April 14, 2020
WELCOME to AESA's newest Business Partner... E-Therapy!
E-Therapy
immediately transforms
special services to an online platform
Making An Impact: Northwest Educational Service District, Washington
Northwest Educational Service District (ESD) 189 in Anacortes, WA serves 35 school districts in Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

Last week the ESD received a large donation of goggles and gloves from some of the districts it serves, including 200 pairs of safety goggles from the Oak Harbor School District and 50 boxes of gloves and a box of child size face masks from the Granite Falls School District.

#ESAsmakingimpact


US Dept. of Education Releases New Fact Sheet On Compensation, Travel And Conference Costs
The Department of Education will be releasing a series of fact sheets related to how federal expenditures will be addressed during COVID-19.

This fact sheet focuses on how to pay for employees whose positions are funded by federal funding as well as how travel and events that are non-refundable and paid for with federal funding should be addressed.

April 8, 2020 US Dept of Ed FACT SHEET
Using Grant Funds During the COVID-19
Unpacking the CARES Act Funding
Under the CARES Act, states and districts are set to receive $13.2 billion for K-12 education. The money must be spent by September 2021 although it’s not clear whether the funding can be directed at costs already incurred related to the pandemic (but that is our hope). There is an urgent push by governors to expedite the process for moving these funds to districts which AASA supports, but it still could be at least two months before they show up in districts’ coffers.

Once the funds are out, here's how you can use them:

  1. Any activity authorized in ESSA, IDEA and Perkins CTE
  2. Coordinating with public health departments to prevent, prepare and respond to COVID-19
  3. Addressing the unique needs of low-income students, students with disabilities, English-learners, racial and ethnic minorities, homeless and foster care youth
  4. PD for staff on sanitation and minimizing spread of pandemic and purchasing supplies to clean and sanitize buildings
  5. Planning for and coordinating long-term closures including how to provide meal services, tech/online learning, and how to carry out IDEA, etc.
  6. Providing mental health services/supports
  7. Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and after school programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months, and addressing the needs of vulnerable children
  8. Any other activity necessary to maintain the operation and continuity to employ existing staff 

The Department of Education has developed a streamline waiver that provides even more flexibility to states to waive how they spend their existing money, which could allow schools to spend more of the federal dollars on technology for distance learning. That said, we would prefer the funding for ed-tech to come from the E-Rate program and are requesting $2 billion in additional E-Rate funding in the next stimulus package to ensure districts can attempt to close the homework gap. 
E-Classrooms: Rural Resilency Mindset
Mindset matters! Leading work in rural Oregon requires a resilient mindset. A mindset that all children can learn no matter their background. A mindset of collaboration, access, and equity that will meet the needs of adults and students.
You are not alone!
NEW CEO AFFINITY GROUP MEETING
New CEO Affinity group meets
Friday, April 17 via Zoom


Are you a new CEO or fairly new CEO? If you are looking to network with others new to the ESA leader role, then this Affinity Group is for you! The purpose of this Affinity Group is to connect new CEOs with one another, and with AESA and its member agencies for the purpose of networking, benchmarking, learning, problem solving, and resource acquisition. We will be addressing leadership issues everyone faces during the ongoing pandemic.

The meeting will be conducted through Zoom videoconferencing and will last approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10 AM Pacific, 11 AM Mountain, 12 Noon Central, and 1 PM Eastern.
Check-out Webinars and Resources
from AESA Business Partners







Emergency Feeding Webinar
brought to you free from SLA Management, an AESA Business Partner

We invite you to join our free webinar on Thursday, April 16 at 3 p.m. EST to learn more about emergency feeding. Use this link to Register .

SLA will work with its school districts to keep as many of its emergency feeding locations open for as long as possible, but we want to do more. The goal for the webinar is for you to walk away with a better understanding of how to make meals accessible to families while schools are shut down. Please join us and this incredible movement!
Financial Relief During the Coronavirus Crisis
On March 27, 2020, the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. It represents a dramatic effort to bring financial relief to families and businesses across the country. Please click below for a summary of the Act’s provisions for individual Americans, or contact PlanMember for more information.
 
For more information, contact:
PlanMember Services
Phone: (800) 874-6910
planmember.com
 
WEBINAR: Resources & Tips for Remote Professional Development
brought to you free from Microsoft, an AESA Business Partner
Thursday, April 16, 2020
1:30 pm Eastern; 12:30 pm Central; 11:30 am Mountain; 10:30 am Pacific 

In-person interactions have temporarily paused but the need for teacher professional development still exists.

Join the Microsoft Education Team as they share free on-demand resources as well as tip and tricks for delivering live virtual PD.

Annual Conference Breakout Session Proposals
Deadline Extended to April 23.
The new submission deadline is April 23, 2020 at midnight! Please consider submitting your proposal to be considered for a breakout session at the 2020 Annual Conference.

Session strands are Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Social Emotional Learning and Safety; Leadership Governance; Global Citizenship


Please consider sharing your expertise with your peers!
Summer Leadership Conference
July 20-23, 2020
Hilton Nashville Downtown
Registration open.
Educators' Call to Action Conference
September 28-30 2020
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
AESA Annual Conference
December 2-5, 2020
Hilton Orlando, Florida