Dear MAISA Members,

I look forward to welcoming you to the MAISA Spring Meeting next week, March 5-6, at The Graduate Hotel in East Lansing. The agenda centers on critical issues facing our districts, including a Wednesday afternoon session where we will leverage ISD insights to inform MDE leadership, aiming to reach consensus on the top three educational priorities and a unified communication protocol. This will be immediately followed by a deep dive into PA 146, focusing on ISD implementation, funding strategy, and the development of a unified roadmap for new dyslexia and comprehensive literacy requirements. Our second day will emphasize our Legislative Advocacy efforts through the MAISA One Voice session, covering alignment and the Governor's Budget, with time also dedicated to reviewing current Hot Topics and committee updates.

Below you will find more details regarding the MAISA Spring Meeting and also my Three Things. 

MAISA Spring Meeting Schedule

• Thursday, March 5, 2026
• 9:30-11:30 am: MAISA Board of Directors Meeting, Lemon Tree Room
• 10:00-11:30 am: MAISA Administrative Committee Meeting, Collegeville Boardroom
• 9:30-11:30 am: MAISA Instructional Council Meeting, Shadows Ballroom
• 1:00-4:30 pm: MAISA General Membership Meeting, Shadows Ballroom
• 5:30-6:30 pm: Sponsored Reception
• 7:30 pm: Honored Guest Dinner Speaker, Dr. Glenn Maleyko, Michigan State Superintendent of Public Instruction, MDE 
• Friday, March 6, 2026
• 8:00 am-12:00 pm: MAISA General Membership Meeting, Shadows Ballroom

*Please note: the Graduate Hotel offers valet parking for $35/day; alternatively, there is the Albert Avenue Garage (188 Albert Ave) located behind the hotel where members can park for $1.25 per half hour ($20 daily maximum).

Here are my Three Things:

2026 is off to a great start as the impact of many of MAISA’s initiatives is being felt throughout the state, and this is only the beginning!  

Most importantly, we are proud that the projects we are supporting, with many ISD leaders, are really starting to have a positive impact in the work we do, as demonstrated below in this Update. 

1: A Game-Changing Victory for Cybersecurity and Budgets: This is huge: through our collective bargaining power, we have secured CrowdStrike NextGen Identity services—a critical component of our MiSecure suite—at NO COST for all our ISDs, LEAs, and PSAs via 97g funding. This is more than just an operational upgrade; it's a monumental financial victory for our districts and, ultimately, Michigan’s children. Special thanks to METL and Ingham ISD for all of their leadership on his project!

2: Unprecedented Acceleration of MiCloud: The growth of MiCloud is nothing short of phenomenal. Since July, we've jumped from supporting 4% of students to reaching 25% of all students statewide—that’s 333,642 children benefiting from modern, secure technology infrastructure. This incredible scale demonstrates the trust and demand for our shared services. Furthermore, our upcoming AWS Cost Control and Optimization webinar is a perfect example of how we don't just deploy technology; we empower our partners with the financial literacy to manage it efficiently and sustain that growth. Special thanks to METL and KRESA for all of their leadership on his project!

3: Driving Family Engagement for Student Success: MAISA members are leading the charge on effective school-family partnerships. I am thrilled to see the enthusiasm for the upcoming Universal Family Engagement: Navigating Your Route to Student Success webinar on April 9th. This session will provide leaders with a concrete, GPS-like tool to assess and build their local engagement strategies. This commitment is reflected beautifully in the recognition of MiFamily Engagement Region 5 and Bay-Arenac ISD, whose work on literacy and attendance—like the Strive for Fewer than Five campaign—is being showcased in the local news. This is the hands-on, community-connected work that delivers results, and it affirms that when we partner, we are indeed better together.

Thank you to everyone for your incredible work! All of this has been made possible by each of you and your commitment to the advancement of public education in Michigan. Let's keep the momentum going!

We are Better Together,

j

• Literacy Coaching Quarterly February 10th Meeting
• Pyramid Practices and Social/Emotional Support in Early On 
• General Education Leadership Network (GELN) February 2026 Three Things
• Early Childhood Administrative Network (ECAN) February 2026 Three Things
• Special Education Instructional Leadership Network (SEILN) February 2026 Three Things
• Michigan Collaboration Hub (MiCH) February 2026 Three Things
• Michigan Education Technology Leaders (METL) February 2026 Three Things
• ISD PR Network (ISD PR) February 2026 Three Things
• Universal Family Engagement: Navigating Your Route to Student Success webinar
• Region 5 Recognized for MiFamily Engagement Initiatives
• MiCloud February 2026 Update
• MiSecure February 2026 Update
• Statewide Victory: Identity Defense Now Available via 97g Funding
• MiSEN February 2026 Update
• Cheers to 10 Years of EduPaths!
• Summit on Creating Safe Learning Environments: Part 2
• Berrien RESA launches THRIVES campaign

Note: Please click "View entire message" at the bottom of this email to view the full newsletter!

Previous InSiDe Updates

Want to view the previous edition of the InSiDe Update? Click here to view the January 2026 edition.

The Office of Education Partnerships is pleased to invite you to our next webinar, Universal Family Engagement: Navigating Your Route to Student Success, on April 9, 2026.

Whether or not you were able to join us for our first session, we welcome you to participate in this interactive deep dive. This webinar is designed as a standalone opportunity for school leaders, district staff, and educators to pinpoint exactly where their teams stand on the journey toward effective school-family partnerships.

Just as a GPS helps you navigate a route, this session uses a reflective tool to help you assess your current practices in order to pinpoint where you are on your journey toward Universal Family Engagement.

Register below for April 9, 2026, 1-2:00 pm (Eastern) or 4-5:00 pm (Eastern).

Participants can expect to:

• Use the Universal Family Engagement GPS to assess current practices.
• Identify growth opportunities and celebrate existing strengths.
• Collaborate to prioritize actionable next steps for your school or district.
• Leave with a concrete growth plan to support a systemwide vision for family engagement.

Earn SCECHs: As with our previous session, attendees will earn free SCECHs for their participation.

Please register for the session time that works best for you:

• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (ET): Register Here
• 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (ET): Register Here

We look forward to collaborating with you to strengthen family partnerships across our state!

Sincerely,

Office of Education Partnerships, MiLEAP

The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA) would like to highlight the great work of the ISDs in the MiFamily Engagement Region 5, and especially Bay-Arenac ISD, for telling the story of the wonderful ways in which they're connecting directly with families with children to support them with setting screen time limits, incorporating early literacy techniques, and educating the community about the importance of regular school attendance. Their recent family-facing event was covered by their local news station, WNEM.

Watch the story here: https://www.wnem.com/video/2026/02/05/family-winter-fun-fest/.

Additionally, the region's Strive for Fewer than Five attendance campaign was also featured by WNEM last year.

Watch the story here: https://www.wnem.com/video/2025/11/10/education-matters-strive-fewer-than-5-campaign/

This partnership between our ISDs, school districts, and the Michigan Department of Lifelong, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) is another fantastic example of why we're better together.

As of July 1, 2025, MiCloud projects supported 52,730 students — about 4% of students statewide. By February 1, that number had grown to 333,642 students served, representing 25% of all students. To date, MiCloud has completed projects with 130 local districts and 31 ISDs, and we’re ready to partner with your district next.

Here are a few helpful resources to get started:

• Contact us: Email info@micloud.org to join the project queue or schedule a conversation about how MiCloud can support your district.
• Stay informed: Sign up for the MiCloud Newsletter to receive updates and learn how MiCloud can benefit your district.
• Free training webinar on February 25: AWS Cost Control and Optimization, where you can learn how cloud finances work and discover ways MiCloud can help you manage costs and save money in the cloud. Registration here!

MAISA is excited to announce a major enhancement to the MiSecure cybersecurity toolset supporting Michigan schools.

Today, nearly two-thirds of all Michigan school districts use MiSecure’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service to protect the critical servers that keep teaching and learning running. In the past year alone, the MDR service identified and mitigated more than 23,000 security threats and successfully stopped nine potential ransomware attacks.

Thanks to the significant cost savings MAISA negotiated — and by leveraging whole-of-state purchasing power — this protection is now expanding. Districts will receive Next-Generation Identity Security (NGIS) at no cost, extending protection beyond servers to include user accounts and third-party, cloud-based systems. NGIS helps identify and address common risk areas, including:

• Ensure staff and student accounts use safe password practices, reducing the risk of unauthorized access
• Identify accounts that may have been compromised before they can be used to disrupt operations
• Detect unusual or suspicious sign-in activity that could indicate an attempted cyberattack
• Find configuration issues that increase risk and correct them early
• Reduce exposure from insecure settings that are often targeted by attackers

Best of all, NGIS works seamlessly with the software districts already have in place. No new installations are required. The necessary modules have already been added to hundreds of district environments and are ready to use today.

By building on familiar tools and strengthening protection where schools are increasingly targeted, we are improving statewide cyber resilience—with no additional cost to districts.

MAISA/MiSecure are proud to announce the expansion of our statewide security suite to include CrowdStrike NextGen Identity services. Following the successful model of our MDR solution, these services are now available at no cost to all Michigan ISDs, LEAs, and PSAs through 97g funding made possible by Ingham ISD’s leadership in securing the grant and serving as the fiscal agent. 

The impact of this collective bargaining is already making waves. One ISD Tech Director shared that this move saved his budget from a $20/account renewal fee, noting he was "literally doing happy dances." This success highlights the stark disparity in the current market: while some individual district quotes for identity services have reached $69/account, our unified statewide front is changing the math entirely.

Visit the MAISA Event Site to view monthly calendars and upcoming meetings and events