Leadership Wellness for Superintendents Preconference Session
TASA is pleased to offer the Leadership Wellness for Superintendents preconference session, Sunday, January 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. prior to the 2020 TASA Midwinter Conference at the Austin Convention Center. Plan to arrive early for the conference to learn about taking care of your district and community while also taking care of yourself and your family.
Leadership Wellness
Preconference Topics
This portion of the preconference session, sponsored by ETS ProEthica, will provide information about developing an ethical decision-making framework for you and your organization.
A panel discussion about managing the stresses and challenges of the superintendency will feature several highly respected superintendents.
Professional Ethics
Beyond Rules: Developing an Ethical Decision-Making Framework
An ethical decision-making framework provides a guide rail for educators and students, reducing risks in the thousands of daily decisions that educators make. This session will present the teacher and leader perspective on developing an ethical standard of care and a collaborative culture of ethical decision-making to ensure safety and equity for all students.
The Teacher’s Perspective
The teacher’s perspective will be offered by facilitator Josh Parker, who will share that, of the thousands of decisions that we make every day, some are made for teachers in the form of school processes, policies, and rules. However, many others fall into an area that mathematics researcher Deb Ball terms “discretionary spaces,” where no hard and fast rules have been created and that usually involve reactions to students. If there is no code to assist with behaviors within those discretionary spaces, more possibility for bias and personal judgment exists to govern those decisions, exposing teachers and students to risk. A code of ethics is a way to ensure a measure of safety and equity for children due to the multitude of unregulated decisions that must be made by teachers.
Josh Parker
The Teacher's Perspective
Josh Parker’s mission in education and life is to “help people and solve problems.” Throughout his career, he has achieved both goals. He has served students and teachers in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. corridor as an ELA instructional coach, language arts department chair, secondary language arts teacher, professor, and compliance specialist. He now serves teachers, administrators, and educational leaders throughout the country as the director of Engagement and Programs at Unbound Ed. Parker, a Teaching Channel Laureate and Education Week writer, was also a Lowell Milken Unsung Hero (2017), NEA Global Fellow (2013) and Maryland Teacher of the Year (2012).
The System Perspective
The system perspective will be offered by Kelly Henson, who will share that a code of ethics can serve as a guard-rail and more specifically, guide-rail, for the type of systems in which we want our teachers to work and in which we want our students to learn. Implementing the code of ethics should not be an add-on, per se, but an integrated element of high-quality instruction. When we use aspects of coherence such as focusing direction, securing accountability, cultivating collaborative cultures, and deepening learning (Fullan), we provide the strategies for embedding a code of ethics throughout the system.
Kelly Henson
The System Perspective
From 2007 to 2019, Kelly C. Henson served as executive secretary of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC), where he led substantive educator preparation policy, certification, assessment, and ethics reform initiatives. Prior to that, he served as superintendent of schools in Floyd County, Georgia. He was also named a finalist for Georgia Superintendent of the Year twice. Henson also has experience as a principal and associate superintendent. He has served on the National Board of Directors of AASA, as president of the Northwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency, and on the Georgia School Superintendents Association’s Board of Directors. He has received numerous awards, the most recent being the 2019 AACTE David G. Imig Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education.
Legal/Financial Wellness
Legal and Financial Aspects of the Superintendency
This portion of the preconference session will feature financial experts with TCG Advisors, who will share important information about financial wellness, superintendent contracts, TRS rules, and more. It will also include a short presentation on the legal aspects of superintendent contracts and the school board perspective on superintendent contracts.
John Pesce
CEO & Co-Founder, TCG Advisors
John Pesce is TCG’s visionary co-founder and manager in charge. John leads a team of experienced, principled advisors in the sustained effort to provide an unprecedented level of customer service in the finance industry. He joined forces with Mike Cochran to start TCG Group Holdings LLP in 1999.
Mike Cochran
Chairman & Co-Founder, TCG Advisors
Mike Cochran has managed all types of retirement plans and served as an officer in two Fortune 500 companies before co-founding TCG with John Pesce. He works primarily with institutional investors and provides financial planning and compensation advice for most of TCG’s public sector executive clients.
Mason Moses
Investment Advisor, TCG Advisors
Mason Moses is an investment advisor with TCG Advisors.
Neal Adams
Founding Principal, Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C.
Neal Adams has 43 years of experience in a wide range of complex business and commercial transactions and a complex public school law practice of 27 years. He represents Texas school superintendents in their employment matters with public school districts as TASA general counsel.
David Thompson
Partner, Thompson & Horton, LLP
David Thompson is a partner in the Houston office of Thompson & Horton, LLC, and represents public school districts, junior colleges and other educational entities across Texas. He has extensive experience with board/superintendent relations, contracts, conflicts of interest, nepotism, student residency and attendance, competitive bidding, school board policy development, and employment matters.
Personal Wellness
Taking Care of Your District, Your Family, and Yourself
A panel of practicing Texas superintendents will discuss how they have managed the enormous stresses of the job from physical, emotional, and spiritual standpoints. They will share tips and strategies that work for them and their staffs.
Charles Dupre
Superintendent, Fort Bend ISD
Dr. Charles E. Dupre has served as superintendent of Fort Bend ISD since 2013. His unique background as a certified public accountant and real-world experience have benefited the district during times of growth, both currently and in his previous role as associate superintendent and chief financial officer.
David Faltys
Superintendent, Carroll ISD
Dr. David J. Faltys has served as the superintendent of Carroll ISD since January 2006. He is a former classroom teacher, coach, high school principal and assistant superintendent in Navasota ISD, and is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he earned his doctorate degree.
George Kazanas
Superintendent, Midway ISD (12)
George Kazanas has served as superintendent of Midway ISD in Region 12 since 2012 and as an educator for 27 years. He is a product of Central Texas public schools, growing up in and teaching in West ISD and serving in leadership positions in China Spring ISD. Kazanas also served as superintendent of the Wichita Falls and China Spring school districts.
David Young
Superintendent, Abilene ISD
Dr. David Young has served as superintendent of Abilene ISD since 2015. Prior to that he served as the superintendent of Pampa ISD and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Midway ISD, and he held several central office roles in Bryan ISD. He began his education career as a math teacher and principal.
How to Register
Online registration is closed for the preconference; however, you may register on-site. On-site registration will be open at 9 a.m., Sunday, January 26, in the Atrium on Level 1 of the Austin Convention Center. Cost for the preconference session is $150.