Membership Benefits
Resources
There are solutions are your fingertips with exclusive resources and consultations with MSBA staff.
Connections
Network with leaders in education at MSBA conferences and regional workshops.
Evaluation Assistance
Assess with confidence using MSBA’s facilitated School Board Self-Evaluation
Advocacy
There are lobbyists working for you by championing public education at the legislature
- School Board Workshop Series
- Learning to Lead — School Board Basics: Phase I Workshop
- Training is provided in the areas of board governance and board-superintendent relationships — in addition, scenarios typically encountered by school board members are reviewed.
- Leadership Foundations — School Finance and Management: Phase II Workshop
- This workshop deals with Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law, other state/federal education laws, collective bargaining, and related personnel matters.
- Building a High-Performance School Board Team: Phase III Workshop
- This workshop focuses on exploring and building a high performing school board with a focus on leadership styles, consensus-building, and policy development.
- Communicating with Your Community: Phase IV Workshop
- The focus here is on community engagement and communicating with staff, students, and constituents.
- Learning to Lead — School Board Basics: Phase I Workshop
- Officer’s Workshop
- This annual workshop is offered to help school board chairs, vice-chairs, treasurers, and clerks. Using breakout sessions, presenters address the duties and training needs involved with each position.
- Custom In-District Workshops
- MSBA member school boards are able to access individual training right in their home districts in a one-to-one setting. Three standard trainings are available — “Developing Mutual Expectations,” “The 16 Tenets of the Board-Administrative Leadership Team,” and “Board Self-Evaluation” — and, depending on the needs of the board — other specific in-services can be developed.
- Annual Conferences
- MSBA’s annual conference is its largest meeting and not only offers nationally known speakers, dozens of breakout sessions and training opportunities, and access to approximately 200 product/service exhibitors but also gives individual school board members the chance to provide input to their elected representatives on MSBA’s Board of Directors — all without charging members any registration fee (currently, the MSBA Leadership Conference is STILL the only free one of its kind in the country).
- Facilitated Strategic Planning Services
- School board-superintendent teams use different terms to describe school district planning and goal-setting, including developing school district ends and aims; strategic planning; strategic focuses and directions; or beliefs, mission, vision and goals work. Regardless of what the process is called, school boards are responsible for clarifying the school district’s purpose and direction.
- Negotiations Seminars
- Every odd-numbered year, MSBA also offers its members a series of regional, all-day training sessions designed for the more experienced negotiator. On average, approximately 600 school board members and administrators will attend representing more than 200 MSBA member school districts.
- Phone and email consultations
- MSBA staff respond daily to member questions (from July 2007 to the present, between 150 and 160 telephone calls and emails/month) ranging from administrative processes/procedures to school board governance to statutory requirements to guiding rules/regulations to negotiations proposals, etc. with over a century and one-half of collective experience (156 years to be exact), MSBA staff are able to assist its members in almost every instance. In addition, various MSBA staff have had personal experience as school board members, superintendents, principals, classroom teachers, counselors, school district auditors, school nurses, insurance consultants, extracurricular coaches/ advisors, lobbyists, lawyers, human resources specialists, private business owners, and media representatives. As a result, MSBA staff have been able to accurately address member questions/concerns and, in turn, have saved members time, trouble, and MONEY. Learn More
- Resource Library
- MSBA’s Resource Library provides a vast array of resources in the areas of board development, district operations, elections and referendums, human resources, school law, teacher settlement data, meeting management, and school board policies. Discover things like model forms, contracts, and policies, legal primers, meeting and governance guidance, elections manuals and timelines, and so much more. Learn More
- Data Hub
- Through the Data Hub, you can access teacher settlement data and master agreements from school districts across the state to use in your strategic decision-making. Learn More
- Law Bulletins
- The School Law Bulletins are informational pieces written by MSBA’s Legal Counsel on specific topics and/or issues that face Minnesota School Districts. They provide summaries and analysis of statutes and caselaw in an effort to guide school districts through common issues they face each day.
- Master Agreement Analysis
- Experienced MSBA staff will analyze all member collective bargaining agreements and will provide detailed, written analyses of their strengths and weaknesses in addition to providing “red-lined copies” of those agreements – all from a strong management perspective. Over the past 10 years, more than 425 Master Agreements have been analyzed, and those member districts that have taken advantage of this service have overwhelmingly found it to be beneficial not only in terms of cost-effectiveness but also in terms of improved administration. Learn More
- Election Guidance
- Whether you are an election veteran or have no idea where to start, MSBA can guide you step-bystep through the election process. We provide a comprehensive election manual, election results, timelines, model resolutions and forms, one-on-one assistance, training webinars, and much more.
- eClippings
- MSBA staff send out an email containing links to the top K-12 education stories of the day. This daily service is used by nearly 2,000 subscribers. Learn More
- The Leader
- The Leader newsletter updates members about MSBA news and events, topical news items, timely administrative topics, administrative job openings, and much more. Learn More
- The Journal
- Read by more than 4,200 subscribers, the MSBA Journal is MSBA’s flagship publication. This magazine looks at education from every angle, chronicles life on a school board, features student art, contains the “Ask MSBA Column” which provides in-depth answers to commonly asked questions, and is a useful resource for finding vendors and services. The Journal has won the prestigious Minnesota School Public Relations’ “Star Award” all three times it has been entered — 2007, 2009, and 2011 (even more remarkable considering that publications can only be entered once every two years). Learn More
- The Advocate
- The Advocate is a blog which provides regular weekly congressional happenings on federal advocacy efforts and policy updates. Also included are quick local and national newsworthy education issues, such as updates on efforts from the Minnesota Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Education. Learn More
- The Weekly Advocate
- A weekly eNewsletter sent on Mondays to update school board members of events and issues at the state Capitol. Also included are new bill introductions that may become legislation and committee schedules for bills being heard that week. When needed, we provide information and ask board members to participate in action alerts by contacting their legislators on a specific issue.
- Free Mandatory Policies
- A number of school board policies are mandatory and are necessary to meet the requirements of state or federal law. State and federal agencies look for the mandatory school board policies during accreditation visits, financial audits, investigations and as contingencies prior to the release of funds. To help school districts meet these obligations, MSBA offers free access to all policies that are required by state and federal law.
- Policy Services
- Policy Services is a joint effort of the Minnesota School Boards Association and the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. The Policy Service is a comprehensive legal guide to be used in the efficient management of all aspects of the school system. The law firm of Knutson, Flynn & Deans did the legal work for this service. All model policies have been carefully examined by the law firm to insure compliance with federal and Minnesota laws. Every year the model policies will be reviewed and updated to reflect any changes by legislation or court decisions. Learn More
- Policy Audits
- Have MSBA staff review each of your school district’s policies, and then, provide a comprehensive report that identifies whether mandated policies are missing, whether existing policies should be updated or changed, and suggests additional policies that may benefit the district. Learn More
- Annual Leadership Conference
- MSBA’s annual conference is its largest meeting and not only offers nationally known speakers, dozens of breakout sessions and training opportunities, and access to approximately 200 product/service exhibitors but also gives individual school board members the chance to provide input to their elected representatives on MSBA’s Board of Directors — all without charging members any registration fee (currently, the MSBA Leadership Conference is STILL the only free one of its kind in the country).
- Summer Seminar
- Similar to the MSBA Leadership Conference, this seminar, held every year in late summer, offers participating MSBA members national speakers and training designed to start off a new school year positively.
- Facilitated School Board Self-Evaluation
- The School Board Self-Evaluation is intended to be an evaluation of the effectiveness of your entire board taken as a whole, as opposed to an individual self-assessment. We realize this will present some problems for you when you do the ratings. However, do the best you can to consider how the board operates as a whole and on the average. In other words, one isolated instance where your performance was not particularly brilliant should not justify a low rating. However, a pattern of behavior would merit a high, average, or low rating.
- Superintendent Evaluation Resources
- In addition to actually conducting a member board’s superintendent search, MSBA offers a variety of other services to help those boards conduct such searches. The most popular service is “MSBA’s Superintendent Search Workshop” which provides board members with a solid understanding of the process, their roles and the roles of staff and community members, and pertinent legal concerns. Staff will also analyze existing superintendent employment contracts.
- Championing Public Education at the Legislature
- The Government Relations team is a leading advocate for public education and represents Minnesota school boards both at the state and national level. The cornerstone principles that provide guidance for the annual MSBA legislative agenda and reflect Minnesota school districts and students are:
- Efficient and effective school management
- Excellence in student achievement for all Minnesota students
- Respect of locally governed public schools
- Adequate and equitable funding levels to provide an exceptional education
- Legislative Updates and Summaries
- The MSBA Government Relations team has developed a legislative process that makes it easy for you to advocate for your school district and students. From who represents you at the Capitol and in Congress to suggested resolutions, you can find resources here to help guide you in your grass roots efforts.
- BoardBook
- This program provides a paperless option for school boards allowing them to easily collate materials, distribute them, and place minutes and agendas on the participating districts’ websites. BoardBook not only saves money, but it also saves time. More than 100 MSBA member districts currently use this program. Learn More
- Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund Plus (MSDLAF+)
- Established in 1984, this fund is a local government investment pool for MSBA members which operates like a mutual fund that offers competitive interest rates while assuring its participants security and liquidity. Overseen by a board of trustees, managed by public finance and legal professionals, and sponsored by MSBA, the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, and the Minnesota Association of School Business Officials, MSDLAF+ currently serves 336 participants and has $1.3 billion on deposit. Learn More
- Minnesota School Boards Association Insurance Trust (MSBAIT)
- Only MSBA member districts have access to the insurance products provided through the MSBAIT: currently, group term life insurance and group long-term disability through National Insurance Services and property/casualty and workers’ compensation insurance through Marsh & McLennan Agency, LLC. Governed by a board of trustees comprised of seven currently seated Minnesota public school board members, the MSBAIT has provided MSBA members with quality insurance products since 1972. Learn More
- Minnesota Tax and Aid Anticipation Borrowing Program (MNTAAB)
- This program gives member school districts looking to borrow money the power of pooled purchasing to keep the costs involved low. Springsted Incorporated administers the MNTAAB program, and 52 member districts currently participate in the amount of more than $183.5 million dollars of borrowing. Learn More
- MSBA Executive Search Services
- The MSBA Executive Search Service’s mission is to assist school boards in recruiting and employing superintendents or other district-level administrators utilizing best practices in keeping with MSBA’s mission to support, promote, and strengthen the work of public school boards and public education.
- Superintendent Search Workshop
- Understanding that selecting a new superintendent is one of the school board’s most important decisions, MSBA established a full-service superintendent search service in 2010 and, since then, has led 33 searches. MSBA-led searches can be customized to meet the particular needs of the school district and community, and MSBA search consultants provide assistance from start to finish. As a result, the school board can focus on the most important aspects of its search — interviewing the most qualified applicants and selecting the next superintendent.
- Job Postings
- Post an opening or view an up-to-date list of vacancies for superintendents, principals, and other administrative personnel.
- Sourcewell
- Sourcewell saves school districts time and money by combining the purchasing power of 50,000 government, education, and nonprofit organizations. Sourcewell holds hundreds of competitively solicited cooperative contracts ready for your school to utilize. Save on everything from administrative services to playgrounds and food service to ground maintenance.
- PaySchools
- This program provides participating members with an easy and efficient way to collect fees and payments online by electronic check or credit card and, as a result, improves cash flow, drives traffic to the districts’ websites, and greatly reduces the hassle of dealing with bounced checks or having to call parents for lack of payment. Parents also value this convenient 24/7 way to pay for school expenses. No set-up costs exist, and merchant accounts are not needed; the payments go directly into the districts’ bank accounts. Currently, 61 MSBA members participate in this program.
- Education Benefits Consultants, LLC
- Educators Benefit Consultants (EBC) is a third-party administrator and provider of group benefits. EBC specializes in 125 Cafeteria Plan Arrangements (125 Flex Plans) and in 403(b)/457(b) administration and compliance (ACS).
- National Insurance Services
- Group term life insurance and group long-term disability through National Insurance Services.
- PFM Minnesota’s P-Card Provider
- Participating member districts can use this free card to pay their bills and, in doing so, earn a rebate if the purchases exceed $50,000 in a year. Currently, 119 districts use the P-Card, and, last year, rebates were earned totaling $446,000 (the largest individual one being $62,812).