AWSP Blog

The first fiscal committee deadline passed on Monday, and the list of active bills got even smaller as executive action by both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee was not taken on some bills. The Legislature spent the rest of this week (and will spend all of next week) on floor action trying to get bills passed out of each house in order to meet the next deadline of March 9th. This is a much slower process in a remote session, so fewer bills will survive this session. We are watching to see which bills are still moving and will keep advocating to get bills of importance to the floor for votes.

Weekly special education and Section 504 resources from Abby Bowers, Capital Region ESD 113's Director of Special Programs.

Both Houses are focusing on ‘floor’ action. They have primarily voted to pass bills that have the support of both parties. Proposals that do not have such consent continue to be approved along party lines. And some bills such as those dealing with police and/or guns generate lively debate. Bills have to be out of their houses of origin by the end of the day March 9th. So, these floor debates will get even more spirited as the controversial bills come before the bodies.

Like many of you, my students are returning back to in person learning and I love it. This however, has brought a total different level of anxiety and stress to staff, students, and families. Which means it is critical that we, as leaders in our school, do something this month of modified “madness” to bring joy into our schools. March lends itself naturally to great opportunities of celebration to love on your staff between college basketball March Madness (Go Zags!), St. Patrick’s Day, or a few other exciting days I have included in this newsletter. I hope you can find one or two ideas to implement and utilize with your team.

As we know, the Legislature considers it a matter of public safety for its schools and staff to have current safe school plans and procedures in place to maximize safety for all students and staff. Districts and schools are required to develop comprehensive all-hazard emergency operations plans (EOPs) to address prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery strategies.