AWSP Blog

Each year, the AWSP Board President selects someone to receive the AWSP President’s Award. The award goes to someone who is a relentless advocate for principals and assistant principals, and the principalship, in the education of each and every student (our AWSP mission). This year, 2022-23 AWSP Board President Brent Osborn, principal at Lakeside High School in the Nine Mile Falls School District, selected Ann Gray. She is the Associate Director of Educator Effectiveness in the Educator Growth and Development division at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has released a revised edition of the Washington Children and Youth Activities Guide for Air Quality. For more than six months, DOH has worked alongside stakeholders to create improved guidance that will benefit children when air quality is compromised. The revised guide is now available on DOH’s Smoke from Fires Took Kit Page.

We know, we know…hundreds of you just completed a survey this winter for us about your job satisfaction and working conditions. Why are we back again with another one? We’ve partnered with Strategies 360, one of the west coast’s leading government relations and communications firms, to help us grow, support, and sustain the principalship. This survey will help us understand what our members need from us, and prioritize the most impactful policies to pursue. The questions align with the Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Sustainability Guide. ​​​​​This guide explains what it takes to sustain an effective principal pipeline and provides tools to help school district teams keep the pipeline going.

Session has concluded, and the Governor has acted. Below is a brief summary of pension, health care, and other benefit legislation that will impact school districts, present and future retirees. The work continues...

ESB 5175 passed this last legislative session, allowing a district to offer a principal a contract of up to three years if certain conditions are met. The bill was introduced by Senator Lisa Wellman in order to help recruit and retain quality school leaders. We know it takes time to change systems and culture, and that nothing changes without relationships. A three-year contract might help reduce principal churn, and at the same time, help a principal lead with a long-term vision and plan.