EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MESSAGE

Good morning everyone!  This link will take you to our planned HR professional development for the year.  If you take a look at our Upcoming Events page you will see just a glimpse of what we have planned for the first few months.   

BREAKING NEWS: Save the Dates:  WSPA Annual Conference: March 1-4, 2026 in Kennewick REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 10; Washington Educator Career Fairs: Tacoma 4/15/2026; Spokane 4/23/2026.  REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 3.

Welcome back Faith Knight as our WSPA Secretary.  Faith was elected into the position back in 2020 and had to resign as she took a job in another state.  She is back and our previous secretary Traci Cox has left her position at West Valley Yakima last month and the WSPA board in keeping with WSPA by-laws appointed Faith to the position and she has accepted.

TITLE IX INVESTIGATING TRAINING:

WSPA has partnered with ATIXA (Association of Title IX Administrators) for a professional development for Title IX officers and others to receive training on Title IX investigations on November 21, 2025 in Renton  that will certify the attendees for two years once completed.  Please stay tuned for more information on this important Title IX offering (Registration coming SOON).

What's Happening Now:

• Registration for the following:
• October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 2025 ABCs of Human Resources (ZW)
• 11/6/25 FCS and Paraeducator Certificates
• 11/13/25 Overview of Teaching Certificates (OSPI)
• November 18, 2025 Overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (FZW)
• November 21, 2025 Title IX Investigations (IP)
• December 2 & 9, 2025 Navigating Difficult Conversations with Emotional Intelligence (FZW)
• December 12, 2025 The Risks and Benefits of AI & What HR Needs to Know (FZW)

WSPA Membership: As of today, we are up to 665 members, If you want to get a discount on any of the trainings we offer please join.  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.  Membership for 2025 (September 1, 2025 - August 31, 2026) will begin July 1, 2025 when renewal notices will be sent to you and/or your District.

2025-26 Membership Renewals: 

Thank you for renewing your WSPA membership for 2025-26! We start the year with over 665 members and look forward to serving each and every one of you.

We would also like to extend a sincere welcome to our 90 new members this year—thank you for joining WSPA!

As of September 15, invoices have been sent out to all members. Please be on the lookout in the mail for your invoice and let us know if you have not received it by the end of the month.

Retiring this year? Make sure to sign up for WSPA Retiree Membership so you can stay in touch with the personnel community for a small fee of $100/year. If you’ve been a member for 5 or more years, we extend the offer of complimentary membership your first year as a retiree.

To learn more, please visit our website. For questions about membership, membership updates, and billing questions, please contact Kaley VonVolkli.

Thank you for your service to public education. We look forward to continuing our journey together!

WSPA's Address:

WSPA

PO BOX 14459

TUMWATER, WA 98511

WSPA Leadership 2025-26

Melissa Kreuder, Director of HR, ESD 112-Vancouver, WSPA President: melissa.kreuder@esd112.org

Keri Hutchins, Director of HR, Mead SD, WSPA President Elect: keri.hutchins@mead354.org

Jennifer Koskovich, Director of HR, Federal Way Public Schools, WSPA Past President: jkoskovich@fwps.org

Jane Stencel, Executive Director of HR, East Valley SD (Spokane); WSPA HELP and PD Coordinator: stencelj@evsd.org 

Meredith Marlow, HR Information Manager, Puyallup School District, WSPA Treasurer: MarloMH@puyallupsd.org

Faith Knight, HR Director, San Juan Island School District, WSPA Secretary: faithknight@sjisd.org

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

Member Requests this week: 

Funny of the week:  What do you call a line of men waiting to get haircuts? A barberqueue. Alternative answers:

1. A hair line.
2. A receding hair line
3. If the line becomes too long you split it into two and call it a fractured hair line.

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

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2025 ABCs of Human Resources (ZW)

November 18, 2025 Overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (FZW)

November 21, 2025 Title IX Investigations (IP)

December 2 & 9, 2025 Navigating Difficult Conversations with Emotional Intelligence (FZW)

December 12, 2025 The Risks and Benefits of AI & What HR Needs to Know (FZW)

Darrell Heisler

WSPA Executive Director