The AZ Rural Leader Offi cial Publication of the Arizona Rural Schools Association SOG OG in this issue... Winter 2020 Page 1 • From the Executive Director Page 3 • The Final Mile by Sean Rickert, Superintendent Pima USD, ARSA Executive Board Page 5 • Advantages of a Rural Education by Dr. Andy Smith and J. Ron Hennings Page 7 •Why We’re Living in a Footnote of History by Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Offi cer Page 9 • Maintaining Strong Internal Controls in a Virtual Environment by Dennis Maschke, CWDL Audit Partner Page 11 • Research to Improve Academic Outcomes for Students by Dr. Melissa Sadorf, Stanfield ESD, ARSA President Elect Page 14 • ARSA Executive Board Members Page24 • No Going Back From Hybrid and Remote Learning by Benjamin Herold Message from the Executive Director Over the last several months, I’ve been invited to countless zoom meetings where I’ve heard rural superintendents defi ne the reality of the week, debrief on what worked for them, and might work for someone else. I’ve witnessed the tedium of dealing with the same misinformation, lack of information, and downright willful disinformation. Not to be dramatic, but what I’ve seen is almost always impressive, and sometimes inspiring. I have seen applied common sense rise to the level great courage; sometimes even sacrifi ce. Like all of us, I could have done without this whole pandemic thing. I did not need 500,000 deaths to remind me of the value of life, and I did not need quarantines and social distancing to teach me how much I value human contact. Those I could have done without, but what I never want to live without is the experience of the leadership you have demonstrated. Thank you for allowing me to see it. Our association is doing well, membership is over 160 which represents 143 districts, 427 schools, and over 197,000 students. As an association, we, meaning you, represent a large and growing numbers of rural districts, students, and communities all across rural Arizona. For those of you who may not know, ARSA, ABEC, and AACSS, created The Final Mile Project to help schools make that “last Mile” connection to students who either do not have useable internet or cannot aff ord the internet which is available to them. The post-COIVD world will make internet equity one of the most important needs our rural students have. We all know that virtual learning as an important part of instruction is here to stay, and if students do not have aff ordable; eff ective two-way internet capability, they will always be at an instructional disadvantage to all those who do. Currently we are identifying schools and districts who have students without internet at home. We determine the scope of the problem and establish the capital cost to build out wi-fi internet to the homes of those students in need, and then we begin looking for funding. We all know that the federal government is on the verge of targeting impressive amounts of funding towards states. We are well positioned to receive a portion of this aid, which we will use to capitalize our projects. Please visit our webpage: https://www.thefi nalmileproject.com/ Our 26th annual conference is scheduled for September 16-18, 2021 at little America again in Flagstaff. The theme of this year’s conference is: “Facing Our NEXT Normal Together”. Again, I’d like to thank you for inspiration in difficult times. I’ll make sure our next conference will be a celebration of how far we’ve come together. One last thing. We’ve changed our newsletter’s title from “ARSA Reports” to “The AZ Rural Leader”, which we believe is more descriptive of who we are and who we want to become. Wes Brownfi eld “Stronger Together!”
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