Classified Members

The mission of the School-Related Personnel Council is to represent the voice of AFT Washington’s members who work in classified staff jobs in educational settings by bringing the membership’s perspectives, interests and needs to the State Federation and to keep members informed of State Federation information, legislative, policy, and other advocacy efforts, and engagement opportunities. The SRP plays a role in identifying and creating opportunities for professional development for our school-related personnel membership. The SRP Council also serves the purpose of sharing local-based challenges, opportunities and successes with the goals of learning from one another, sharing effective strategies and practices, inspiring one another, and celebrating one another while accessing support from the State Federation.

The 2024 Classified Conference, "Respect Is Essential: When It Reigns, Success Follows", is in the books! We had a great turnout and great workshops.

We are in planning for Classified Conference 2025 - more information coming soon.

The Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel (PSRP) division of the American Federation of Teachers represents more than 360,000 school support staff in K-12 districts, colleges and universities throughout the country. These jobs include office employees, custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, instructional paraprofessionals, food service workers, school nurses and health aides, technicians, groundskeepers, secretaries, bookkeepers, mechanics, special education assistants and hundreds of other job titles. To find out more, check out AFT's PSRP website.

Share My Lesson is a place where anyone who works with students—inside or outside of schools—can come together to share their very best resources. This free platform gives access to high-quality resources and provides an online community where educators and parents can collaborate with, encourage, and inspire each other. It is for:

• A food service worker who wants to share or find best resources on nutrition.
• An early childhood educator who has or wants great activities for very young students.
• A classroom paraprofessional with ideas on how to work with individual students and small groups.

To join Share My Lesson, go to AFT's website at www.sharemylesson.com.

We represent classified members in PreK-12 and higher education in the following locals:

• AFT Kent Classified Local 6344
• AFT Renton Local 6367
• AFT Renton Technical College Classified Local 6421
• Clover Park Technical College Classified Local 4789
• Federation of Head Start Employees Local 6153
• Lake Washington Federation of College Classified Local 4787
• Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals Local 461
• United Classified Workers Union Local 4795

Diane Hollstrom, Chair (Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals and AFT Washington VP of School-Related Personnel)

The Classified Council meets on an alternating schedule, October through June each year. The Council meets virtually, alternating between the first Thursday of the month and the first Saturday of the month. For questions about the Council, please contact Kaitlin Gillespie at 206-604-8877 or kgillespie@aftwa.org.