ODSS Association Updates

Andrea Kunkel, CCOSA General Counsel & ODSS Executive Director

Although many national organizations are still holding virtual conferences, ODSS’ four officers were able to attend the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) Fall Conference in person on November 11-13. As safety precautions, CASE required participants to provide advance proof of COVID vaccination and to wear masks. President Teresa Golden and Legislative and Policy Liaison Kim Elkington-Baxter traveled to Little Rock a day early to represent ODSS at the CASE Board meeting. President-Elect Rachelle English and Past President Melisa Kifer joined them for the conference the next day. They all learned a lot and brought back many ideas for future ODSS Conferences. But attending in person also gave them the chance for adventure, to spend time getting to know one another and to interact with colleagues from across the U.S. We hope they have many more of those opportunities during their terms of office.

The 2021-22 school year is a big, big year for new special education directors! In a typical school year, ODSS has approximately 50 new director participants in the First-Year Special Education Directors Project. This year we have 62. We’re happy to say that every new director has been paired with an experienced director mentor to provide support and encouragement. ODSS appreciates every director willing to volunteer their time to help new colleagues. Finally, November 1 was a big day for ODSS. That’s the day we hit our highest member number ever, with 181 active members! Feel free to share contact information for Andrea at kunkel@ccosa.org or Laura Crabtree at laura@ccosa.org if other administrators in your district would like to learn more about ODSS or CCOSA!