This month brought some new information concerning our classified staff and state requirements. House Bill 1115 required the creation of a Paraeducator Board that is meeting and directing school districts to implement a course of study for paraeducators. Our current employees are on track with the standards of practice:
These begin September 1, 2019, but our substitutes also need to meet these standards, so I am communicating with them early to give them time to gather the documentation needed. ESD 112 will proctor the ETS test so if a substitute needs to take the test they have that option.
For new hires as of September 1, 2018, these requirements need to be met upon hire. This adds another layer to our screening process to ensure they have the required documentation. There are other requirements being talked about as well that will add to the training we give our paraeducators but they are dependent on funding so are still in the planning stages.
I am also working on the Educator Equity Data Collection Tool through OSPI. This tool gathers data from Cedars which shows what classes our teachers are teaching and from PESB showing what endorsements our teachers have. If a teacher is teaching a class out of their endorsement, it needs to be approved by the board, and then I upload the consent agenda showing the process. Part of the process is also communicating with the principal to see what added support we are giving the staff member and looking at how we can add the endorsement if the staff member continues to teach the class. I need to submit the data by June 30.
Lastly, I am helping with interviewing staff for next year and communicating important dates to new hires, so they are aware of our New Educator Training week and district directed days. I will start processing new hires to get them cleared early since fingerprints can bottleneck in the summer. It is always exciting to see their passion for students and excitement about Woodland School District.