Welcome to the Alaska Association of School Business Officials e-newsletter!
ALASBO's Mission: To promote the highest standards in school business practices.
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Annual Conference 2021 We are planning on holding ALASBO's 2021 Annual Conference as an in-person event December 5-8 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, AK. If COVID-19 travel restrictions prevent an in-person event, we will let you know if we are switching to virtual and the date changes.
We have a wonderful program with exciting speakers. Please mark your calendars and watch for the agenda and a link to register for the event in early October.
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Message from
ALASBO President, Jimmy Love
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Greetings and salutations!
I hope that everyone was able to enjoy the summer and take some much-deserved time off to travel, visit with family and friends, work in the garden, work on the house, go fishing, or whatever it is you like to do during our fabulous summers. I cannot believe that we have another school year starting next week. It seems as though we just sent the kids home for summer break last week. I wish you all the absolute best in the coming school year.
We had an excellent virtual Summer Leadership conference in July. It was packed with great presenters and even better information. The first day we were extremely fortunate to have had Jason Metrokin, President and CEO of BBNC (Bristol Bay Native Cooperation) speak about change in the workplace. Senate Minority Leader, Tom Begich, who spoke about bridging barriers. On day 2, we had Dr. Mary Wegner, Assistant Professor and Superintendent & Education Program Coordinator, UAS College of Education who spoke about motivating others to embrace change and uncovering the secrets of effective change efforts. On our final day we had Angie Peterman, Executive Director, Oregon ASBO who spoke about leadership, management, and me – am I leading or managing and Joel Mckenzie, American Fidelity Leadership Development who spoke about thriving while surviving – 7 ways to grow personally and professionally in difficult times.
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COVID-19 Testing in Schools: Screening Testing to Reopen and Keep Schools Operating Safely- Judy Holland, Dept of Health & Social Services, Division of Public Health
The pandemic has changed many aspects of how we live. As we return to in-person learning in schools, School officials are developing COVID-19 mitigation plans to deal with an ever-changing situation. While we cannot predict the future of COVID-19, we can be better prepared to respond to the challenges.
The State of Alaska, Division of Public Health has made funding available to all school districts and private schools for “Screening Testing to Reopen and Keep Schools Operating Safely.” Testing asymptomatic people remains critically important to identifying and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 throughout communities. The State of Alaska wants to ensure that testing for all staff, students and community members who consent to being tested is available.
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Executive Director's Message- Darcy Carter
Lessons from Enzo and Ensō
As we prepare for another school year with the added stress of COVID-19 protocols and challenges, it is important to take care your health, both physical and mental. Here are some lessons from two very different sources whose names sound the same.
Enzo is my super cute miniature long haired dachshund that I was lucky to have adopted last year. Here are his tips for a healthy and happy life that we can incorporate into our own lives:
- Exercise every day.
- Get plenty of good sleep.
- Eat healthy food and drink a lot of water.
- Live a life of service to others. Enzo is great at alerting to possible danger, even if it is just seagulls on the roof.
An ensō circle is a Japanese symbol drawn in one fluid, swift stroke. Drawing an ensō relates to the practice of expressing the imperfect beauty of the present moment, letting it go and starting all over again. We are all imperfect and we are living in an imperfect but beautiful world. The ensō circle reminds us to consider these aesthetics in our everyday lives:
- asymmetry, irregularity
- simplicity
- essentially basic; weathered
- without pretense; natural
- subtly profound grace
- freedom
- tranquility
As you move through your busy days, please stay healthy and take some time to consider the lessons from Enzo and the ensō circle.
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Congratulations to these retirees!
Cindy Bennett: I'm going to retire at the end of September. I'm the business manager at Craig City Schools and will have started my 20th year. My plan is to move to Southern Oregon in the winter and travel with my husband and spend time with children and grandchildren...
Cyndi Erbey: On July 30, Cyndi retired from her position as Finance Tech after 24 years with Anchorage School District. I am very involved with our church, volunteering, playing in the bell choir, and I am the treasurer. It’s also important to me to be very active. I love golfing, hiking, biking etc. We also plan on traveling more. We will be able to spend more time with our grandchildren. In other words FUN.
Carl Horn: I retired June 30th, 2021 after 18 years in school finance and 42 years in the accounting and finance industry. We will remain in Nenana but will be planning a lot of traveling in the near future.
Kim Johnson: I am retired after 29 years of service as Business Manager, Delta/Greely School District. We are moving to the Kenai Peninsula and plan to spend lots of time playing and fishing with our children and grandchildren.
Dave Jones: Dave retired from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District where he served as Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services. Dave worked in Alaska public education for 24 years and served as the ALASBO Legislative Committee Chair for 20 years. I will split my time between kids in NC and MN. Fishing, hunting and poker will my main endeavors.
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Meet our Annual Conference Keynote Speaker, Holly Brooks
Holly Brooks is a former professional athlete, a 2-time Olympian and a small business owner. Her athletic accolades include representing the US & Alaska at the 2010 & 2014 Olympics, a 2-time Mount Marathon Champion, and two-time Winner of North America's largest ski race, the American Birkebeiner. As a 5-year veteran of the US Ski Team she was part of the first-ever USA World Cup Relay medal which recently culminated in her teammates bringing home the sport’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Four years ago Holly started her own business, Holly Brooks LLC Counseling, Consulting and Coaching. Her business covers the mindset side of performance, health advocacy and empowering her clients. Her specific professional interests include working with individuals, teams and businesses to develop thriving, productive cultural shifts for optimal performance. Individually, she is a licensed professional counselor and executive coach who specializes in performance practices, stress management, leadership, transition, eating disorders and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
Holly is a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of fame, was named Top 40 under 40, is a spokesperson for Healthy Futures and is a lead ambassador for Fast and Female Youth Empowerment through sport. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the US Ski & Snowboard Team and is an athlete representative to the US Olympic Committee. In her spare time you can find her running, skiing (yes, still), riding her bike or hiking in the mountains with her husband Rob Whitney and their twin four-year-olds, Ruby Joy and Brooks.
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Thank you to our Power Lunch presenters!
June 8: HSAs, HRAs, and FSAs presented by Scott Florsheim, GBA, Northwest Regional Manager, and Tracy Fannin, State Manager, with American Fidelity.
UPCOMING: Sept.14: Annual Conference Planning Discussion
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Legislative Update
by Amy Lujan, ALASBO Legislative Liaison
Still not over, ‘til it’s over!
When I last wrote for this newsletter, we were anticipating two special sessions. And now we’re on the cusp of a third, scheduled to start the afternoon of August 16! Meanwhile, many large issues are still left unresolved for the new fiscal year, which has already begun.
If you’ve lost the thread of this year’s legislative session, I don’t blame you! We’ve all had lots of other things to think about in recent months. In this article, I’ll recap some of the major issues.
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School Business Academy (SBA) New Dates!
Virtual: August 17, September 21, and October 19, 2021 (will be recorded)
In-Person: December 5, 2021
ALASBO has updated the School Business Academy (SBA) to include additional topics to be delivered virtually earlier in the year. There will be two sessions offered each day of the virtual Academy: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. SBA topics include:
● State Foundation Funding Program ● Fund Accounting ● Chart of Accounts
● Budgeting ● Grants Management ● Internal Controls ● Ethics
The SBA provides a great foundation to those new to the role of business manager and those who want to know more about school business. Even if miss the August sessions, you may access the recordings and attend in September and October Click here to register.
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Mack Easton Memorial Scholarships,
sponsored by ALASBO, NANA Management Services and AMLIP, have been awarded to Madison Story, Homer, AK, and Caleb Alsworth, Port Alsworth, AK. These $1,000 scholarships are awarded annually to graduating high school seniors. Recipients are selected by the ALASBO Awards Committee, to whom we extend our thanks for their work. Congratulations, Caleb and Madison!
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THE FINANCIAL THREAT OF FRAUDULENT IMPERSONATION- by APEI
"Fraudulent impersonation” is a type of theft that occurs when an outside party breaks into a vendor’s email or other system and intercepts communications with the vendor’s clients. Posing as the legitimate vendor, the outside party may ask the client for a change in payment method – either initiating payment by electronic funds transfer or changing the account to which payments are made. Then, the imposter provides a fraudulent account number to which payments should be submitted. If this fraudulent request makes it past the internal controls of the organization and the change is implemented, months could go by without the organization knowing it is sending funds to a fraudulent vendor. The organization only realizes they have been a victim of fraud when the real vendor calls and asks why they have not received payment for their invoices. Read the rest of this article here.
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Strong Choices for Challenging Times-
by Dr. Lisa Parady, Executive Director, ACSA
“We have a shared responsibility to take practical safety measures to keep our children safe and healthy as well as in school where most students learn best. We have tools to keep ourselves and each other well, but we must use them.” Dr. Anne Zink, Chief Medical Officer for the State of Alaska.
This quote from our state medical officer has had me thinking about our role in education with regard to the safety and health of all we serve. The beginning of each school year is always challenging, and the start of another COVID-19 school year will undoubtedly bring new and unprecedented challenges. However, our goal remains the same -- a commitment to quality education for all students and a safe environment for all students in Alaska.
We cannot achieve the goal of quality education for all students without keeping in mind the safety of the students we serve. As COVID-19 continues to be a reality we face, we must remain vigilant in the precautions we implement in our schools to protect students' health. The new challenge, the highly contagious COVID Delta variant, is the main reason that the CDC recommends universal indoor masking at school. We must remember why we wear masks and communicate this information to all who enter our facilities: we wear masks to protect our students, teachers, staff and families from COVID.
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Thank You!
Silver Level Sponsor
First National Bank
ALASKA
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Thank You!
NBMI Platinum Level Sponsor
Altman, Rogers & Co.
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Altman, Rogers & Co. combines the experience of a large firm with the personal attention only a small firm can provide. We provide auditing, accounting, consulting and tax services from our offices in Anchorage, Soldotna and Juneau. We specialize in working with government entities, non-profits, and Alaska Native corporations. We proudly serve over 36 Districts across Alaska and are thankful to be celebrating 30 years in business in 2021. 907-274-2992 altrogco.com
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Thank You!
Silver Level Sponsor
Wells Fargo
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Thank You!
Gold Level Sponsor
Leonardo DRS
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Thank You!
Gold Level Sponsor
OSP by Edlio
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Thank You!
Gold Level Sponsor
GCI
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