With the help of the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, we assembled a group of experts in school finance to talk about federal COVID relief funds and preK-12 education. We discuss how this money can be spent as well as some best practices and mistakes to avoid. 

We noted the DPI has assembled a summary of the funding for ESSER under each of the stimulus bills, including fiscal information, allowable activities, and specific programs outlined under each act. Find that document here.

We know good teachers and good principals help kids learn. We talk about how school board-superintendent teams can have the same effect.

Retired superintendents and WASB consultants Dan Nerad and Fran Finco break down effective governance. We talk about the parts of effective governance and the mindsets that underlie it all. 

They'll go into much more detail at the 2021 Summer Leadership Institute, to be held July 24 in Green Bay. 

To understand culturally responsive teaching, we went to a school district that sees this practice as a core part of its mission.

 Dr. Larry Ouimette is administrator of the Lac du Flambeau School District, a majority American Indian rural district in northern Wisconsin.

In April he wrote a story in School Administrator magazine about the connection between cultural responsiveness and effective education.

We talk about the role of culture in education, as well as some of their other continuous improvement strategies, including Lac du Flambeau Family Circles.

Elmbrook Schools are in one of the most competitive education markets in the state, so communications that engage and build relationships with employees and families are critical. 

The district led a popular State Education Convention session on engagement, and we sat down with Chris Thompson, the district's chief strategy officer, to talk about the ideas, events and approaches that work for them.

Learn more about Chris here.

Wisconsin school boards generally must select a president, vice president, treasurer and clerk from among their ranks.

This episode is a conversation with Louise Wilson, state school nurse and health services consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Instruction. We discuss what we've learned about COVID, vaccine rollout and more.

Given the fast pace of news in Madison and Washington, D.C., this episode will be an update on education news at the state and federal levels.

We discuss how the latest COVID-19 relief money is being given to schools, vaccines and more.

As always, subscribe to the WASB Legislative Update blog for the latest information.

Finally, please consider taking a brief survey to help us improve the podcast.

This episode features conversations with three of Wisconsin's teachers of the year. 

We're also including some resources about trauma to accompany the conversation with Trish Kilpin: 

As a virtual experience, the 100th Wisconsin State Education Convention, to be held Jan. 20-22, will be different from all those that have come before it.

We wanted to give attendees an idea of what to expect, so this episode begins with a conversation with WASB Communications Director Sheri Krause.

Next, the episode heads into a conversation with Anna Maria Chávez, executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association and a convention keynote. We spoke about COVID, leadership and her background, as well as some of the following NSBA resources:

Stress has always been part of being a board member. But the pandemic is requiring education leaders to make tough decisions that may prompt criticism from their community.