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Leadership Development
WSSDA offers training programs, events and tools developed to maximize leadership and governance abilities for improved student learning. These services provide practical strategies and resources to help your board and superintendent function as a high-performing team. Because WSSDA is the only organization representing the…
Policy & Legal
WSSDA can help your district stay on track with the most current policies and legal developments. We offer a variety of services and publications to support effective school district governance. Free Member Services Staff members are available via telephone and email to provide timely…
Strategic Advocacy
Led by education policy professionals, WSSDA’s strategic advocacy branch exists to: WSSDA’s advocacy platform is comprised of legislative and permanent positions adopted at General Assembly that reflect the beliefs, values, and interests of Washington’s 1,477 school board members.To support all Washington school boards, WSSDA’s…
Expanding the expertise of school directors
WSSDA’s OnBoard training has grown substantially since it was introduced in 2019. Several learning experiences covering school finance, district budgets, and educational equity are available. And more topics are on the way. Being responsive to the needs of school directors has always been a high…
How school boards direct WSSDA’s advocacy
What do you get when you gather 1,477 school board directors from around Washington state? Answer: 1,477 different perspectives. So how does WSSDA go from 1477 viewpoints down to a single advocacy platform? It’s simple: democracy. Basically, it’s a year-round process with three phases:…
Want to present at Annual Conference?
Last year’s Annual Conference in Spokane offered more than 50 breakout sessions on topics important for school district leaders. Call for presenters! Ever attend a WSSDA Annual Conference and think, “Hey! I wish someone would present on this topic…”? Well, maybe that someone could…
Learn about shaping WSSDA’s platform with this online tutorial
School directors, do you want to help shape WSSDA’s advocacy? Now is the time to meet with your board, discuss any potential changes you would like to suggest for the WSSDA platform, and put any proposals to a vote. Local school boards have the…
Spring into Direct
Learning & advocating Share the spring issue of WSSDA Direct with your friends and colleagues, or peruse back issues on a Sunday afternoon. In this edition, Shankar Vedantam, author of The Hidden Brain, offers advice in “The Art of Persuasion”. Drawn from the Legislative…
Elevating Student Voice: Adding Student Representation to School Boards
Student Perspective What is the one thing that only a student can provide to a school board? Perspective. The forces that shape a generation, such as radio, television, the internet, cell phones, social media, change over time. Only a K-12 student can tell you…
A FREE and Effective Resource to Strengthen Board-Superintendent Teams
Early in the year is a great time for school boards to assess their performance with WSSDA’s free online Board Self-Assessment Survey. The benefits of the survey include: Post-survey, WSSDA also has an excellent process to help board-superintendent teams unpack the results and make sense of…