their skills, we should not do so in isolation. The best way to determine what skills are needed and the related services ASBO International should provide is to ask our members—over and over and over again.


Question 3: With a goal of continuing to meet the needs of all our members, what can ASBO International do to encourage racial diversity on the board, on committees, in our membership, and in our cadre of professional development presenters? ASBO International’s approach must be strategic and purposeful. Through our state, provincial and interna- tional affiliates we must identify rising stars among their racially diverse members and partners. We must illustrate the value of ASBO International to these rising stars per- sonally and the value they bring to ASBO International. People of all walks of life often do not see the value in themselves and how they can help serve others on the national and international level. It is incumbent on ASBO International to encourage and motivate these individuals to serve, to cast a spotlight on their past contributions. We must work with our affiliates to highlight their accomplishments at their state or provincial level and show them how they can benefit others at the national and international level. We must break down any barri- ers that stands in the way such as the need for financial assistance or the need for mentoring. We must seek to better understand the needs of our diverse partners in order to make the association better, and of greater value, to future, diverse members, and partners. We must learn about different cultures, backgrounds and experiences and use this knowledge to design and develop effective strategies to create meaningful profes- sional development and services that are valuable to our diverse members. Through this alignment, we will become the association of choice for all school business officials, increasing the diversity of our membership. As with so many of our endeavors, we need to ask our existing and potential members what we should do. ASBO International should develop a racially diverse cohort group to develop strategies for becoming a more diverse organization. As a result of the development and implementation of these strategies, we can better align our offerings to be more attractive to a more diverse membership.


Candidates for First-Year Director (2 positions to fill)


Mike Barragan


Assistant Superintendent, Auxiliary Services Glendale Elementary School District 40 Glendale, Arizona


Mike Barragan is the assistant super- intendent of finance and auxiliary


asbointl.org


services for the Glendale Elementary School District in Arizona, a position he has held since 2013. Prior to joining GESD, he worked for the Tolleson Union High School District as the finance director, and as a budget analyst for the Arizona Department of Education in the school finance division. His passion for school finance began while being involved with charter schools in the late 1990s. A former president of the Arizona Associa- tion of School Business Officials (AASBO), Barragan was elected to serve on the executive board in 2012. In 2017, he was acknowledged by his peers and received the AASBO member of the year award for his contribu- tions to the organization. He has served on the Valley Schools Management Group since November 2017. Valley Schools is a nonprofit entity that provides profes- sional management of insurance pools and combines governmental employers into larger groups to increase purchasing power.


VISION STATEMENT


To serve as a member of the Association of School Busi- ness Officials International Board of Directors where my experience in leadership, school finance, and public edu- cation policy may be utilized to maximize the organiza- tion goals and foster an environment where all students can thrive and succeed


RESPONSES TO BOARD QUESTIONS


Question 1: The vast inequities in education were high- lighted during the pandemic, as many students in under- served areas did not have the resources to learn remotely. How can ASBO International help close the learning gap and support accelerated learning recovery? ASBOI can help close the learning gap and support accelerated learning recovery by: 1. Recognizing that students face different situation/ challenges and therefore require specific and relevant solutions based on those unique situation/challenges.


2. Providing empirical data at the national and state levels in a manner that illustrates the various needs of our students, including, but not limited to socio- economic, race and gender data.


3. Consistently advocating on behalf of our students at the federal level.


As an example, the pandemic highlighted the inter- net accessibility challenges schools and students in low income and rural areas faced. These areas frequently lack robust infrastructure that can support quality dis- tance learning/online instruction. Students in low income and rural areas should not be at an academic disad- vantage because of where they live or what their family income level is.


ASBOI could have a two-step approach to address this issue. We should advocate and ask policy makers at the


SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS | JULY/AUGUST 2021 33


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