ACSA Mid-State Conference 2025 - Forging the Path to Future Success

Educational leadership is an itinerary consumed by the wildest of storms. The leaders that are equipped with the navigation skills to weather the most significant challenges are the leaders that will become happier, more resilient, and more connected to their purpose. Superintendent and best selling author, Dr. Donya Ball will present the most critical storms that every leader will encounter and Roni Habib, founder of EQ schools and internationally recognized speaker and executive coach will facilitate the exercises and approaches required to forge forward to calm waters.

In an effort to support student mental wellness, Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified school District has partnered with United Health to bring critical behavioral health services directly to cutler, Orosi, Monson, and Sultana communit8ies. This collaboration aims to reduce barriers to care and ensure that all students have access to support they need to thrive academically and personally. This presentation will outline the journey one rural school district took to bring much needed services to students in four unincorporated communities.

Behavioral and mental health needs for students have never been greater. Student mental wellness programming and systems often feel like a winding road that never leads closer to improved student outcomes. As an administrator or site leader, it can be hard to know where to begin let alone where you're going or how to get there. In this session, participants will explore the interconnected systems framework as a roadmap for systems change related to student behavioral and mental health. Participants learn about measurable and actionable models for wellness and mental health school-based programs.  Consistent with the MTSS framework, we will explore Coordination of Services Team, Universal Social Emotional Screener tools processes, annual wellness scope and sequence design, program objective setting and progress monitoring, and other related evidence based practices. Participants will walk away with immediately actionable next steps and will be equipped with tools needed to lead them further down to road towards wellness.

California schools must comply with several laws related to school safety.  Further, emerging technology offers schools several ways to bolster school security.  However, the laws fail to provide comprehensive guidelines as to what school districts can and are legally authorized to do to promote school safety.  This presentation will provide a comprehensive list of actions schools can take to both comply with safety laws and explore options to further increase school security.  These safety steps will help schools develop a plan to ensure their school sites are safe while honoring the rights of all involved.