2025 ACSA Equity Institute

Is your workplace infected with stereotypes, cronyism, and favoritism? Does it value workplace culture over inclusivity and skill? If so, it might be a victim of implicit bias. This workshop will review cases where courts have (and have not) recognized implicit bias as a form of discrimination.
1. Learn about the psychological basis for implicit bias.
2. Review how implicit bias can affect personnel decisions through court cases and workplace scenarios.
3. Hear about how to implement a specific standards-based hiring and evaluation process to counter the impact of implicit bias.

Today’s school leaders face a daunting task: being highly effective systems managers, instructional leaders, and community partners, all with reduced resources. The mental health needs of school leaders are often overlooked in professional development. In addition to their own stress, school leaders, especially leaders of color, often suffer from secondary traumatic stress—the emotional duress resulting from hearing about the firsthand trauma of others.

To address this, Human Resources developed an optional professional development program titled Wellness Wednesdays (WW) for Administrators. The purpose of WW was to create a protected online environment where school administrators could meet for one hour after work, once a week for 10 weeks, to engage in and deepen their wellness and self-care practices. Participants learned a variety of strategies to support their well-being, including intentional breathing, stretching, walking, socializing, art, and other approaches. In addition to the professional learning, participating administrators received monetary compensation for each hour of WW they attended.

For the District, this program validated the investment of human and fiscal resources into wellness. When asked to describe the impact WW had on their long-term well-being, participants reported several themes:
• Continued Engagement: Participants applied the variety of wellness and self-care strategies they learned in the program.
• Connectedness: Participants felt less isolated in their roles and built meaningful connections with friends and colleagues.
• Gratitude and Appreciation: Participants felt valued, especially by the District, for providing this opportunity.

The results were clear: school leaders who participated in a structured, routine, protected space to learn and practice wellness strategies reported significant improvements in their sense of well-being. Participants experienced a mindset shift from viewing wellness as a voluntary practice to recognizing it as a vital one, moving from languishing to flourishing.

Career Technical Education (CTE) plays a critical role in preparing students for the future. CTE course data still suggests a large disparity of students with disabilities, students of color, and English Learners being unable to access these relevant learning opportunities. Join us as we share how we created CTE programming opportunities that were previously unavailable and inaccessible to marginalized youth.

We will explore the student voices, partnerships, and logistics that any school or district can use to increase access for students. We will also share the data findings related to academic achievement, attendance, and the decrease of undesired behaviors that often arise when our systems are not meeting the needs of our students.

Recognizing one of the largest challenges to opening access to CTE courses are interventions and support classes; we will demonstrate how we used an assessment of instructional minutes, master schedule creativity, connection to innovative teacher’s, and collaboration with community colleges to design CTE Masterclasses. These courses meet the equivalency of State mandated high school courses as well as the demand for A-G approved courses and labor market industry certifications.

Acknowledging that many schools and programs do not have funding to spare, we will explain how we approached sustainability through grants and explore best practices for finding success in CTE grant submissions.

You too can have engaged students, excited teachers, and CTE Pathway completers!

To better understand the future political climate for the LGBTQ+ community here in California, it is worth considering the last two years in review; both nationally and within the state. Common types of legislation are likely to continue to be introduced at every level of government across the country, and what has failed to pass in the past is likely to be re-introduced. This workshop will prepare you for the year 2025 and teach you how to both read and keep track of state-based legislation that affects the LGBTQ+ community.

It offers two free takeaway documents that you can share with your staff, families, and students: an LGBTQ+ legislative debrief for entering 2025, and a comprehensive resource guide that is intended to help LGBTQ+ people and allies locate services covering a wide range of intersectional issues and needs. The resources are categorized loosely into topics such as; administrative resources, community and non-profit resources, family resources, general resources, legal resources, mental and physical health resources, sex ed/family planning resources, and youth resources.