July 2009                                                CRS Advanced Technology IN THIS ISSUE SOUTHERN OREGON ESD SUBFINDER IN TODAY'S ECONOMY LAYOFFS PROMPT TEACHERS TO MOVE ONLINE MEET A SUBFINDER EMPLOYEE   QUICK LINKS CRS WEBSITE NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE SUBFINDER MEET MAXX Welcome to the July edition of InTouch Online for 2009! We are officially in “the dog days of summer”; many have felt the smoldering heat throughout June--and just think--July is considered the hottest month of the year! For those who celebrated, we hope you had a happy and safe Independence Day; and for those vacationers, we hope the same!   In this edition of InTouch Online, we are happy to introduce one of our customers from Southern Oregon. They provide some great insight into how SubFinder works for them as an educational service district (ESD). With the economy being a typical topic of discussion these days, we also have a couple articles on how SubFinder can help during the downturn, as well as an article from eSchool news regarding budget cuts in school districts. We hope you enjoy!   Customer Highlight: Southern Oregon Educational Service District, Oregon Our SubFinder Covers Seven School Districts   Interview by: Corinne Everett, Marketing Coordinator Interview with: Nancy Schoenberg, Accounting Clerk & SubFinder Operator; Cari Billovits, Accountant & SubFinder Back-Up Operator Picture of Nancy & Cari at the 2008 SubFinder User Group Conference in Las Vegas, NV.   Southern Oregon Educational Service District (SOESD) is located in Medford, Oregon, situated in the southern portion of the state. The southern Oregon region is rich in theatrical culture, having many theatre companies, playhouses, and festivals. Recreation is also an experience indulged by members of the surrounding communities. Year round you can find people skiing, snowshoeing, white water rafting, angling, hiking, biking and camping. Sounds like an active, knowledgeable area to live; and those from this region will agree!   Located in this culturally diverse area, you will find Southern Oregon Educational Service District. SOESD serves 13 school districts, over 100 buildings, 3,500 teachers and 52,000 students in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath Counties—a 10,600 square-mile geographic area. What exactly does this educational service district (ESD) do for surrounding school districts? It is their responsibility to provide services and leadership to optimize educational opportunities for the children, schools, and communities they serve. I recently spoke with Nancy Schoenberg (Accounting Clerk & SubFinder Operator) and Cari Billovits (Accountant & SubFinder Back-Up Operator) about their ESD and how they manage SubFinder between several districts within their region.   Nancy, can you explain the purpose of an Education Service District (ESD)?   Southern Oregon ESD (SOESD) provides services for many school districts in Southern Oregon, specifically in the areas of special education, technology and media services, school improvement, as well as administration/business. One of our offered services within administration/business is SubFinder.   As the administrator for SubFinder, I oversee all our districts and troubleshoot problems, answer questions, or perform tasks the school districts are unable to at the user level. Our districts are not separately licensed with CRS. I do not fill jobs in the morning; I have site administrators within SOESD who are responsible to do this at their site locations.   Cari, how many districts utilize SubFinder within the counties the ESD covers?   We are currently serving seven school districts: the ESD office, plus Ashland, Central Point, Eagle Point, Phoenix-Talent, Prospect, and Rogue River.   Nancy, when a district decides they want to utilize SubFinder, what is the process to get a district started?   The district would contact the SOESD Business Office. I would then be involved with initial meetings with the district’s designated contact person to discuss the types of information, and then bring the district representative up to speed on the structure of SubFinder. The biggest challenge is the process of getting the accurate data into SubFinder. If they have their substitute information in a database already, the process is simple by using the Data Exchange Pro (DxPro) that comes free with SubFinder. If they do not, they must go through the labor-intensive data entry process. Once their information is in SubFinder, the training begins! The rest goes fairly smoothly.   Nancy, do you find that substitutes from districts that utilize SubFinder are more likely to find work rather than those districts that do not use SubFinder?   Yes, we do believe that substitutes who are in SubFinder have a better chance of getting work. In the days before SubFinder [and those districts that do not use SubFinder], the substitute had to wait to get a phone call that sometimes came and sometimes did not. With SubFinder, a substitute can be more proactive and use the Internet OR phone portion of SubFinder to actively “job shop”; even from remote locations, which is great around here. Teachers can also request specific subs. I think substitutes get more work because SubFinder is able to match their specific skills and schedule to the job opening; which is why we encourage SubFinder to those districts that are struggling to find “qualified” substitutes.   Nancy, how does the training process work for those employees and substitutes whose districts use SubFinder?   Periodically, I will meet one-on-one with a new employee to acclimate them with SubFinder User and give them personalized training. I also use the tutorial directly from the Internet portion of SubFinder, which is even more useful because the employee can also access this from his or her home computer for further review.   Each of our districts has their own approach in training their substitutes.     I would like to thank Nancy, Cari, and Southern Oregon ESD for taking part in the “Customer Highlight” this month! We would also like to thank them and their districts for being wonderful customers; and look forward to working and growing together for many years to come!     Back to Top   Today’s Economy; Make the Most Out of What You Have SubFinder in Today’s Economy   By: Lee Dawson, National Account Analyst   We all know that budgets are tight in today’s economy. While current resources may not be affected in the immediate sense, one has to consider the potential to affect future hires of employees and substitute staff. So what is your organization to do?   Believe it or not, SubFinder can be an advantage during the economic down-turn. You are probably wondering how, and this can be tough question to answer; however, you do have a few options:   Consider modifying the available preference list to make better use of the automatic call out to substitutes.   The premise that a better built preference list can result in less calling is because you make calls to substitutes who want to work. Another benefit is the potential to reduce substitute overtime payments on a weekly or daily basis because the same substitute is not being asked to work all the time.   Another cost cutting option for SubFinder Box on Site users is to consider switching to SubFinder as an Application Service Provider (ASP).   What is SubFinder as an ASP? SubFinder as an ASP is when CRS Advanced Technology houses your SubFinder equipment and telephone lines. This is enormously beneficial for those organizations with very limited technical resources to help support SubFinder. Organizations save money on the cost of equipment upgrades, telephone line maintenance, and fees. Not to mention, it provides comfort knowing that their system is managed in a state-of-the-art facility.   For more information about SubFinder in today’s economy, feel free to contact your account specialist at 800.782.3463.   Back to Top   Layoffs Prompt Teachers to Move Online Virtual Schools are Seeing a Dramatic Rise in Job Applications as State Officials Cut Education Budgets to Battle Declining Tax Revenues   By: Laura Devaney, Senior Editor   In what could be a result of widespread teacher layoffs, some virtual schools and online learning providers are reporting huge increases in teaching applications for the coming school year.   "We have seen at least a 50-percent increase in the number of applications we've received versus this time last year," said Annie Middlestadt, senior director of human resources for Connections Academy, an operator of virtual K-12 public charter schools.   "In the states where we operate schools, the number of phone calls and emails we're receiving from applicants coming from brick-and-mortar schools has increased," she added.   "This year in particular, we've seen an increase in [the number of] applicants in some states," agreed Teresa Scavulli, senior director of the teaching effectiveness division for K12 Inc., which also manages virtual K-12 charters.   Middlestadt and Scavulli said they can't directly attribute the increase in teaching applications to teacher layoffs or a rough economy, but both agreed the connection is likely.   Connections Academy also is seeing an increase in the number of applicants who are changing careers--for instance, math professionals who are looking to share their expertise through teaching.   Many of Connections Academy's job applicants are through referrals from current teachers or parents who have students in the program.   At K12, the majority of teaching applicants are coming from brick-and-mortar schools, which most likely means they are a combination of teachers who have been laid off, are retiring, or are looking for a change within the teaching field.   In general, only about three percent of K12 instructors do not have some sort of brick-and-mortar teaching experience, with the majority having five to ten years of experience teaching in a brick-and-mortar school.   Although a portion of states' federal economic stimulus dollars are intended to help schools avoid employee layoffs, including teachers, many states and districts are facing huge budget deficits--and teaching positions are being eliminated to help ease monetary troubles.   In mid-July, Alabama governor. Bob Riley said he expects he will have to cut the state's education budget for the upcoming school year because of plunging tax revenues. Riley said the cuts should not be as deep as the nine percent reduction he had to make in last year's budget, but it's too early to predict an exact amount.   Tax collections for education are running nearly nine percent below last year, primarily because of a drop in sales and income taxes. Underlying the income tax drop is the state's 9.8-percent unemployment rate--the worst in nearly 25 years.   Sally Howell, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, said school systems already have signed teacher contracts for the new school term, so more budget cuts shouldn't mean larger class sizes.   She said the impact of cuts will vary among school systems, but it could include laying off untenured school support workers, canceling field trips, postponing maintenance and construction projects, cutting back on school supplies, and adjusting thermostats to reduce utility bills.   Some Alabama schools also expect to receive less local money. "What is happening at the state level is also affecting local sales taxes," Howell said.   California lawmakers warned that severe cuts to many state programs were unavoidable as the state faces a $26 billion deficit. And while lawmakers seemed more optimistic about tackling the state's budget woes, others said education funding is one of the biggest obstacles still left.   Funding for K-12 schools is a main sticking point. Republican Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth said cuts to education were inevitable because it accounts for at least half of California's annual budget.   The lawmakers were debating whether to suspend Proposition 98, a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1988 that guarantees a minimum level of funding for schools each year. The funding also is supposed to rise each year based on the previous budget. Among other things, money from Proposition 98 funds classroom support staff and instructional assistants.   Earlier this year, state lawmakers cut education spending by $8.6 billion over two years. Many districts are planning to lay off teachers and increase class sizes. In Los Angeles alone, more than 2,000 teachers are expected to lose their jobs.   The efforts to close California's budget shortfall for the fiscal year that began July 1 are going on against the backdrop of a deep recession that has led to an unprecedented drop in tax revenue.   Personal income tax, a cornerstone of how state government funds its operations, dropped 34 percent during the first five months of the year. The latest reports from the state controller's office show that the slide has continued into the summer, widening the gap between California's spending obligations and its tax income.       Reprinted with permission from eSchool News, copyright 2009. Visit http://www.eschoolnews.com/ for daily news and resources for K-12 educators. For free subscriptions please visit https://www.eschoolnews.com/freeesn/index.cfm Back to Top   Meet a CRS Employee – Jennifer Thursby, Sales Administration       Please tell us your full name:   Jennifer Lynn Thursby   When did you begin working with CRS:   June, 2003   Are you taking any summer vacations:   Yes. This summer we are going to take it easy…my husband and I are going to be spending a week at our river lot camping, and have plans to go on a few day trips throughout the week with our two-year-old daughter. We will be swimming, boating, and sitting by the camp fire in the evening.    What do you do outside of work:   My free time is spent with my family. This time of year we spend a lot of time outside with our daughter (weather permitting). Gabrielle loves to blow bubbles, go to the park and swing, and go down the slide; we play ball, we go throw rocks in the creek, jump in mud puddles, we take walks…anything that you can do outside, we do it.   What is your favorite thing to do in the summer:     Anything outdoors! I enjoy going camping, swimming, boating, and going to the beach.   Who was your favorite cartoon character growing up:   Winnie the Pooh   What part of your job do you enjoy the most:   I enjoy working closely (behind the scenes) with the executive sales managers, assisting them in establishing new business…whether it is gathering customer references, helping map out trips, helping with pricing, etc. The ultimate satisfaction is when a new customer comes aboard. It is great to know that what I do makes a difference and ultimately helps CRS grow as a company. Back to Top Would you like to receive SubFinder product information? Complete the request form and a CRS Regional Account Representative will be in contact with you soon! We hope you have a safe and fun summer! If you have any questions about CRS Advanced Technology or SubFinder, please contact us at 800.782.3463.   Until next month,   The CRS Advanced Technology Team