Welcome to 2025! A new year with a blank slate lies before us. I hope you feel prepared and rejuvenated from winter break to tackle what lies ahead. Our fall season was certainly busy. It was great to see so many friends and colleagues at the OSPA Fall Conference in October. Mark your calendars for next year’s conference, October 9-10, 2025 at McMenamins Kennedy School in Portland. Another professional development opportunity is happening this spring, April 7, 9-noon on Zoom. Come learn about anxiety in kids and earn 3 NASP-approved CEUs. Registration is now open. 

The OSPA leaders are working hard on your behalf. The Government and Professional Relations (GPR) committee is actively at work advocating with the Oregon legislators for school psychologists. We’ve met with Representatives and Senators, provided a model legislation to develop a “grow your own” grant program, and participated in the Oregon Legislative Days to voice our passion for the field of school psychology, particularly the shortages that impact us all. We’ve joined forces with Oregon school counselors and school social workers to advocate for  qualified mental health workers in the school and the need for a multi-faceted solution to our shortages including increasing graduate training programs, accessibility to training, funding for internship salaries, exposure to our profession to increase interest, and supports like salaries and workload issues. We are also pursuing relations with key legislatures and the Oregon Education Association (OEA). We are actively watching several key legislative actions and bills. We will send out emails and post on our website when a bill needs public comment, so you can participate in the advocacy. Of particular note this year, the legislature is considering the inter-state compact for school psychologists licensure (ICSP) and the funding cap for special education. We’ll be watching this closely along with the new developments in Medicaid billing expansion. If you’d like to be a part of this exciting work, join our committee. 

We have an URGENT Action Alert regarding the ICSP. This is now HB 2596 and it’s been granted a special hearing February 3, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. We are soliciting people who can be at the Salem Capital and are willing to provide testimony on behalf of this bill. We are also soliciting written testimony. Here’s an example of written testimony that was effective in Colorado (the 2nd state to pass the ICSP). Please consider submitting written testimony here. If you’d like to speak in-person or over Zoom, please contact myself or Kristin Irwin, our NASP Delegate. 

Speaking of committees, we have several active committees that are working on your behalf. Our member engagement committee organized the social gatherings for National School Psychologist Week (NSPW) in November. I hope you got to participate. If not, watch for those socials next year, and if an in-person social isn’t your thing, the website also provides other ways to support our profession and celebrate school psychology. Check it out. The member engagement committee has also organized a social for Oregon school psychologists at the NASP conference in Seattle, Feb. 19, 6 p.m. at The Pine Box. See the advertisement in this Bulletin. I hope to see you there. OSPA has designed buttons to identify us at NASP, thanks to our creative Bulletin Editor, Brianna Arias! We’ll have extra to share with Oregon school psychologists, so look for us. The button will be white with green print. We are also considering t-shirts, so watch for those at the OSPA Fall Conference. 

Our Public Relations committee is actively working on reviewing requests to participate in research and new publications. Last year, an OSPA member requested help with all the medical prescriptions that are written for an IEP. We have been brainstorming how to help with this ongoing issue. The public relations committee is working on developing an infographic that will be available to all OSPA members to distribute to local medical providers. Our leaders are also preparing to speak to the pediatricians at Randall Children’s Hospital. This presentation will be recorded and offered to pediatricians across Oregon. The OSPA Board wants to represent you in our presentation.  Add your input here. 

The committee (Professional Development and Learning Experiences committee, PDLE) that will organize the 2025 conference is just launching. If you’d like to be part of that, please reach out. We are actively working on launching a LinkedIn profile that may be able to provide job opportunities including internship opportunities across Oregon. Watch for our presence on LinkedIn. With our new social media direction, we are also active on Facebook and Instagram, @orschoolpsychassociation. Follow us to get the latest updates. The nominations and elections committee will be launching our elections for next year’s OSPA Board. Watch for the announcement on email, social media, and the website. Open positions for next year include President-elect (3-year position) and Directors at Large (5 seats, 1 year position). The Oregon School Psychologist of the Year Award is also open for nominations. Award winner announced at the OSPA Fall Conference in October.  

The mentor/consultant program is now open! We need more consultants/mentors. If you would like to be a mentor/consultant, we want you. All of you have something to share with another colleague. Even if you are brand new in the field, you’ve navigated the TSPC licensing system. You can be a consultant or mentor someone else through that process. We get a lot of questions about moving to Oregon. Almost all of you can answer those questions. We need more consultants and you can pick the topic that you are willing to consult about. 

I see some busy months ahead of us. Thank you for all your hard work for the students, educators, and families in our communities. You are appreciated!

Danielle N. Pappas, Ph.D., NCSP

OSPA President