The envelope, please…
WSSDA is now accepting entries for its prestigious Boards of the Year and Diversity Awards. These awards, which recognize innovative, effective efforts to elevate student achievement and diversity education/awareness, are announced each year at the WSSDA Annual Conference. Registration and other entry information must be provided online. For more information and online submittal forms, click here.

Sign up now for the WSSDA Legislative Assembly
Education funding. Student achievement and graduation requirements. Simple majority for levies and bonds. These are just a few of the issues that will be on the agenda when the WSSDA Legislative Assembly meets Sept. 15-16 in Pasco. Be sure your district is represented as school board members from around the state meet to establish association positions on education issues for the 2007 Legislature. Go to the WSSDA Web site and submit your registration today.

Deadline approaching on Permanent Position proposals
Just a few weeks left for school boards to submit proposals for additions or changes to WSSDA’s Permanent Association Positions. (These positions describe the association's collective stance on issues of widespread concern — they do not address legislative issues.) Proposals will be debated and acted on by the association’s Delegate Assembly, which meets in conjunction with the WSSDA Annual Conference in November. The WSSDA Resolutions Committee will be accepting proposals through June 30. Information and submittal forms are available on the WSSDA Web site.

Law renews board authority to take positions on ballot measures
Last January, state Attorney General Rob McKenna issued a legal opinion which held that the governing boards of "special purpose" districts (including school boards) could not take positions on ballot measures — a practice that has been in use for many years in this state. At the request of WSSDA and numerous other organizations, the Legislature stepped in with a law clarifying that special district boards may adopt resolutions supporting or opposing state and local ballot measures. The law (SHB 2173) took effect last week. Keep in mind that procedures must be followed to adopt a position on ballot measures and, as always, public facilities may not be used to campaign.

WSSDA Board of Directors meets next week
The WSSDA Board of Directors will hold its next meeting June 23-24 at the Marriott Courtyard Southcenter in Tukwila. For agenda information, click here.

WASL score release resources
If you didn’t happen to catch Superintendent Terry Bergeson’s televised news conference on the release of the 10th-grade WASL scores, you can still view it online via the TVW Web site. Also, see the OSPI Web site for details of the release and related resources, and the WSSDA Web site for association reaction to the results.

Supreme Court ruling on speech draws praise from NSBA
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled late last month that public employers have a right to direct work-related employee speech — a finding that has significant implications for school boards and school districts. The National School Boards Association was quick to applaud the decision for allowing school boards to "retain their longstanding discretion over classroom speech that is directed to impressionable students." Learn more here...

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