February 19, 2016 – McConnell & Jones LLP is pleased to announce the selection of four practice leaders to present industry trends and challenges at the upcoming 31st annual conference of the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators (TABSE).
Partners, Odysseus Lanier and Sharon Murphy, are slated to present to school board officials and administrative leaders. Their topic, “Governing for High Student Achievement”, discusses how a district’s governance, staff management, planning structures, and parental involvement lay the foundation for student achievement and educational success. Lanier and Murphy both have more than 30 years of experience and have directed more than 50 public education-related consulting projects nationally. They are considered subject matter experts in performance measurement, program evaluation, business and strategic planning, organizational assessment, restructuring and implementation, and policy analysis in the education arena.
Audit Partner, Marlon Williams, and fraud specialist, Gilbert Hopkins, will lead a workshop entitled: “Fraud Avoidance through Leadership” discussing how to promote an environment of strong ethics and heightened fraud awareness. Having performed a multitude of financial and school performance audits, Williams and Hopkins have identified weaknesses in internal control systems and recommended improvements to enhance administrative and operational efficiency. Accordingly, they bring a unique perspective to the conference and plan to help administrators identify where fraud can occur within a school district, conditions that encourage fraud, who commits fraud, and why.
The Texas Alliance of Black School Educators’ 31st Annual Conference is scheduled for March 3-6, 2016 at the Westin Stonebriar in Frisco, Texas. “I look forward to working with TABSE to help Texas’ educators develop and thrive,” says Lanier. “Because of our extensive experience in conducting comprehensive performance reviews of school districts across the country, our team brings a unique perspective to administrators and school leadership looking to achieve their strategic goals.”