). Trends show changes to both sides of the […]
Student Data
In early April, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that schools should be reopened and “full-fledged in person” come fall 2021, regardless of vaccination status. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona echoed this in early May, saying that he expects a full return for all students in the fall. With most states no longer placing restrictions on school […]
A series showcasing various leaders in the K-12 space
Frontline
Our formative years in school look different from person to person, but one thing is true for all of us: we owe a hard-to-quantify debt to the people who work in education. For most of us, teachers immediately spring to mind — and rightly so! Yet countless others also work to make sure schools can […]
Frontline
If you don’t work in the field of school business in Texas, it’s understandable that you might not know who our guest today is. But within the Lone Star State, inside school business offices, her credentials and experience speak for themselves, and she was kind enough to share some of her thoughts for our “Front […]
Frontline
Lourie Larcade is a Business Services Specialist with the Tehama County Department of Education in northern California. With 10 years of experience in school business and still more experience before that in the private sector, we’re thrilled to highlight Lourie in this edition of “Front & Center”. Tell us about yourself! I have been married […]