Horne: School safety grants should prioritize police presence

Armed officers best line of defense against violence

“Every school should have a law enforcement officer to protect students and staff, and this should be accomplished on an urgent basis”, Horne said. “Delay in implementing this goal could leave schools more vulnerable to a tragic catastrophe. Schools that currently have no armed presence yet submit grants applications that do not request an officer will not receive a recommendation from this Department to the State Board of Education.”

In recent weeks, throughout the Valley, there have been reported incidents of heightened school threats, real and fake weapons found on campus, and disturbing social media postings regarding school violence. Department staff have also received phone calls from teachers in a Phoenix-area high school district complaining of fights including one involving multiple students in which a female teacher was knocked down. This is a growing trend not just in Arizona but throughout the country.

Horne added, “I am a longtime supporter of each school having a counselor to help ensure the well-being of students. As a school board member in 1978, I was the only one to vote against a proposal to eliminate counselors from that district’s schools. Schools still ought to have counselors but providing a safe school atmosphere that requires an armed presence is the first priority.”

As part of the Department’s service-oriented mission, Michael Kurtenbach, the former Assistant Chief of the Phoenix Police Department, has been named the Director of School Safety. He will be assisted by former Phoenix Police Commander Allen Smith. The two will work throughout the state providing schools with resources and expertise to implement effective personnel and safety procedures. They will also assist school administrators in building trust with students to foster specific types of communication that help support a safer school environment.

Kurtenbach has more than 32 years of experience in law enforcement. He has served as Vice Chair of Terros Behavioral Services, Advisory Board Member of the ASU Center for Violence Prevention, Board Member of AZ Common Ground, and numerous law enforcement associations.

He attended the 2018 Anti-Defamation League National Counter Terrorism Seminar in Israel, and he has served as a grant reviewer for the U.S. Office of Justice Programs.

He has been awarded the Freedom Fund Award for Law Enforcement from the Maricopa County NAACP, the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award, Hero Award from the Center for Neighborhood Leadership and multiple law enforcement honors including the Phoenix Police Department Medal of Valor, Distinguished Service Award, Community Based Policing Award, among many others.

February's data capture for the March 21st payment is 2/15/23 at 5pm. 

Please ensure data is reconciled and free of integrity errors prior to the data capture date. Review the following reports in AzEDS:

INTEG15 – ensure data is free and clear of membership ADM Integrity errors

STUD10 – validate all students are listed in AzEDS

ADM15 – ensure all students expected to generate funding are indicated as fundable

ADM20, SPED20, and EL20 – ensure ADM amounts for each ADM type 

Important Note: FY23 Calendars need to be submitted, approved, and certified for ADM and funding to be generated.

The following videos provide general information related to the data reconciliation process:

Introduction to Data Verification Reports: https://youtu.be/ou9Jst9qnsg

Introduction to Data Verification Reports 2: https://youtu.be/_m3uEo3OGRI

Introduction to Integrity: https://youtu.be/PYzBAEZmiSs

Prior payment reports can be found here: https://schoolfinancereports.azed.gov/.

Please submit a School Finance HelpDesk ticket if data assistance is needed.

The College and Career Competencies (CCC’s) Project, in partnership with ADE, would like to invite you to tune into the spring professional learning series. We plan to share a variety of information and strategies that will support your understanding and implementation of assertiveness, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. 

Details for the upcoming professional learning session:

Teaching Students Respectful Communication: Understanding Assertiveness
February 21, 2023, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Description:
Do your students have difficulties expressing themselves or asking for help when they don’t understand? Do they struggle to share their opinions during group work, or struggle to set boundaries with their peers? Effectively communicating your wants, needs, and thoughts is a skill that will benefit students in school and in college or careers as well. During this one-hour webinar, you will explore several instructional activities you might use to build and support assertiveness in your students. The instructional activities include how to help students differentiate between passive, aggressive, and assertive behaviors and how to advocate for themselves using assertive statements. Register for Teaching Students Respectful Communication.

Registration is required for all CCC’s Project Professional Learning sessions. Please register in advance for Understanding Assertiveness.

For more information or for any questions, please email Whitney Hersh.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ADE School Finance moved new SPED ADM Reports into Production. 

The SPED20 report will now only include District/Charter Summary Information. The new SPED30 report will include Site Level Summary Information.

Both reports can still be run for any date in the year.  In addition to running the report for District of Residence and the Submitting District, the new reports allow you to run the report for District of Attendance also.

Please Note: The new SPED20 and SPED30 reports will only be available for FY23 and forward. 

ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2023 IDEA Conference will be held in person from August 21–23, 2023, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.

This year’s theme is Creating Connections and Strengthening Systems. This cross-stakeholder event is intended for special education administrative staff, youth and young adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers, state agency staff, educators, service providers, and community members committed to student success. The event will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities, including IDEA legal issues, instructional practices, national trends and hot topics, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, and content for related service providers.

ADE/ESS is pleased to request proposals for this year’s conference. Please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work. See the 2023 IDEA Conference Call for Papers guidelines for information on how to submit. Session proposals are due March 15, 2023.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to the year ahead. Stay informed by visiting the IDEA Conference website for conference updates, including registration information. Questions can be emailed to the IDEA Conference inbox.

ADE/ESS is excited to share that Arizona’s 2023 IDEA Conference will be held in person from August 21–23, 2023, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix.

This year’s theme is Creating Connections and Strengthening Systems. This cross-stakeholder event is intended for special education administrative staff, youth and young adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers, state agency staff, educators, service providers, and community members committed to student success. The event will feature over 75 professional learning opportunities, including IDEA legal issues, instructional practices, national trends and hot topics, special education compliance, preschool and secondary transition, and content for related service providers.

ADE/ESS is pleased to request proposals for this year’s conference. Please consider submitting presentations that represent your creative and research-based work. See the attached 2023 IDEA Conference Call for Papers guidelines for information on how to submit. Session proposals are due March 15, 2023.

ESS appreciates this opportunity to learn with each of you and looks forward to the year ahead. Stay informed by visiting the IDEA Conference website for conference updates, including registration information. Questions can be emailed to the IDEA Conference inbox.

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-941, teacher experience data should have been transmitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction by October 15th at 4:30 p.m. SDER data can be modified between February 1 and March 1.

SDER data is required to calculate your district’s Teacher Experience Index (TEI) which may increase your FY 2024 budget limit and equalization assistance. Preliminary TEI amounts can be viewed at the bottom of the SDER96 report at schoolfinancereports.azed.gov.

This requirement is for school districts only. Charter districts are not required to submit this information at this time.

Access the School District Employee Report (SDER) application via ADEConnect. If you do not have access to the SDER application in ADEConnect, please contact your Entity Administrator and request to be assigned the role "SDER - LEA User".

If a district’s data is not submitted and error free (File Status = Current Usable File), with teachers listed with their school's CTDS, it will not be included in the TEI calculation.  Final TEI reports will be available on or before March 15, 2023.

• View the posted memo here: https://schoolfinancereports.azed.gov/Memos, fiscal year 2023, Memo Number 23-018

• View the posted manual with instructions here: /sites/default/files/2021/10/SDER%20Manual%20Revised%2010.7.21.pdf

• View the recorded training here: https://youtu.be/RkyRCAeO2VY

Please submit a HelpDesk ticket if you need assistance with submitting your SDER data. 

BUDG-25 reports for all school districts have been posted to the School Finance website.  FY 2023 January BUDG-25 reports have been calculated using the FY 2022 BUDG-75 report and FY 2023 January BSA 55-1 information. Please note, the reduction for any over-expenditure amount in M&O and/or Unrestricted as reported on the FY 2022 BUDG-75 will be included on the FY 2023 January BUDG-25 Reports.

• District BUDG-25 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select a school district and then click “Go!”
  • Next, click “Switch to Budgets” from the top right corner of the menu bar and then click “Reports” from the middle of the menu bar.
  • Finally, select fiscal year 2023 and then click “Go!”. The BUDG-25 report will appear.

• District BUDG-75 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select a school district and then click “Go!”
  • Next, click “Switch to Budgets” from the top right corner of the menu bar and then click “Reports” from the middle of the menu bar.
  • Finally, select fiscal year 2022 and then click “Go!”. The BUDG-75 report will appear.

• District BSA 55-1 reports are available to download from the School Finance website:
  • First, select a school district and then click “View Reports”
  • Next, scroll down the page to the “School District Reports” section.
  • Finally, click the January “PDF” button. The January BSA 55-1 report will appear.

BUDG-25 reports will be available until the Budget Team performs the next update (typically after each State Aid distribution). Once the updating process has begun, all BUDG-25 reports will become unavailable at that time.  Please save a copy for future reference.

Please contact the Budget Team ([email protected]) if you have any questions.

Thank you!

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT       

Special Education Data Updates Webinar Wednesday, February 15th 

   The Exceptional Student Services Data Management team will host the next Special Education Data Updates live webinar on Wednesday, February 15th, from 2pm – 3pm. This session will cover a variety of data topics that will include (subject to change):   

• Reminders 
• Trending topics 
• Top 3 Integrity Errors 
• Q&A        

Registration is required to attend: Register for Special Education Data Updates webinar.   

For questions, please contact ESS Data Management via email at [email protected].    

For Immediate Release 
January 25, 2023
Contact: [email protected]

Immediate Job Openings to be filled at “Arizona Education Job Fair & Career Expo” 

Schools offering opportunities for educator and support positions

PHOENIX - Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is encouraging job seekers to explore exciting new career opportunities at the statewide Arizona Education Job Fair & Career Expo. The event hosted by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel.

“Arizona public schools are some of our state’s largest employers providing a wide array of career opportunities that many people may not even be aware of,” said Superintendent Horne. “Arizonans attending the fair will have the opportunity to explore and perhaps secure an excellent job where their skills can support public education throughout our state." 

At least 130 Arizona public schools will have recruiting booths at the job fair. Attendees will be able to speak with employers about open positions and learn more about the vast career opportunities and benefits available to school staff.  

The participating schools will be able to issue letters of intent and job offers to prospective teachers, and other new hires pending background checks. Representatives from ADE’s Certification Section will also be available to counsel attendees on becoming a certified teacher in Arizona. Convenient finger printing will be on site for interested applicants. 

To register for the Arizona Education Job Fair & Career Expo, please visit: Registration Form