WSPA this Week, January 2-5, 2024

Darrell Heisler • Jan 03, 2024

SUPPORT, ADVOCACY, AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR THE K-12 HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONAL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MESSAGE

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year! 


BREAKING NEWS! In case you missed it, Jennifer Koskovich is our new WSPA President.  Doug Christensen, Assistant Superintendent for HR at Kennewick SD retired from education at the end of December and took a job in the private sector.  A huge thank you goes out from all of us in WSPA for Doug's dedication to the students of Washington state and especially those employees and students in the Kennewick SD!  Good luck in your future endeavors Doug.  As per our WSPA bylaws, Jennifer Koskovich, our current president elect will take over presidential duties starting January 1, 2024.  She will finish Doug's term and then also serve during her term which runs July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025.  Thank you Jennifer for your dedication to our organization and being willing to step up early.


What's Happening:

  • Registration is now open for the 2024 Annual Conference in Vancouver Washington!  Early bird registration is closing 1/10/24 and is coming up fast so get your team registered.  Discounted Hotel rates are also good only until 2/1/2024.
  • Registration is also open for the Career Fairs in Spokane and Tacoma Washington for both recruiters and for candidates. 
  • Registration is filling up fast, but continues to remain open for our 21st Century Bargaining Workshop as we partner again with Porter Foster and Rorick. Contact them at the link below and reserve your spots now.


Annual Randy Hathaway Fellowships/Scholarships:



Registration Renewal: If you have not renewed your WSPA membership for 2023-24 now is the time to do so.  Please reach out to Kaley VonVolkli (kvonvolkli@wasa-oly.org) to make that happen.  Here is a reminder that we are contracting with WASA again to manage our membership roster and payments.   


Legally Speaking: It is OK and recommended to post signs indicating "Employees Only" or "Staff Only" in areas of your District where management have determined that employees and staff should only be allowed for the safety of your employees.  Please remember that Districts are NOT allowed to ask whether or not an applicant for a school district position has ever been placed on Administrative leave.  Here is the RCW passed by the legislature in 2019 and signed into law that governs that question on applications.  RCW 28A.400.302: Application question on administrative leave. (wa.gov)


WSPA's Address:

WSPA

PO BOX 14459

TUMWATER, WA 98511


SAVE THE DATES!  THE TIME TO REGISTER IS NOW FOR THESE TRAININGS/EVENTS.


January 22-February 2, 2024-21st Century Bargaining Skills Workshops (IP)

 The popular 21st Century Bargaining Workshop will run again this year as we partner again with Porter Foster and Rorick. Contact them and reserve your spots now.


March 3-6, 2024 - WSPA Annual Conference and Pre-Conference - Vancouver, WA (IP)

Our Annual Conference will feature a Title IX training on Sunday, March 2, and our conference will run from March 4 -6, 2024.  Get registered now for the Early Bird pricing which ends January 10, 2024.  There is also a hotel discount available too so register early.


March 12, 2024 - WSPA Educator Career Fair - Spokane, Wa (IP)

Our first of two Washington Educator Career Fairs is happening March 12, 2024 at the Spokane Convention Center.  Get your District/Organization registered now!


March 29, 2024 - WSPA Educator Career Fair - Tacoma, WA (IP)

Our second of two Washington Educator Career Fairs is happening March 29, 2024 at the Spokane Convention Center.  Get your District/Organization registered now!


WSPA Leadership 2023-24

Jennifer Koskovich, HRIS Manager, Renton School District, WSPA President: jennifer.koskovich@rentonschools.us
Jane Stencel, Director of HR at East Valley SD Spokane; WSPA President 22-23; WSPA Professional Development Coordinator: stencelj@evsd.org 

Tina Limmer, Director of Human Resources, Systems and School Support, Puyallup School District, WSPA Treasurer: limmetm@puyallupsd.org

Traci Cox, Human Resource Coordinator, West Valley (Yakima) School District, WSPA Secretary: coxt@wvsd208.org

Darrell Heisler, Executive Director of WSPA: dheisler@wspa.net


Member Requests this week: None

 

Funny of the week: Did you hear that my other brother Darrell got a new job working for Old MacDonald? He’s the new CIEIO.



UPCOMING EVENTS:



Have a great week everyone!

Darrell Heisler

WSPA Executive Director

WSPA News to Know

WSPA Membership

                                                                               702+ members and counting...

Total Number of WSPA Members

702

Number of Entities Represented

186

Individual Memberships

379

District Memberships (10+ members)

23

REGION ESD'S NUMBER OF MEMBERS WELCOME to WSPA
1 Inland Empire ESD 101 51
2 Ipanco ESD 105, 123 &171 113
3 Lower Columbia River ESD 112 57
4 Puget Sound ESD 113 & 121 322
5 Olympic ESD 114 60
6 Northern Puget Sound ESD 189 94

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Member Requests

Sample Contracts & Salaries

A district is looking for sample contracts & salaries for the following positions:

  • Superintendent
  • Assistant Superintendent
  • Executive Director
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Business Manager with CPA
  • Human Resources Director

Procurement Specialist


A colleague is wondering if anyone employs a procurement specialist, and if so, would you please share the job description, salary, and whether or not it is a represented position.

IEP Days

Substitute Resources

A district is wondering how other districts handle IEP days.  Does the teacher get a substitute for IEP preparation, meetings, etc., or do they get paid for an additional day for these activities?

A district is wondering if any other districts have a resource for Substitute Guidelines. 

  • Do they get paid for a certain number of hours?
  • Can they cover a class if they are willing rather than getting paid?
  • How long can you use a long-term substitute?

Partner News to Know

Unemployment Insurance: Sign up now for upcoming SOC code webinars

Learn more about Standard Occupational Classification codes on May 20 or June 3

Do you have questions about Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes? Sign up for one of our upcoming webinars!

All employers will be required to report SOC codes when they submit their quarterly tax reports starting with their fourth quarter 2022 report. At that time, you could get a penalty for incorrect SOC reporting. Reporting SOC codes is currently optional and is available only to single filers.

Upcoming webinars

If you have questions or want to learn more about using SOC codes, register for one of our free webinars.

  • Friday, May 20, at 11 to 11:45 a.m. - Register
  • Friday, June 3, at 11 to 11:45 a.m. - Register

During these webinars, we’ll talk about:

  • What are SOC codes?
  • When are SOC codes mandatory?
  • How to look up SOC codes.
  • How to add SOC codes with keyed or imported wage data.

Note: We will provide the same information in both webinars. However, questions could vary in each webinar, so you are welcome to sign up for both.

What is SOC?

SOC is a federal coding system that helps government agencies and private businesses compare occupational data.

In 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed a law requiring employers to report SOC codes in their quarterly reports for unemployment insurance.

Other resources on SOC

  • Watch this short video.
  • Try out the SOC code search tool. Under “Occupation Keyword Search” you can search by keyword, SOC code or industry.

2022 Legislative Report

Dan Steele, WASA Assistant Executive Director, Government Relations and WSPA Legislative Liaison has completed a 2022 End of Session Report and you can find it here.

 

The End of Session Reports includes full details of the 2022 Supplemental Operating Budget and the 2022 Supplemental Capital Budget, along with a comprehensive review of the many education-related bills the Legislature addressed this session.

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