March 13, 2011

The WSSDA Task Force on Small Schools Issues met jointly with the WASA Small Schools Committee
prior to the annual WASA Small Schools Conference. No actions were taken by the Task Force; rather,
the meeting was a general roundtable discussion of issues.

Issues of note:
The Small Schools Conference is attracting fewer attendees and the question was posed as to whether
the conference had lost its primacy for meeting the needs of the participants. WASA noted the difficulty
of making a major conference viable for only 100 participants. The suggestion was made to co-sponsor
the conference with another organization.

Also of concern was the continuing annual threat of forced district consolidation, and the centralization
of power in Olympia, which is felt to be in alignment with the national agenda. Participants in general
felt the need to communicate more clearly the many ways in which they are already collaborating,
cooperating and using technology. The frustration was expressed that school directors spend so much of
their time and energy fighting for the state to fulfill its “paramount duty” that they have little time left
to work on improving student achievement.