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Virtual Leadership Assembly gives more members the chance to engage with ACSA

January 29, 2024

For the first time, ACSA is opening access to a Leadership Assembly meeting to give all members the opportunity to see ACSA leadership in action and access the professional learning that is a regular part of these meetings.

ACSA Leadership Assembly meetings are held three times each year in October, February and May. During the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACSA Board of Directors and members of the Leadership Assembly participated in three virtual governance meetings rather than the traditional in-person events. Once in-person meetings resumed, the ACSA Board of Directors chose to keep their February governance meeting virtual.

Seeing an opportunity to optimize the engagement of members outside of the Board of Directors and Leadership Assembly, leaders chose to open the February governance meeting to a wider audience.

“The virtual format of our February Leadership Assembly provides a great learning opportunity for all ACSA members,” said ACSA President Parvin Ahmadi. “We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, Feb. 8.”

Here are four reasons members will want to consider spending the morning with ACSA.

1. Meet candidates for ACSA VP Members will have the opportunity to hear presentations from the two candidates running for ACSA’s 2024-25 Vice President: Rene Rickard, Region 13, Chief Innovation Officer for Ventura USD and Katherine Castleberry, Region 14, Coordinator of Expanded Learning for Torrance USD. ACSA delegates will vote for the office of vice president at the May Leadership Assembly.

2. Tony Thurmond Members will hear directly from state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who will answer questions from ACSA members about pressing topics in education. Members were e-mailed a link to a form to submit questions for the state superintendent by Wednesday, Jan. 31.

3. Professional learning Attendees to this meeting will also hear three presentations on the following professional learning topics:

“The History of ‘Willful Defiance’ and the focus on Restorative Practices.”
“Protecting Against Attacks on Equity Work” presented by Namita Brown, partner and attorney at Fagen Friedman and Fulfrost.
“Checking In: Educator Wellness” presented by The Teaching Well, a nonprofit wellness organization based in Oakland.

4. Legislative updates Attendees will get to hear the latest on the state budget proposal and current legislation, as well as an update on ACSA’s Legislative Action Days scheduled for April 28-29 in Sacramento. ACSA’s Leadership Assembly delegates will also approve the 2024-2025 One Voice for Students Legislative Platform, which guides ACSA’s advocacy work.

The Leadership Assembly is composed of members of the ACSA Board of Directors, chairs of state committees, presidents of state councils and a delegation from each region that consists of the region’s president, president-elect and vice president for legislative action, or a designee. Additional region delegates are determined by the regions. The number is based on the regular membership of each region — regions with more members have more delegates and more votes.

FYI

Open Access Leadership Assembly Meeting

What: ACSA’s February Leadership Assembly meeting has been opened for all ACSA members to attend virtually. When: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8 Where: Virtual – all ACSA members should have received an e-mail with a registration link. If you plan to attend, please register by Wednesday, Feb. 7.