NMASBO 3rd Quarterly Newsletter January - March 2022

| VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 3 |

President's Message

Teresa Casias, President

Hello and welcome to 2022, the Year of the Tiger. The tiger often represents strength, bravery, and independence in the Chinese zodiac. If you take a moment to think about a School Business Official, we display these traits. Strength in gathering information that isn’t always readily available to us; Bravery in sharing our knowledge with our constituents; Independence in making decisions and honoring those decisions without second-guessing ourselves. I think each of you displays those traits within your organization. How often are we given a task at the eleventh hour, maybe a few grumbles, but without fail, we meet that task head-on and complete it?

Next week, we will be attending the 2022 Winter Conference, introducing the nominees for the board positions, and nearing the end of our annual scholarship program. And those are just a few of the things happening within your organization. Last week I was fortunate enough to attend ASBO International’s Leadership Forum. My takeaway was the importance of social-emotional well-being, not just my own, but also the well-being of those I have the tremendous responsibility of caring for in my district.

While we are not responsible for anyone’s happiness, we are responsible for how we interact with others in both our personal and professional lives. As an SBO, we lead our organizations through troubling times and find solutions to problems quickly and efficiently. We spend the majority of the time taking care of other people. I have often said that the role of the SBO within the organization is to provide support to our peers. When we are providing support to the adults within our school communities, we are creating a path of least resistance for our teachers to do the most important job of teaching our students; we are providing a space for our custodians and maintenance crews to give our students a clean and safe learning environment; we are serving an opportunity for our food service staff to feed our kids nutritious meals; we are paving the way for our transportation staff to get our students to school and back home safely. In my opinion, we are the foundation for learning. We are the base for student success and teacher success, and we need to make sure that we take time to care for ourselves. Remember that your happiness is really and truly under your control and only your command. Whom you decide to spend your time with, what you eat, what you read, and most significantly, how you talk to yourself, all impact your wellbeing. It is impossible to care for others if you don’t care for yourself.

Speaking of caring for yourself and others, the signing of SB 317 from the 2021 Legislative session prohibits member cost-sharing for behavioral health services from any health care provider, including NMPSIA. Beginning January 1, 2022, services are available to you and your family members at no cost, which means there are no excuses when it comes to caring for your well-being or the well-being of your loved ones. The legislative session has monumental items on the agenda, including increases in teacher minimum salaries and educational assistant salaries. There is legislation that could include a 7% increase to all staff, but how that increase is to be configured continues to be a work in progress. Some other notable pieces of legislation include HB 59, which provides 80% of employer-paid premiums to all public school employees; SB 36, which consists of an increase in contribution rates to the member’s pension fund; and SB 58, which provides for nurses at every school. These are just a few of the items discussed at the Capitol. You can visit nmlegis.gov to see how these and other critical pieces of legislation are moving through to the Governor’s desk for signature.

I want to extend my appreciation to the members of our legislature; thank you for the work that you do to keep our schools open and operational. It is not easy trying to meet the needs of every person in the state while maintaining a budget. (Now, doesn’t that sound like the work that we do daily?)

As a final thought, keep your head up, your eyes open, your ears listening, and your voice empathetic. You are an SBO which means you are an essential part of the educational career of thousands of children in the state of New Mexico; what a glorious responsibility you carry! Peace, love, and happiness, my friends.

From the Executive Director's Desk

Terry Dean, Executive Director

NMASBO has lost a true hero of School Business Officials on December 31. Jack Jenkins served the students of New Mexico for 38 years and retired from the Las Cruces Public Schools in 2006. He began his career with the Gallup-McKinley County Schools and served in Carlsbad and Los Lunas before becoming the CFO in Las Cruces. I had the fortune of working with Jack for several years before his retirement. Looking back on the years that I knew and worked with him, I learned three essential things from Jack.

1. Mission first: Although Jack has the appearance (and sometimes the demeanor) of a grouchy old CFO, he wasn’t either one. His entire mindset was on the students of the district. Because of his meager upbringing, he was a constant warrior for the underprivileged. I learned from Jack that the students are the mission.
2. Workplace humor: Jack was hilarious. He possessed an incredible sense of humor, and I have a lot of stories about Jack. He would joke around with the people in the office to reduce their stress. Jack taught me that humor minimizes the pressure of a stressful job. Also, more robust relationships are forged with the team through joking around.
3. Relationship: Jack treasured his connections with the School Business Officers throughout the state. In fact, before beginning to work with him, it was through Jack’s friendship and encouragement that I became involved with NMASBO. He received phone calls from every SBO in the state to ask him how to do something. He was always willing to help. In this spirit, part of NMASBO’s mission is to foster the relationship between School Business Officers. Jack was a great mentor to me, and I strive to do the same.

Jack was a hero of NMASBO. Although most of the students within the districts he served didn’t know his name or who he was, he was their hero too.

2022 Winter Conference

Jeannie Harris, Region 6

We are almost ready for the 2022 Winter Conference scheduled for February 16 – 18 at Embassy Suites in Albuquerque. The virtual component of the conference will be a live stream of the event, and we will place the recordings on the conference webpage for those that cannot view the session live. There is still time to register for the live stream/virtual conference.

We have dramatically improved our virtual conference recording to enhance your learning experience.

A new offering for the winter conference is a pre-conference session with a nationally known leadership coach, Dennis McIntee. The pre-conference session will talk about having those critical conversations.

The regular conference will kick off with lunch on Wednesday, followed by breakout sessions with timely topics that NMASBO members have recommended. Since this event is at the end of the 2022 Legislative Session, we will hear about legislative updates that directly affect the 2023 budget planning.

I hope to see you at the Winter Conference!

NMASBO Board of Director Regional Election

Terry Dean, Exectuive Director

"When we help ourselves, we find moments of happiness. When we help others, we find lasting fulfillment." –Simon Sinek

In December, the NMASBO Board sought nominations of individuals interested in serving on the NMASBO Board from Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, and Charter schools. The nomination process ended on January 15, 2022. Below is the ballot for the upcoming election.

Click here to view the candidate bios that are available on our website.

ASBO International will facilitate the election through its election software. Voting will begin on February 22 and end at 5:00 PM on March 5, 2022. Please be on the lookout for an email from ASBO international on the voting process.

2022 SBO of the Year Nominations

Ludym Martinez, Region 5

2022 NMASBO/Equitable Distinguished SBO Roadrunner Award

NMASBO, along with our partner, Equitable Financial Planners, is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the School Business Official (SBO) of the Year Award. This distinguished award helps us to honor an individual in the field of School Business as an outstanding, dedicated member of the profession. In addition to the public recognition during the Spring Budget Workshop, the selected individual will also win a trip to attend the 2022 ASBO International Conference in Portland, Oregon as part of the esteemed honor. There are outstanding Business Officials in all of our schools. Please show your appreciation for these priceless individuals by nominating one today.

Also, I welcome anyone interested in serving on the selection committee to contact me at lumartinez@gisd.k12.nm.us or contact NMASBO at 505-923-3283.

We are currently accepting nominations. Please see our website for a complete list of criteria and the nomination form. In addition to the form, email a letter of recommendation for your nominee, detailing the required information, to Jessica Montano, jessica@nmasbo.org.

Do not wait too long to nominate your outstanding business official! The deadline to submit nominations and letters is Friday, March 12, 2022.

We plan to have an in-person 2022 Spring Budget Workshop at Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town on April 6-8, and we will have a virtual option to watch recordings after the event. Keep in mind this event will not be live-streamed. Registration will open for the in-person and virtual event on Wednesday, February 23. Be on the lookout for the registration email in a couple of weeks.

Stan’s Straight Talk January 2022

Stan Rounds, Executive Director, NMCEL

The New Mexico State Legislature has begun and will continue through February 17. To assist our communication with you regarding the issues from this Session, we will be communicating in several forms to help you stay informed and up to date. NMCEL/NMSSA has deployed an App that is called NMCEL and is available for free through your APP Store for Apple or Android. We invite you to download the App today and enjoy the updates during this Session through the Newsfeed. You will also see our Legislative Platform. This Newsfeed will be our ongoing update for “on-the-fly” news about legislative actions. Additionally, we will collaborate with Joe Guillen through the NMSBA Legislative Report to bring our collaboration of reporting of significant legislation as it progresses through the Session. Finally, we will provide email briefings on significant legislative action, especially as it affects the funding for public education. So, stay tuned!!

The Session has several main issues being contemplated as we enter the action. There is apparent agreement that the Legislature and the Governor intend to raise educator pay significantly and set an increased base salary for teachers. It appears that a 7% minimum increase in educator salaries may be likely. Teacher starting salaries may be adopted at $50,000 tier 1, $60,000 tier 2, and $70,000 tier 3 minimums. There is a convergence of thought that this substantial move is necessary to meet or exceed the regional competition (by states) to attract and retain our teachers and administrators. The 7% increase, at this point, includes all categories of public school employees.

A second main issue is regarding Extended Learning Time Program (ELTP) funding. There are numerous proposals coming forward to add the equivalent of 10 days (60 hours) over the next three years to all district calendars to assure student learning time is increased. With it, is full, additional funding atop the minimum salary recommendations above and the 7% salary increase, and the additional days would be prorated at full daily value for teachers who participate in ELTP. Much of the discussion has been about teacher resiliency, community acceptance, and local decision-making. This one will, likely, be well debated and the final outcome is hard to predict.

Please check your App, email, and the NMCEL website for up-to-date information as the Session advances.

2022 High School Scholarships

Sarah Stubbs, SFO, Region 4

Student scholarship applications are due on February 28, 2022, through the NMASBO website at nmasbo.org/Scholarships. This year, we have created a flyer, below, that you can distribute to your counselors to get the word out to all seniors (the email about this information was sent on Wednesday, 12/1/22). We award six $1,500 scholarships (at least one per region). One applicant will receive a $2,500 Joni Heinsohn Memorial Scholarship for all of the applications submitted if you get a chance, head to the scholarship link on the website. You can see who was awarded scholarships last year.

I am hoping this will be the largest group of scholarship applications we have ever received. For those who do not know, we break up the committee into small groups that review applications from a different region than their own. This keeps things more confidential and prevents us from scoring our own Districts.

The selection process is one that is extremely important for potential recipients. The committee members are often moved to tears by the letters we receive from the applicants. This shows the need for scholarships and the impact of the awards to the students in our state. It is a great reminder to us of the value of the scholarships and the important work the selection Committee does.

Our goal is to have the list of recipients ready to release by the 2022 Spring Budget Workshop. If there are any questions, please let me know at sstubbs@portalesschools.com.

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