Executive Summary

The Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) is a state agency charged with supporting the work of all 1,477 locally elected school board members with leadership development, policy and legal resources, and advocacy supports to serve the governance teams of Washington’s 295 school districts serving over 1.1 million students.

The WSSDA Action & Accountability Plan starts with the voice of our members. Since 1962, WSSDA’s vision, mission, and goals have resided in what WSSDA calls its permanent positions, voted on and approved by school boards at General Assembly.

WSSDA’s board of directors is elected by the membership and charged with the governance of WSSDA as an organization. The vision, mission, and goals adopted by the membership inform the board’s work of creating the strategic direction of the organization, which includes identifying objectives and desired outcomes for each goal.

WSSDA’s staff is led by the executive director, who coordinates the agency’s day-to-day operations and is responsible for operationalizing and implementing the strategic direction described in this document. That work is accomplished by identifying and engaging in 1.) various bodies of work, 2.) their components, and 3.) tasks necessary to meet the needs of WSSDA’s members, all of which are outlined in this document.

WSSDA’s board of directors maintains governance oversight of the agency’s work through a monitoring and revision cycle in which it reviews 25% of the goal areas each quarter. This process includes a series of progress reports prepared by the executive director and staff, which are discussed by the board as they examine progress towards the strategic direction. During this process, the board is able to make adjustments to the objectives and desired outcomes to ensure that WSSDA continues to meet the needs and expectations of its members.