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Advocacy & Legislation

AWSP provides a strong and respected voice on state and nationwide issues affecting K–12 schools and principals. We vigilantly monitor and research trends impacting our members’ profession, reputation, and practice. We value our members who travel to Olympia and Washington, D.C. to provide the principal’s perspective. 

We offer several ways to help you keep pace with the legislative arena, including Legislative Update (our a weekly e-newsletter during session), how to find your state legislator, how to track the status of bills and find out how your lawmaker voted, and practical tips for talking with legislators.

We focus our governmental relations efforts and legislative platform through a statewide, grassroots Legislation Committee. This collaboration identifies and prioritizes issues critical to our members, so we can work smarter on your behalf in Olympia and around the state.

Every voice matters, and it’s important for all of us to stay informed and connected.

2025 Legislative Platform



“It is difficult to envision a higher return on investment in K-12 education than the cultivation of high-quality school leadership.” ~ Wallace Foundation, 2021

The 2025 AWSP Legislative Platform focuses on leadership development, fully funding basic education, and increasing student support to ensure all students succeed, with priorities for principals and school staff.

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Connecting with our legislators at both the local and national level is critical to ensure our legislators recognize the importance of supporting educators in their efforts to keep students safe and reach every student in their classrooms and buildings.
- Erika Burden, 2020 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year

Get Involved


Legislative News

The Immunization Rules are Changing. Here's What You Need to Know.

Mar 4, 2020, 10:22 AM by Xenia Doualle
A change is coming in August 2020 that you don’t want to miss. The way schools collect immunization records and comply with immunization rules will be different beginning with the 2020-21 school year. Effective August 1, 2020, a state rule change will affect three areas of immunization compliance: The definition of “conditional status” has been clarified. Students must turn in their immunization paperwork on or before the first day of attendance. All new immunization records from students need to be medically verified. The Tdap vaccine requirement for 6th through 12th graders has been changed to a 7th through 12th-grade requirement.

 

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A change is coming in August 2020 that you don’t want to miss. The way schools collect immunization records and comply with immunization rules will be different beginning with the 2020-21 school year. Effective August 1, 2020, a state rule change will affect three areas of immunization compliance:

  • The definition of “conditional status” has been clarified. Students must turn in their immunization paperwork on or before the first day of attendance.
  • All new immunization records from students need to be medically verified.
  • The Tdap vaccine requirement for 6th through 12th graders has been changed to a 7th through 12th grade requirement.

Students without immunization paperwork on the first day of school should not start school until the required paperwork is turned in. These students are not considered in conditional status. These changes were approved by the Washington State Board of Health in 2019

Let’s explore each of these a little bit more.

Conditional Status

In the past, students had 30 days from the first day of attendance to turn in their immunization documentation to the school. The new rule clarifies that students without immunization paperwork should not start school until the required paperwork is turned in to the school. If they are missing vaccine doses, they must get any doses they are eligible to receive before starting school. Once they have provided the required paperwork to the school that they have received all vaccines they are currently eligible to receive, they can start school.  If more doses are needed in a series that require spacing for dosing purposes, the student is considered in conditional status, and can be in school while completing the vaccine series. Children in conditional status must be making progress toward meeting the immunization requirements. 

Knowing the counts occur within the first week of school, it is vitally important that you work with your teams to begin work now, as opposed to waiting.

There are some special situations which override the conditional status rules: 

  • McKinney-Vento and foster students must be immediately enrolled even if lacking documentation of immunization status
  • Additionally McKinney-Vento students cannot be excluded for being out of compliance with the immunization requirements
  • Children of active duty military parents must turn in documentation of immunization a CIS or Certificate of Exemption (COE) on or before the first day of attendance but if they are missing immunizations they have 30 days time to get all of the required immunizations they are eligible to receive.

Medically Verified Records

Starting on August 1, 2020, the revised rule requires medically verified immunization records for school and child care entry. A medically verified record includes one or more of the following:

  • A Certificate of Immunization Status(CIS) printed from the Washington Immunization Information System (IIS)
  • A physical copy of the Certificate of Immunization Status form with a healthcare provider signature
  • A physical copy of the Certificate of Immunization Status with accompanying medical immunization records from a healthcare provider verified and signed by school staff
  • OR, A Certificate of Immunization Status printed from MyIR. MyIR is the state immunization registry that can be accessed by parents to print their child’s Certificate of Immunization Status.

Tdap Requirement Change

The requirement for a Tdap dose is changing from grade 6-12 to grade 7-12. This means all students entering 7th through 12th grades must have one booster dose of Tdap vaccine. 

In the 2020-2021 school year, all students in 7th grade must have received their Tdap dose on or after age 10 years. 

Students in 8th through 12th grades must have received their Tdap dose on or after age 7 years.

It is important to communicate these changes with your staff, including those who register new students, and update your process for the 2020-21 school year

The Department of Health in partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction have created a webpage to support the implementation of this change. There you will find information, resources, pre written documents and parent letters as well as frequently asked questions.

This information can help answer many questions you may have about the rule change. If you have any other questions, contact the Department of Health.

 

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Legislative Update E-Newsletter

Want updates on what's going on? Trying to understand the process and learn how to make an impact?  Follow us on social media, check out our blog or this page for the latest legislative news page, and read our Legislative Update email newsletter every Friday during session.

Questions? Reach out to Roz.

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School leaders in Washington state can take an active role in the political process by joining AWSP’s political action committee or PAC, the Washington School Principals Legislative Effectiveness Association.

AWSP-WSPLEA supports AWSP’s governmental relations efforts at both the state and national levels. It also raises and spends money to support candidates and issues that are important to the principalship and to K–12 education. Make a difference — join the PAC today!

School Funding Coalition

The School Funding Coalition represents the voices of nearly 8,000 school district leaders from our state’s 295 school districts. We bring a front-line understanding of school district financing and the education funding issues the Legislature continues to grapple with—especially as state budget decisions are contemplated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coalition includes AEA, AESD, AWSP, WASA, WASBO, WSPA, and WSSDA. We believe that each and every student needs stable support, safety, access to learning, and well-equipped staff. Learn more in our Immediate Student Needs document below.

2024 Legislative Priorities