Page 24 - The Edge - Summer 2020

Officials Chart a Conservative Financial Path for Schools
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“Get online and post questions or answers,” Mee
said, “or even a great idea. We are in the networking
business. Our greatest asset is to network.”
Wohlleber, immediate past president of the Association
of School Business Officials International, was asked
by moderator Melissa Higdon of FORECAST5 how
he is communicating, how often, with whom, and
what priorities is he discussing?
“Communication is more important than ever,”
Wohlleber said, recommending the goal of “managing
the messaging.” It’s important that staff, students
and their families hear from the schools rather than
from outside sources about “what we’re doing to
accommodate students during these critical times,”
he said.
Communication with students and families should
come from the teachers and principals, he said.
Strategy should involve determining what needs to be
communicated, how best to do it and how often, and
who communicates with local government entities.
Many staff members have shifted to using emails to
communicate, but some families don’t have internet
access.
“The priority starts with staying safe – what we can
all do to stay safe, to help reduce stress, bring some
sense of normalcy to learning or work routines,”
Wohlleber said. “We do weekly leadership virtual
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meetings. We look at planning and debriefing plans
and initiatives – what’s working, what should we do
differently, both internally and externally, with our
stakeholders?”
Slovitsky was asked: “How is this going to affect how
you are delivering services now and in the future, for
learning and for support services?”
“The first challenge is to get students up to where
they can learn remotely,” Slovitsky said.
One way to support students is to help certified
teachers during this time of remote learning, she
said. It’s important to continue to maintain facilities,
and trying to find various ways to get support staff
engaged. With the Business Office, much of the
payroll work is done by staff at home, communicating
with computers, she said, but occasionally they come
into the office.
“Be consistent in supporting your staff,” Slovitsky
said.
Bowler’s question: “What are you doing to keep your
employees engaged?” Glendale Union is conducting
regular meetings with staff, using videos and other
tools available from The Trust, he said. Bus drivers
and maintenance people are not on site every day,
but they are answering phones and staying connected
with what is going on, he said.
Wohlleber suggested making sure employees feel that
what they’re doing is meaningful and productive,
builds a skill set or leads to projects that perhaps had
been set aside. “You can bring those project to the
forefront,” he said. “Now you have time.”
Slovitsky agreed. Schools are restructuring
employees’ time in certain ways, she said, “So,
maybe some good is coming out of this.”
On a question of who reports to physical sites and
who works from home, Wohlleber said Casa Grande
Elementary analyzes the technical ability and skill
set of staff – what are people capable of. “Who works
where is an evolving situation,” Wohlleber said.
“We brought back some custodial and maintenance
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THE EDGE SUMMER 2020