For a map showing the six TASPA Districts by Service center, click
here
For the full contact information of each TASPA District representative, click
here
TASPA District I
District Representative: Mildred Balanciere, Director of Human Resources Classified, North East ISD.
Judson ISD has volunteered to host our next full regional meeting for 2007. The Greater San Antonio Area Personnel Administrators (SAAPA) Association, which comprises a subset of District I and is concentrated in the San Antonio area, meets monthly. September 2006 marked the first meeting for SAAPA for ’06-’07. The President of SAAPA is Dr. Kevin Brown, Director of Personnel/Public Relations, Alamo Heights. Representatives from over 30 school districts, universities, and colleges attend the monthly SAAPA Meetings. Our current President, past presidents, officers, and members ensure that the SAAPA agenda for each meeting focuses on sharing best practices and on key critical issues facing the Public School Education Career Field.
The September and October 2006 meetings were sponsored by: Firstmark Credit Union; guest speaker Ms. Tiffany Grant, A+ Texas Teachers Alternative Certification Program; and guest speaker, Mr. Vernon Reaser Teach for Texas Alternative Certification Program. Agenda items included discussions on Title I district’s e-Grant plans and on how often districts conducted criminal history checks on internal employees. President Brown asked all districts to bring a copy of their e-Grant plans to share for discussion at the October, 2006 SAAPA Meeting. President Brown recognized the hosts for the September and October 2006 meetings, Alamo Heights ISD and Harlandale ISD respectively. He recognized Midge Balanciere, NEISD Director Human Resources and the TASPA District I Representative, for arranging sponsors for all 2006/2007 SAAPA monthly luncheons.
President Brown recognized Fred Garza, Director Human Resources, Harlandale ISD and the TASPA Job Fair Committee for their outstanding work and for the phenomenal applicant turn out for the 2006/2007 TASPA District One Job Fair. Fred Garza of Harlandale gave a brief update on last year’s job fair. He thanked the committee once again for its efforts. He announced that there were 1,200+ candidates in attendance. Fred stated that an applicant database would be sent to each participating school district.
Under new business, President Brown announced that NISD is the sponsor for the 2006/2007 TASPA District I Job Fair and that the Job Fair Committees were set; however, he asked for volunteers (districts) to sponsor the TASPA 07-08 Teacher Job Fair.
A discussion followed on criminal history/background searches. Several options were brought up such as county, state, and national searches. Alamo Heights is currently using a private company at the cost of $4.00 per employee.
Members discussed teacher incentive pay. President Brown asked if any district had already accomplished its plans. Northside has several campuses that have received funds. This will be further discussed at the next meeting.
The retirements of Tom Gola of Southwest ISD and Paul Jette of Pleasanton were announced. We had final words of wisdom from Paul Jette, Pleasanton ISD. We will all miss Paul and Tom!
TASPA District I (ESC Regions 1, 2, and 20) is due to elect a new TASPA Board Representative at the Annual Winter Conference, December 6-8, 2006, as Midge Balanciere’s three-year tenure on the Board is over at the end of this year. If you have questions, call Midge Balanciere, NEISD Director Human Resource, 1-210-804-7025, extension 392.
Our next meeting is scheduled for November 30, 2006. Stay tuned!
TASPA District II
District Representative: Bob Crager, Director of Human Resources, Pearland ISD
District II [Gulf Coast Association of School Personnel Administrators (GCASPA)] held its fall meeting in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district on October 13, 2006. David Anthony, Cy-Fair ISD Superintendent, gave the opening welcome, and Liselotte Thompson, Region 4 Education Specialist, was the guest speaker. Her presentation: “TransACT Parent Notification”, informed the group of this free service offered by Region 4 to assist school districts with meeting the No Child Left Behind requirements of notifying parents. In addition, Dr. Mary Widmier, Humble ISD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, presented a TASPA legislative update, and Susan Moore-Fontenot, Goose Creek CISD Director of Human Resources, led a productive open discussion about SBEC issues.
Betty Rennell, Cy-Fair ISD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, announced her retirement in December, 2006. The next GCASPA meeting is being hosted by Katy ISD on February 9, 2007.
TASPA District III
District Representative: Marivel Sedillo, Director of Secondary Staffing, Round Rock ISD.
Dr. Patricia Lyons of Round Rock ISD facilitated our most recent meeting, which was held at the new TASB headquarters at 12007 Research Blvd. in North Austin on Tuesday, October 24, 2006 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The keynote speakers were Margie Horton and Barbie Pearson of the Texas Teacher Retirement System, who presented an update on TRS membership eligibility and on issues pertaining to employment after retirement.
After their presentation, Cindy Clegg of The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) HR Services division shared with attendees an annual HR activities calendar that is available to ISDs subscribed to TASB HR Services. All but three of the ISDs to which TASPA members belong also are subscribers to TASB HR Services, so be sure to check with Lysa Hoelscher at (512)467-0222 or Lysa.Hoelscher@tasb.org to see if your ISD is a subscriber to TASB HR Services and if you as an individual are on the list of employees who can access their services.
The next TASPA District III regional meeting will be Tuesday, November 14th at the TASB headquarters at 12007 Research Blvd. in North Austin from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and the topic will be on “Sharing Best Practices—District Personnel”.
TASPA District IV
District Representative: Dr. Neil Dugger, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Administration, Irving Independent School District.
The North Central chapter of TASPA, which incorporates most of District IV, has been very active this fall. We met on September 14th in Mesquite ISD to share compensation information and to hear a presentation from Daniel Casey on House Bill 1 and its future ramifications. The group also met on October 31st (Happy Halloween, but not in costume) in Garland to hear a presentation on H1-B Visas from TASPA Member and Garland ISD Personnel Director, Victor Leos. Our final meeting prior to the Winter Conference will be in Arlington ISD on November 9th, where newly-elected House Representative Dr. Diane Patrick will speak and listen to our concerns.
District IV members are anticipating the Winter Conference in Austin, a time of good fun, networking, and learning new ideas.
Looking ahead, NCTASPA will once again host one of the largest teacher job fairs in Texas on Monday, May 7th, at the Arlington Convention Center.
TASPA Districts V and VI
District Representative (V):
John Hancock, Personnel Director of Secondary Staffing, Amarillo ISD
District Representative (VI):
Melva V. Cardenas, Executive Director of Human Resource Services, Midland ISD
The West Texas Association of School Personnel Administrators, made up of TASPA District V and VI members, held its annual fall meeting at Lubbock ISD on Friday, October 13, 2006. There were approximately 45 administrators in attendance. As always, the group benefited from working through state and local issues with their colleagues. Lubbock Associate Superintendent for Personnel, Ralph Madrid, served as moderator of the event which tackled topics of major importance including: No Child Left behind/ Highly Qualified, Teacher/Substitute Absence Issues, Teacher Incentive Plans, and Criminal Background Investigations. Following a delicious lunch, the meeting was adjourned.
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