OUR TRAINERS

Our premier trainer is McGrath Training Systems’ founder, Mary Jo McGrath, attorney at law. She brings deep experience as an investigating attorney and an education law specialist to her teaching. As a result, Mary Jo uses real-world examples and “war stories” from districts to bring the concepts discussed to life and practical application. Mary Jo is recognized nationwide for her legal and educational work in bullying and illegal discrimination, sexual harassment, employee sexual misconduct and quality teacher evaluation.
 
An accomplished author, Mary Jo has written two books about bullying in schools. In 2011, “Bullying and Harassment Solutions for Schools: How to Educate, Investigate, and Remediate” was published. Her first book on the subject was “School Bullying: Tools for Avoiding Harm and Liability,” published in 2007.
 
Mary Jo served an expert consultant to the office of the California Governor on teacher tenure reform and has been the featured legal expert on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, the 48 Hours programs, and ABC’s 20/20. She has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Redbook, Reader’s Digest, Seventeen and several nationally circulated professional journals. Ms. McGrath served as Chair of the U.S. Department of Education Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools Expert Panel.
 
She graduated magna cum laude from the University of California Los Angeles, and from Loyola University School of Law cum laude.
 
Mary Jo’s presentations have the power to motivate, educate and entertain. An engaging, interactive delivery keeps the audience focused and attentive.

Billie-Jo Grant has dedicated her career to the improvement of childhood education and the prevention of sexual harassment in schools.

She is a research and evaluation consultant for various organizations in the fields of education, human services and social sciences, serves as a faculty member at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, and is a board member of S.E.S.A.M.E., a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of school employee sexual misconduct.

Dr. Grant is a nationally recognized expert in school employee sexual misconduct prevention and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Education Week, NPR, the Chicago Tribune, and the Voice of San Diego. She has completed research studies for the Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and the National School Board Association. She has also authored numerous peer reviewed articles, and has been integral in providing legislators with evidence to pass state and federal legislation to better protect students and keep offending teachers out of the classroom.

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She has served as an advisor to the Office for Civil Rights, the Department of Education, the Ontario College of Teachers, among other organizations.

Billie-Jo holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research, Statistics, and Evaluation from the University of Virginia, where she was a four-time All-American NCAA Track and Field athlete.

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Flip Steinour is currently the Assistant to the Executive Director - COO for IU Lancaster-Lebanon 13 located in Lancaster, PA and the Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Association of School Personnel Administrators (PASPA).  His extensive background in human resources includes over 25 years of practice in both private industry and education.

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Previously, Flip had served as the Director of Human resources at Capital Area IU and Lincoln IU.  In addition to this role, Flip also served for four years on the executive leadership committee of (PASPA), serving as President of this group from 2005-2006.  He has also co-chaired the Central Pennsylvania Association of School Personnel Administrators (CPASPA) for 5 years. Flip has been an active member of the Society for Human Resource management (SHRM) and the American Association of School Personnel Administrators AASPA for the past 20 years. Flip possesses a master’s degree from Villanova University and a bachelor’s degree from Shippensburg University.

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• AASPA Outstanding Service Award (for serving as Secretary) 2003-2004

• PASPA Outstanding Service Award (for serving as President) 2005-2006

• PASPA Presidents Award 2009 recipient

• PAIU Gary L. Miller Award for contributions to the PAIU group - 2014

• Special Olympics supporter and coach (2006-present)

LeAnne Gandy is the Superintendent of the Lovington Municipal School District, Lovington, NM.  She has served in this capacity since February, 2015.

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Mrs. Gandy has been in the education field for 30 years.  Before becoming the Superintendent of the Lovington School District, she served as the Assistant Superintendent for Lovington for 12 years.  Prior to that she worked as a Senior Consultant for ReLearning New Mexico.   Mrs. Gandy served as an elementary teacher and gifted coordinator for the Hagerman Municipal Schools.      

Mrs. Gandy focuses on efforts designed to better align District practices with the needs and expectations of the students and the community.  She is passionate about teacher professional development in order to increase achievement and prepare students for success in life after graduation.

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Mrs. Gandy obtained her Bachelors of Science Degree in Elementary Education and Master’s Degree of Education with an emphasis in Education Administration from Eastern New Mexico University.   

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Mrs. Gandy is the President of the Southeastern New Mexico Educational Resource Center (SNMERC) and an Executive Board Member for the Cooperative Educational Services (CES).  She is a member of the University of the Southwest Board of Trustees, the Lovington Economic Development Council, Rotary and the Lovington Public Library Board.