Online Training & Webinars

GOV 101: Essentials of School Board Governance (ONLINE)
Online Course/School Board U Recognition Points: 10

Click here to register through Hudson Valley Community College.

New York State law mandates that all newly elected school board members must complete their governance training within their first year of office.

Registrants will learn:

• The boards’ role in student achievement
• The dynamics of the board-superintendent relationship
• How policy is developed and used by the board
• Key legal parameters such as the Open Meetings Law
• How data is used by school boards in decision making

This training is comprised of four modules:

Module A:  The Importance and Purpose of School Boards
Module B:  School Board Members’ Rights, Risks and Responsibilities 
Module C:  Policy and Board Operations
Module D:  Date Use for Accountability and Student Achievement

Cost: $130 Member; $260 Nonmember
Please note that cancellations cannot be refunded after the course begins. 

Please make purchase orders out to Hudson Valley Community College.

Hudson Valley Community College
80 Vandenburgh Ave. 
Troy, NY 12180

GOV 102: Understanding the Open Meetings Law
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

With few exceptions, the Open Meetings Law gives the public access to the deliberations and decision-making process of public entities, including school boards. While the basic concept is simple, compliance can be difficult and the consequences for mistakes serious.  Your district must understand its responsibilities under the law or risk liability in both the judicial system and the court of public opinion. This webinar will help you decipher fact from fiction on topics ranging from common mistakes regarding executive session to public comment during your board meetings.

GOV 103: Using Policy to Guide the District
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

The school board sets policy that the district administration carries out. Learn what makes good policy. Identify required policies, as well as federal and state laws and regulations that district policy must comply with. Discover how policy aligns the school board's vision with district operations. Examine policies for effective district operations and student achievement.

GOV 104: Superintendent Evaluation Process
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

The superintendent's evaluation is best viewed as a process that is an extension of school district planning. Examine how to structure this process and identify key benchmarks and items that should be included.

GOV 202: Media Relations Boot Camp
Regional Workshop/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

From daily and weekly newspapers to local broadcast outlets to web outlets, school districts generate media coverage. What basic media relations policies and practices should your district have in place? Get the basics - learn how to work with the media using the PR tool box, and how to survive and thrive in this fast-paced world.  

GOV 203: Conflict Management
Pre-Recorded Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Is conflict taking your governance team down? Do you have competing priorities within the team or difficult personalities that make consensus an unattainable goal? The more time it takes to resolve a conflict, the greater the toll is on your school board’s performance – and ultimately, the greater the impact on your district. Learn positive ways to manage conflict on your team, how to deal with difficult personalities and communication styles, and how to build trust within the team to keep conflict at bay.

GOV 204: Team Operating Procedures
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Identify and clarify preferred practices, and review relevant policies to support board operating procedures using a board-self assessment tool. Help your board overcome typical challenges such as board/superintendent communication, meeting deliberation and participation, communication during public forums, school campus visits, district goal setting, superintendent evaluation, new member orientation and more.

GOV 205: Integrating New Board Members Into Your Governance Team
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

School boards are constantly faced with the transition of incorporating new members into their governance teams. Being able to operate at a highly functional level permits governance teams to work well together in spite of this transition and the constant challenges facing them. How do school boards remain highly functional while incorporating new members into their team? A new member orientation is a critical first step, along with providing information, training and a place for new members to ask questions. Welcome your new board members with an effective orientation process that will help new and seasoned board members transition together into a highly functional governance team. 

GOV 206: Savvy School District Communication Plans
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Understand the elements of a good communications plan. Examine what communication practices keep your district safe, proactive, credible and transparent. Learn strategies to utilize a variety of tools, including print publications, broadcast services, the web and social media to help your district to maintain an open flow of meaningful communication and provide timely information.

GOV 215: The Successful Superintendent Search
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Sooner or later, boards are faced with the critical task of searching for a new superintendent. The process of searching for a superintendent can be a challenge. In current times you face the additional difficulty finding the best person to run your district amidst budget shortfalls, projected layoffs and intense public scrutiny.  If that weren't enough, accelerated turnover among superintendents has created fierce competition for the highest caliber professionals, who are committed to a strong board-superintendent relationship. Logically, the board's process of searching for a superintendent becomes a primary focus and takes significant board time, all while maintaining district progress and preparing for the leadership transition.  Boards should seek all the help they can get. 

GOV 216: Effective School Board Meeting
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

You’ve been inquiring about best practices for running an effective school board meeting. Now you can get all your questions answered with this one very informative webinar.

GOV 217: Building a Strong Board-Superintendent Relationship
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

The quality of the working relationship between your board and the superintendent can either help or hinder student achievement. How can you foster good communication and avoid micro-management and other pitfalls?

GOV 218: The School Board Self-Evaluation
Pre-Recorded Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

This pre-recorded webinar will help you understand the key areas to evaluate and provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about the self-evaluation process in order to improve team operations and stay focused on governance and oversight tasks.

GOV 219: Budget Exit Polling: Survey Your Community on Timely Issues
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

This pre-recorded webinar will help you understand the key areas to evaluate and provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about the self-evaluation process in order to improve team operations and stay focused on governance and oversight tasks.

FIS 101: Fiscal Oversight Fundamentals (ONLINE)
Online Workshop/School Board U Recognition Points: 10

Click here to register through Hudson Valley Community College.

New York State law mandates that all newly elected school board members must complete their 6 hours of fiscal oversight training within their first year of office.

Registrants will learn:

• How school districts are funded.
• The qualifications and responsibilities of key financial positions such as the claims auditor, treasurer, and audit committee, and the relationship of these positions to the board.
• The importance of independence and segregation of duties in preventing fraud, waste and abuse.
• Reports you need to receive, from whom, and how often. Learn how to use these reports to assess your district’s financial condition.
• The key laws such as those regulating fund balance and other reserve funds your district must comply with.
• Policy and oversight actions your board can take to set the example and protect resources.

This training is comprised of five modules:

Module 1: School District Finances: Roles and Responsibilities 
Module 2: Revenue Sources and the Budget Process 
Module 3: Building School District Fiscal Fitness
Module 4: Monitoring School District Fiscal Fitness
Module 5: Preventing Fraud, Waste and Abuse of District Resources

Cost: $130 Member; $260 Nonmember
Please note that cancellations cannot be refunded after the course begins.

Please make purchase orders out to Hudson Valley Community College.

Hudson Valley Community College
80 Vandenburgh Ave. 
Troy, NY 12180.

FIS 102: The School District Budget Process
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

One of the principal responsibilities of a school board is to present a budget to its community. The legal rules for doing so, however, are complicated. In this crash course, get an overview of the entire process with a concentration on the specific role school boards play.

FIS 201: K-12 Foundations: Power and Potential
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Wondering how to increase educational opportunities and resources for your school district when you're faced with cutting your budget?  More and more school districts and communities are establishing their own education foundations.  Gain a greater understanding of what a K-12 education foundation is and what it can do for you. Learn the hallmarks of highly effective K-12 foundations along with the nuts and bolts of foundation development.

FIS 202: K-12 Foundations: Setting Direction Strategically
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Just starting or already have an education foundation for your district?  Learn about the importance of developing solid organizational management, which includes determining the mission, values, and strategic plan. Learn from examples of great foundations. Grasp how strategic planning, governance, and fundraising fit together.

FIS 203: K-12 Foundations: Student - Centered Fundraising
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Fundraising is the essence of an education foundation. Learn the many critical components of raising resources. Discover how to find potential donors. Understand how to make your "case" and make it stick in the hearts of potential donors. Realize the various ways people can make donations, and don't forget your alumni. It's learning how to ask. It takes time.

FIS 205: Getting the Most out of your Audit Committee
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Audit committees play a vital role for the board assisting and advising the board on issues relating to the district’s external and internal audit functions. This webinar will help you better understand the role of the audit committee, and provide best practices for maximizing the full potential of the audit committee including:

• The importance of the audit committee charter in defining the mission and objectives of the committee
• How your committee can run smoother and more effectively
• How the audit committee promotes the “tone at the top” in the district
• Assessing audit committee effectiveness

FIS 206: An Education Foundation Continuum: A Strategic Plan for Success & Sustainability
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Discover what it takes to create a successful education foundation in this webinar led by national leaders in the field of education. This 90-minute webinar will examine:

• The Building Blocks of A Successful Foundation
• The Launch Campaign
• Annual Resource Development
• The Campaign for Sustainability

FIS 207: Raising Expectations! Raising Results!
Stages for Building a Strategic and Successful Foundation
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

You have decided that you want a foundation for your district. Where do you begin?  Learn the steps necessary for preparing for a launch campaign to start a foundation in your district, to take yours to the next level by raising money for a specific program or initiative, or for the initial funding for a foundation staff position. Explore the skills necessary to recruit the most outstanding volunteers for your board or for your planning committee.

The Launch Fund is a "mini" campaign to get the foundation ready for a complete major gifts program by preparation of a compelling case for why people should support the work of the foundation. The Launch gets your campaign planning committee, which includes your community champion of public education and your volunteers, involved and engaged in the initial stages for the financial building blocks for your foundation.  Finally, it sets a specific goal for funds to be raised and then allows the foundation to celebrate success when that goal has been reached.

Walk away from this webinar with a set of steps ensuring a successful launch campaign for your school foundation.

FIS 208:Education Foundations' Financial Management
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

One of the most vital aspects of any nonprofit organization is sound financial management and planning.  Learn from John Olsen, an experienced CPA with years of work with nonprofits, the essentials of financial management for your education foundation. 

Find out –

• Which documentation should be reviewed by your attorney or a CPA? 
• What information must be included in your IRS Forms 1023, 990 and NYS CHAR500 and when must they be filed? 
• How will the relationship between your foundation and school district best be structured? 
• Can you share personnel and how do you handle administrative costs? 
• What books and records should be kept?  
• Will you use a cash basis or accrual basis to track your finances?   
• When you need an audit, how will you go about it? 
• What are the key concerns of the IRS and NYS Charities Bureau that may apply to the operations of your Foundation?

FIS 209: The Legal Aspects of Education Foundations
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

In these challenging fiscal times, more and more school districts are turning to educational foundations for additional support of a school district’s programs and facilities. Explore the legal aspects surrounding the relationship between a school district and an educational foundation and get an overview of the legal process involved in setting up a foundation.

• How is a foundation created as a legal entity?
• How does a foundation become tax exempt?
• Does the Commissioner of Education need to approve a foundation?
• Can school board members serve on a foundation’s board?
• Can school board members, district employees and students volunteer and engage in fund raising activities for a foundation?
• What are the rules pertaining to a school district accepting gifts from a foundation?

STU 101: Hiring and Firing School District Employees
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Since public employees are legally entitled to a host of due process rights, school boards, as employers, must learn the basic rules to follow in hiring and, when necessary, terminating employees. Understand your role in the process and how to minimize the threat of legal liability.

STU 102: Setting Direction for School Districts
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Setting the district direction is not just about where the district is headed, but about how it will get there. Examine how to use goal setting as a road map to drive the district's plan of action. Learn how to keep your district's priorities and progress in sight throughout the year.

STU 204: Teaching for the Future: Incorporating 21st Century Skills 
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Examine East Syracuse-Minoa's experiences in incorporating 21st century skills into curriculum, engaging stakeholders, parents, students, local businesses and employers in the dialogue that helped create their district's vision, mission, and goals. Adapt their lessons to your own district. 

STU 205: Data-Based Decision Making
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

How can data help improve our ability to plan and assess our district's success? Understand the types of questions that board members could and should be asking. Learn how to utilize multiple data sources to help answer questions and support budget allocations. Explore how to better plan and evaluate your district's programs and services, and meet your district's goals.

STU 206: Student Wellness Policies
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Take your district's wellness policy from theory to practice. Review key elements and effective methods for implementing and monitoring a policy that can create long-lasting and positive change in your students' lives.

DIS 101: Introduction to Collective Bargaining
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Get the basics in the critical elements of Taylor Law, the state's collective bargaining statute, and learn the board's specific role in the process. Hear how recent court and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) rulings affect the manner in which school districts must approach collective bargaining.

DIS 102: Student Rights, Risks and Responsibilities
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Get a primer in the legal rights students have in school – from free speech to due process. Learn the responsibilities school boards have to ensure students their rights and the risks they take when their districts are not in compliance with legal obligations in this area. Explore the parameters of applicable state and federal laws, and learn where common sense fits in.

DIS 203: Weathering the Economic Storm: Fiscal Options, Shared Services and Cost Savings Measures
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Local taxpayer dollars and state funding continue to be squeezed for education.  Explore your options to maximizing cost savings with collaboration and shared services through your BOCES. What and how can you share certain services, or consolidate management or central office functions to gain efficiencies? Explore how to save money without sacrificing student achievement and community goodwill. Examine the issues and challenges that might arise when considering sharing services.

DIS 204: Social Media in Your School District
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5

Get a basic understanding of social media tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. How do you get started? What should you watch out for? See what other districts are doing and learn how you can add these tools to your district communications toolbox.

DIS 208: Social Media Revisited
Webinar/School Board U Recognition Points: 5