FASBO is planning to convene once again in October to help school business leaders hone their skills and interact with colleagues.

Conference highlights include:
•  44 in-depth professional development sessions presented by state & national experts
•  50+ exhibitors showcasing their products and solutions at Florida's school business expo
•  100+ attendees, including the best and brightest in school leadership
•   Inspiring keynote speakers

The conference will be held at the The DoubleTree Seaworld in Orlando, FL. 

For more than 52 years, FASBO has been uniting school business leaders to help you hone your skills, advance your career and build your network. Meet face to face with your colleagues and friends, connect with their knowledge and expertise, and start sending your own positive shifts throughout school business today!

Conference registration is $200

School business is a very complex and demanding profession requiring a special set of knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that those that follow us have the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities. To that end, the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of School Business Officials (FASBO) has embarked on the creation of a Professional Certification Program.

Although Florida is the fourth largest state in the nation, it is one of nineteen states with no certification or credentialing requirements. The Florida School Finance Council has recognized this emerging issue. It is the feeling of the Council that certification or credentialing will benefit individual school districts and the statewide education system as it will address recruitment and retention issues, cultivate talent internally, encourage best practices, and build a cadre of professional school business leaders and staff members. As technology advances an increased need for training at the clerical and paraprofessional is also becoming more apparent.

Recognizing the importance of attaining professionalism for school business officials, not only with regard to acquired knowledge and experience, but also in terms of the recognition and respect of peers and other professionals, FASBO’s Board of Directors established its Professional Certification Program in 2009.

The Program offers both acknowledgment and recognition for professionals at all levels of school business management. Certification is a way of recognizing those individuals with the background, training, and on-the-job experience to meet recognized standards of professional competence.

ASBO International, in addition to sharing information and resources to support its members during this
difficult time, is working with its Legislative Advisory Committee, education coalition partners, and federal officials to advocate on the federal level for flexibilities and assistance for schools impacted by COVID-19.

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) announced this week that its Student Loan Solutions (SLS) program identified more than $100 million in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) opportunities for educators in 2020, bringing the program’s lifetime total to more than $350 million.(Business Wire)

Nearly half of educators who belong to the nation’s largest teachers’ union have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and an additional 36 percent said they have scheduled, or intend to schedule, their vaccination. Having a strong majority of educators vaccinated against the coronavirus would constitute a major milestone in the journey to reopening all school buildings for in-person learning. The new survey by the National Education Association also found that 87 percent of its members say they are willing to work in person if they are fully vaccinated. (Education Week)

Legislatures are weighing proposals to establish summer learning initiatives, expand afterschool programs and extend the school year. But for those who need more to get back on track, some states are examining a more controversial option: holding students back. (The 74)

The U.S. Department of Education will host a virtual National Safe School Reopening Summit, which will be held on Wednesday, March 24, from 12 p.m. – 3:30 p m EDT. The Summit is one of a series of steps the Department is taking to provide support and resources to schools as they work to reopen quickly and safely and equitably address the academic, social, and emotional needs of students most impacted by the pandemic.

The Department is partnering with the Learning Policy Institute to provide research support for the Summit, and the event is open to the public. Those interested in attending can register here.