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Changes bring consistency to ACSA council/committee structure
September 16, 2024
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ACSA is making changes to its councils and committees and encouraging more members to participate in leadership opportunities available through these groups.
Starting this year, six of ACSA’s committees have been changed to councils, bringing more consistency to the organization of these groups.
“By changing several committees to councils, ACSA leaders will no longer need to spend valuable time and energy discussing the differences between committees and councils,” said Daryl Camp, ACSA president-elect and the chair of the Council and Committee Task Force that recommended the changes. “Instead, ACSA can focus more on engaging members in either job alike or interest areas.”
Previously, there were 13 councils (defined by job-alike) and nine issue-based committees. ACSA also had operational committees with a specific purpose, such as the Legislative Policy or Member Services committees.
After being approved by the ACSA Board of Directors in May, ACSA now has 19 councils The naming convention for councils has also been changed. Councils will now be known as the “Councils of” their specific job-alike group or interest. “Leaders” has also been added to the name of each council to recognize the efforts of the school leaders serving in these groups.
“The emphasis is placed on the collective wisdom of leaders and professionals working together to enhance the professional interests of their ‘network,’” said Shawn Tennenbaum, an ACSA board member who also served on the Council and Committee Task Force.
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The six committees that have changed to councils will now need to create bylaws, as required by ACSA policy.
The name “committee” will now be reserved for the following eight operational groups:
  1. Audit
  2. Awards
  3. Executive
  4. Finance
  5. Legislative Policy
  6. Leadership Development
  7. Leadership Summit
  8. Member Services
These changes started in 2022-23, when ACSA’s Leadership Development Committee received a written request from the Small School District Committee asking that the group be changed to a council.
At the request of the ACSA Board of Directors, a Committee and Council Task Force was created in late 2023. Chaired by Camp, the committee included Donya Ball, Blanca Cavazos, Heather Conkle, Daniel Hernandez, Julianne Hoefer, Tennenbaum and Leisa Winston. The task force began meeting in January 2024 to study the request and the structure of councils and committees. Their recommendations were sent to the ACSA Board of Directors, which adopted these changes at its May 2024 meeting.
This summer, ACSA also launched a campaign to build a robust database of council and committee alternate representatives, encouraging more ACSA members to participate in these groups.
“Our goal is two-fold,” said ACSA Executive Director Edgar Zazueta, in a report to the board. “First, we want to spark interest among members who may be unfamiliar with ACSA’s job-alike leadership groups and the vital role they play in serving our community. Second, we want to ensure that every committee and council has representatives from all 19 ACSA regions at every meeting, reducing vacancies throughout the year and improving the circulation of information back to their constituents.”
After reaching out to members via e-mail, 184 members have expressed their interest in serving as alternates. This roster of potential leaders will be shared with each region, providing a pool of willing members who can step in whenever an official representative cannot attend a meeting.
Also during 2024-25, several of ACSA’s councils will host Virtual Networking Events open to all members, as has been done for the last two school years. Those meeting dates and registration links will be announced to members in October.
ACSA Councils, 2024-25
After being approved by the ACSA Board of Directors at its May meeting, several committees have been changed to councils. ACSA now has 19 councils, which will be known as the Councils of:
  • ACSA/CAPEA Leaders*
  • Adult Education Leaders
  • Business Services Leaders
  • Co-Administrator Leaders*
  • Career Technical Education Leaders
  • Classified Education Leaders
  • Curriculum & Instruction Leaders
  • Early Education Leaders
  • Educational Options Leaders
  • Elementary Education Leaders
  • Equity Leaders*
  • Human Resources Leaders
  • Middle Grades Leaders
  • Retired Leaders*
  • Secondary Education Leaders
  • Small School District Leaders*
  • Special Education & Student Services Leaders
  • Superintendent Leaders
  • Urban Education Leaders*
* Indicates previous committee