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President's Message (continued) Of the sixteen goals established during the 2007-08 school year for 2007 through 2012, a new alternative certification program for all district staff has been approved, a COLA for administrators at the top of the pay scale has been provided, a professional development grants programs is now funded by HASA, and a salary study to make administrative salaries competitive with comparable districts is well underway. As your new HASA president, I am looking forward to working with a strong executive and representative HASA board to continue our efforts to attain our 5-year strategic goals. Of the remaining on-going goals, the following three goals will be a priority for the 2008-2009 school year:
As we face continuing fiscal and academic challenges, working on attaining these goals will require the help of all of our membership. I urge you to connect with your HASA representative. See how you can help and get involved!I look forward to a successful year as together we work to make HASA the strongest administrative organization in the state.HASA IS Working for You!
- Elsa Tuggle Message from the Executive Director - (continued) are truly being served and represented by their association. My response was that HASA is not a union and as such it cannot bargain for salaries and benefits. I said, however, that HASA is a professional association that advocates for its members, provides benefits & services, and keeps members informed. Extension of the DROP for Administrators: If the extension of the DROP were approved and passed into law by the Florida Legislature, the following would apply:
Rehiring of Administrators Planning to retire or who have retired: With respect to administrative positions, the Superintendent can recommend the rehiring of retirees whose retirement created the vacancy or for any other available position. Effective January 1, 2008, however, the following restrictions will be in effect in the Hillsborough School District:
- Dr. John Miliziano
The issue is this: district level administrators are expected to have,
or to obtain, “Education Leadership” certification to hold their
positions. This expectation does not come from School Board Policy other
than indirectly through inclusion on certain job descriptions. There is
a statutory requirement for school site principals,
Florida Statute Administrative Rule 6A-4.0083,
which reads in part as follows: “School Principal--Administrative
Class. To be eligible to receive certification as a school principal, an
individual shall satisfy each of the following requirements: (1) Hold a
valid professional certificate covering educational leadership,
administration, or administration and supervision.”
The fact is not everyone wants to be a school site principal. For those
that do, the requirement to obtain the specific certification is still
there. It is also important to understand that some district level
positions will also continue to require Ed Leadership certification,
just not all of them. For the other district level positions HASA, in
partnership with the district, is proposing a rigorous excursion into a
new Developing District Leaders Program (DDLP) to be taught through the
Office of Staff Development. The curriculum will consist of required
core courses in: Organizational Leadership, Human Resources, and
Finance. Elective courses in Community Resources, School Law,
Accountability, and Technology to be agreed upon by the new appointee
and the direct supervisor, will round out this DDLP. The classes being
designed will be spread over a two year period. HASA Commissions a Salary Study (continued) entering administration. The HASA board is supporting a measure to try to align administrative salaries with teacher salaries so that all future administrative annual increases are planned and voted in tandem with teachers. This effort would get the school board away from having to debate publicly the raises for administrators who are often viewed by legislators as the “as the children of a lesser God” because they are not in the classroom anymore. HASA is moving forward with the study in the following phases:
One of the HASA scholarships for an administrator or teacher has been named the Tom Rao Leadership Scholarship in honor of Mr. Tom Rao, former principal of Hillsborough High School and HASA Executive Board member. This $1000 scholarship was named in memory of Mr. Rao due to his extensive involvement, leadership and commitment to HASA and the Hillsborough County Public Schools. HASA’s business partner Herff Jones sponsored and funded this year’s Tom Rao Leadership Scholarship. This scholarship was awarded to Jason Pepe, Principal at B.T. Washington Elementary School. This year HASA awarded a second $1000 college scholarship for current Hillsborough County Public School administrators and teachers to use to further their education. Maria D. Gomez, a Spanish teacher at Alonso High School was selected. In addition, through the generosity of Nova Southeastern University, two $1000 tuition vouchers were also awarded for attendance at that institution. This year’s recipients were Yvette Edwards, fifth grade teacher at Pizzo Elementary School, and Ryan Fitzgerald who is a teacher at Memorial Middle School. All four of these $1000 scholarships were awarded in order to reward HASA members for their outstanding contributions to our public schools and to promote educational leadership in our district. HASA’s business partner, the Hillsborough Education Foundation has also contributed scholarship funds. Consequently HASA was able to award two $1000 HCC (Hillsborough Community College) scholarships to high school seniors planning to major in education. This year’s recipients were: Lindsey Laycock from Plant City High School and Shanna Lindemeyer from Leto High School. Scholarship recipients were announced and awarded at the HASA Spring Social. HASA would like to congratulate each of the winners. Hillsborough County “Ought To Be a Law” Students’ Bill Moves through State Senate - (continued) “Ought to Be a Law,” was created in 2004 by State Representative Kevin Ambler and State Senator Victor Crist with the support of Superintendent MaryEllen Elia. OTBAL is a unique program that offers students the chance to write a proposal for an actual new law and then actively participate in the legislative process to push for its passage. According to Representative Ambler, “This program gives students something they could never get out of a book. It is a totally unique, hands-on experience as to what it is like to be a lawmaker.” HASA has long provided funds to support the student’s trips to Tallahassee and considerable encouragement to the students during their presentations to the legislators. The next round takes place on Tuesday, April 22nd, when the students will be presenting their bill to the Senate Community Affairs Committee. - by Dennis Holt, Social Studies Supervisor
principals' councils, the Hillsborough Counselors Association and the County Council PTA. This group is a strong force in providing information both to and about state legislation. We share common issues such as educator shortage, increased public school funding, the improvement of student achievement, school safety, salary, health insurance and improved retirement benefits. H.A.P.E. emerged from the planning committee for the annual legislative reception. When repeated attempts at making this a success failed, Dr. Earl Lennard, superintendent at the time, asked our committee to find new ways to provide information to Hillsborough County’s Legislative Delegation. We first conducted a survey among the members of the different groups and agreed that we needed a new plan; we became a coalition named H.A.P.E. Working as a group, we developed a logo, a mission statement, and legislative priorities which were updated each year. We developed a brochure outlining our legislative priorities and encouraged all members to distribute this information to their faculty staff and community. We also shared this brochure each year in Tallahassee. We worked closely with Connie Milito, our governmental liaison to share the information with state legislators.
may submit nominations for these awards. A committee of HASA past presidents reviewed all nominations and selected the following HASA members for their outstanding dedication and leadership to Hillsborough County Public schools and their professional organization: The Dr. Earl J. Lennard Leadership Award is presented to a HASA member who has demonstrated out- standing leadership ability. The recipient of this award for 2007-2008 was Wynne Tye, General Director, Exceptional Student Education. The HASA Professional Involvement Award is presented to a member who has advanced the professional image of the school administrator by action, word, or deed. 2007 – 2008 recipient: Mike Phillips, Manager, Maintenance Cooling Equipment. The HASA Public Relations Award is presented to any person or organization whose efforts have resulted in a significant increase in public knowledge of the services or accomplishments of Hillsborough County Public Schools. This year’s recipient of the Public Relations Award: Linda Cobbe, External Communications Manager, Office of Communications. The Raymond O. Shelton Award is presented to the person who has made contributions to the Hillsborough County Public Schools in an outstanding manner. 2007 – 2008 recipient: Dan Valdez, Deputy Superintendent The Lyle Flagg Award: Determined by the current HASA President, the Lyle Flagg Award goes to the HASA Board Member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to the board and executive committee. The recipient for 2007 – 2008: Connie Hayden-McPeak, Coordinator, Child Find.
The HASA Business Partner of
the Year Award:
Presented to the HASA Business Partner who has demonstrated
outstanding service the organization and its members within the
current year. The recipient of the first annual Business Partner
of the Year: Bryn Alan Photography.
HASA Commissions a Salary Study (continued) entering administration. The HASA board is supporting a measure to try to align administrative salaries with teacher salaries so that all future administrative annual increases are planned and voted in tandem with teachers. This effort would get the school board away from having to debate publicly the raises for administrators who are often viewed by legislators as the “as the children of a lesser God” because they are not in the classroom anymore. HASA is moving forward with the study in the following phases:
Florida Legislative Session Update The legislative session just ended and more information will be forthcoming in the near future. For now we can say the following:
As soon as we hear more on this matter, we will forward it to you. A Call for Articles (continued) information. HASA’s newsletter is an important means for keeping our members informed. For this reason, we are inviting you to submit articles for publication in future issues. If you have something of interest you would like to share with other HASA members, please send it to us. If there is anything going on in your part of the world that you think other administrators would like to hear about, let us know. Please send your write-up of not more than 1,000 words to Mari King, mking813@verizon.net. Subject to suitability, we will publish it in one of our future quarterly newsletters. Write in to support and connect with other HASA members out there! We welcome articles on technology, professional development, legislative news, human interest stories and more. Thank you! Bill Gates' Advice to Students (continued) He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
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