Monday September 17th, Private School leaders met with State Board of Education leaders to discuss the transition of the approval process for private schools from OSPI to the SBE.
Don Johnson, Chair of the Private School Advisory Committee; Suzie Hanson, Executive Director of WFIS; and Judy Jennings, State Board of Education Board Member, met with the Randy Spaulding, State Board of Education (SBE) Executive Director; Linda Drake, Director of Career and College Readiness; and Parker Teed, Policy Analyst, and talked through the details of the approval process, highlighted other duties with which the SBE is charged, and agreed on next steps.
Laura Moore retired this summer and with her went over twenty years of relationships and systems between OSPI and private schools. As with all change, this is an opportunity to develop the best possible pathways for WA State Approval and to clarify the specific duties of OSPI and the State Board.
The first goal is to create an organizational chart for OSPI and for the State Board. The Private School Advisory Committee will work to fine tune the chart. Once the chart is completed, it will be shared with private schools.
Reminder: The private school re-approval process begins in January 2019. Please have whoever is assigned to this responsibility start the process in January.
New: Instead of snail mail, the WA State Approval Certificates will be sent via email to be printed by each school.
Legislation: There have been requests to the State Board for more flexibility in the 24 credit graduation requirements. Some solutions being discussed are:
- Legislation to give 2 credit waivers;
- A competency based diploma; or
- Middle school credits for high school courses in math and language automatically counted unless parents choose otherwise (currently parents have to opt in to receive credit instead of opting out, which is hard on parents who do not understand the fine print.)
