You're probably wondering what ASBO Connects is.

As a new member of both the workforce and the Public School Accounting realm, I had a lot to learn and not many networking connections.Within my first month of employment at Howard County, I became a member of ASBO and was attending my first Fall Conference. My supervisor knew that the key to my success would be networking with other professionals to make connections and relationships with people that had more knowledge and experience my field.

Job Opportunities? Did you know that you can now directly research professional opportunities?

School Safety Lessons Learned: From Cleveland to Newtown February 27, 2013 - by Stephen Sroka, Ph.D., President, Health Education Consultants I dealt with school violence before it was fashionable and funded. To me, any child killed anywhere, anytime, is a huge tragedy. But decades ago, when children were killed in the inner city of Cleveland, you probably never heard about them. When the killings moved to suburbs such as Columbine, they became national news. The Newtown shootings shocked the United States like no other school violence.

Dr. S. Dallas Dance, Baltimore County's new school superintendent, was featured in a recent article in Baltimore Magazine. Read about his vision for the county's schools.

Welcome to Joshua Rein, the new Data Systems and Energy Management Coordinator for Caroline County Public schools.

ASBO MD&DC will be participating in the ASBO International Global School Business Network. This online networking platform will ultimately give our members access to exchange information with thousands of ASBO members across the nation and Canada, and to create private networks where recommendations and information will come from a base of individuals who are intimately familiar with a topic. The Board, in recognition of their hard work and value to growing ASBO, voted to offer full scholarships to LEA liaisons to attend the 2013 Spring Conference if their school system does not provide financial support to them.

Join us! For the ASBO 61st Annual Spring Conference May 19th - May 22nd, 2013 in Ocean City Maryland. Registration Deadline of April 9, 2013 is fast approaching! See also Conference Registration forms under our Featured News as well as our list of Education Sessions!

ASBO International would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the school business officials in your state who have received awards and recognition from ASBO International. School Business Officials agree that ASBO International awards and recognition programs can boost morale and bring credibility through positive national attention.

Forty-five education sessions! That's what you'll find when you read through the 2013 ASBO Spring Conference Education Sessions. You can also find them at asbo.org. If you haven't already registered, now's the time to do it. Build your professional competency, learn how to save your school system money, network with your colleagues, and stay abreast of change.

By David Bein, SFO, and Jennifer Hermes Clear communication across the district can increase productivity and decrease stress on the job. Business managers interact with everyone from students to support and instructional staff, to Boards of Education, to community members, to legislators. Article reprinted with permission.

By Jeff Olefson and Ed Arum How You Communicate can Determine Your Stakeholders’ Perception of Your District. Working effectively with stakeholders is a common challenge for school business officials and non - instructional school leaders. SBOs are often frustrated by unrealistic expectations and a lack of appreciation for their efforts. What’s more, they are often blamed for things over which they have no control. One might blame lack of communication, and in a sense that’s true. But it doesn't have to be that way. By applying a few simple concepts, it’s possible to change stakeholder perceptions of you and your department. That’s the good news. Article reprinted with permission

Each year, ASBO offers the Fay Miller Education Leadership Eagle Institute Award, valued at over $2,000, to its incoming Vice President and another member who has applied for it. Last year, we were represented by Glenn Belmore and Vicki Mayle. This is an exceptional four day course that teaches leadership in a historical context. The Eagle Institute limits the number of participants to 40. You can learn more about the award by visiting asbo.org and read about what one of the recent attendees had to say about it.

In December of 2012, Harford County Public Schools was contacted by the U.S. Communities Facilities Solutions contract holder, Cintas. Cintas wanted to know if Harford County Public Schools had use for a large supply of surplus lab coats and if they did, could they accept them as a donation. Harford County Public Schools contacted their instructional content supervisors to see if the students could put this great offer to use. On February 11, 2013, Cintas delivered around 2,000 lab coats to be distributed to the Family and Consumer Science and Science Departments across Harford County’s Middle and High school locations. The value of the donation was estimated at more than $40,000.