Announcement from the WSPTA Special Education Committee
Hey PTA leaders, did you know there are now resources to support and include disabled students and their families in your PTA community and at your events on the Washington State PTA website? Under the focus area tab, you can find a link to the Special Education page. There are resources including how to ensure…
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memberplanet Text Message Update
For those PTAs that use memberplanet’s communication tools to send text messages to members, please note memberplanet is updating how that feature will work moving forward: “Recently, all major US mobile phone carriers have created a new regulation (A2P 10DLC) that has changed the way bulk text messages are sent. Due to these changes, groups…
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Membership
Whose Money is it?
Andrew Estep Dear Members, As we slowly recover from the pandemic, a few bright spots shine. One that is shining through is that many PTAs have much larger bank balances than they had in the past. For some, that seems to be a luxury and not a problem. It can, however, be a problem. Charitable…
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Student Programs Submission Dates
The WSPTA student programs submission dates for 2023-2024 have been announced. The submission information for each student program is below. Reflections Due Date – Jan 18 All entries to the state Reflections contest must be submitted via the online application (located here: https://wspta.smapply.io/) by this date. These may only be submitted by council Reflections chairs…
From the Executive Director
Andrew Estep Dear Members, For me, July means Independence Day, barbecues, picnics, and vacations. It also means enjoying friends, family, and community. We get to go to baseball games, enjoy 16+ hours of daylight (in Washington), and celebrate our good fortune to be Americans. I was talking with a college-age student yesterday. Her family had…
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June 2023 Programs Plug
Laura Peterson Hello fellow WSPTA volunteers, I wanted to say thank you for all your help promoting and participating in our programs. The programs committee has dwindled down quite a bit so please consider signing up to help your new programs director, Betty, continue our work. Thank you to all my volunteers that did stick…
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Leadership
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Programs
Executive Director Annual Report
The last three years have been difficult, but the worst is behind us. The good news is we hit bottom and are heading up. We have much, much better times ahead of us. Washington State PTA is a reasonably barebones operation. We have 4 employees at the office, support from a handful of contractors, and…
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Leadership
Annual Reports
Written reports have been prepared instead of the verbal ones typically presented at the annual business meeting on April 30. Those three reports are linked below. The State of the PTA by Nancy Chamberlain Finance Officer’s Update by Candy Walters Executive Director’s Report by Andrew Estep
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Week 16 Report: 2023 Legislative Session Summary
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org As was reported last week, the Washington State Legislature adjourned Sunday, April 23rd, closing the 105-day session with some significant gains, including increased funding for special education, investments from the Climate Commitment Act, and bills designed to prevent and mitigate gun violence. Governor Jay Inslee has until May 16th to sign…
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Advocacy
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Legislative
Week 15 Report: Sine Die Edition
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org April 23rd was the final day of the 105-day 2023 legislative session. The operating budget Conference Committee released the biennial budget Saturday, April 22nd. The Senate and House are expected to approve the budget bills before adjourning sine die[1]. Here’s a quick overview of ESSB 5187, related to the bigger K-12…
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Advocacy
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Legislative