Massachusetts Association of School Personnel Administrators

Dear MASPA Members:

Our meetings will be in Shrewsbury at the Shrewsbury Town Hall. I have enclosed directions for those of you just joining the organization. Meetings will be half day in length. We will begin each meeting with an “early bird” session from 8:30 to 9:30 AM. This will be time for you to come and get caught up with your friends. All programs will begin at 9:30 and end by noon. I would like to have meetings on a “regular” calendar day. I have selected the third Thursday of every month, but this is still needs to be ironed out with our presenters. There will be no December meeting and no Annual Meeting.

Our first meeting will be held on Thursday, September 16th. Helene Bettencourt, DESE State Data Collection Manager, and staff will join us for to review the purpose of the EPIMS data warehouse project and to answer any technical questions you and your IT staff may have. I know some of you have mentioned a concern with adding a third reporting time and this will give you an opportunity to discuss what is going on with this mandate. Please feel free to invite the person who does the EPIMS report to this meeting if it is not you.

As our recent survey data results indicated, you are also interested in the following topics: understanding how to comply with the ADA and still manage mental illnesses at work; an update on the work of the DESE and the proposed changes to teacher evaluation models currently in our school systems; and, of course, maintaining MASPA’s annual law day. These and other topics are all in the works; there will be more information to follow.

Finally, I know many of you are eager to pay your MASPA membership. To do this, please go on-line and register as a member for the 2010-2011 school year. All membership fees should be sent to our Treasurer Jeanne Mitchell, c/o the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, P.O. Box 720, Groton, MA 01450. Please note that our by-laws waive membership fees for retirees. The active member fee is $150.00.

Many thanks to all of you for your cooperation.

Candace Hall,
Director of HR, Andover Public Schools, MASPA President

Founded in 1981, the Massachusetts Association of School Personnel Administrators is the ONLY state professional organization of staff members charged with the responsibility for human resource and personnel administration in the public and private schools of Massachusetts. MASPA is dedicated to the support and development of human resource and personnel professionals and to the promotion of the human resource profession as an integral part of the educational system. The association provides research, reports, professional development activities and networking opportunities, so that you can do your job more efficiently, legally and effectively.

The goals of MASPA are to help human resource and personnel professionals to improve their management skills and grow in the profession. In addition, MASPA seeks to promote the exchange of ideas, information, and practices which will keep its members up to date in this rapidly changing field, especially as these changes affect school systems in Massachusetts. MASPA is a state affiliate of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators.