WCASS 2025 Fall Conference 
Registration: Now Open

Schedule of Events

Thursday, October 2, 2025 

7:00-4:30 Registration

7:30-8:15 Continental Breakfast

8:15-9:45 Opening Keynote

Recalibrate the Culture
Jimmy Casas

Speaker Biography: Jimmy Casas is the CEO and President of J Casas and Associates, an educational leadership company aimed at serving teachers, principals and superintendents in school districts across the United States by providing high quality, practical and meaningful coaching support. Jimmy served twenty-two years as a school leader. He is a best selling author, speaker, leadership coach, and a state and national award winning principal. Under Jimmy’s leadership, Bettendorf High School was named one of the best high schools in the country three times by Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report. JImmy was named the 2012 Iowa Principal of the Year and was runner-up NASSP 2013 National Principal of the Year. In 2014, Jimmy was invited to the White House to speak on the Future Ready Pledge. Finally, in 2015, he received the Bammy Award for the National Principal of the Year.

 

Session Description: Do you leave work every night exhausted from putting out fires all day long? Are you frustrated because you find yourself dealing with the same issues time and time again? You are not alone.

It is time to recalibrate. Recalibrate our why. Our work. Our values. Ourselves. Educators must explore their inner selves to understand the role we each play in how we can impact the climate and culture of an entire campus when we are strategic and aligned in our practices. The classroom, building, and district levels must see themselves as one and must be intentional in replicating their processes, protocols, and frameworks to recalibrate and bring about system-wide change and cultivate a healthier culture. 

Participants will leave this session with a renewed understanding of the importance of effective processes and practical tools they can utilize immediately to cultivate a healthier culture for all members of their school community.

 

9:45-10:15 Break with Vendors

10:15-11:30 Concurrent Sessions

1. Legislative Updates with Dee Pettack

Join SAA Director, Dee Pettack for a rundown of the latest legislative action and a glimpse at what is on the horizon.

2. Recalibrate the Culture, Part 2 with 2025 Fall Keynote: Jimmy Casas

In this breakout session, participants will take a deeper dive into Recalibrate the Culture with a renewed understanding of the importance of effective processes, frameworks, and practical tools you can utilize immediately to cultivate a healthier culture for your school community.

3. Rightful Presence: A Journey Paved and Not Widely Traveled

Amy Jablonski, SWIFT Education Center, Leadership Development and Research Project Director. Iris Jacobson, DPI, Education Consultant. Missy Lesik, Altoona School District, Director of Student Services and Special Education

Inclusion and inclusionary practices for many students with disabilities have not held up to their promises because the concepts started from a position of exclusion, that is, they offered an invitation into the general education space rather than presumed it as the natural place of belonging. Furthermore, efforts to implement inclusive education too often put the responsibility to change deeply engrained beliefs, systems and practices on the backs of individual students and educators. Rightful presence flips the script by presuming belonging and collective responsibility. It brings to the surface the urgent need for educational entities, at all levels of the system, to meaningfully investigate the dynamics of inclusive practices in their own contexts and explore what their teams can do right away to start their journey toward rightful presence.

This work of fostering rightful presence in beliefs, systems and practices takes the work of inclusion, co-planning, and co-teaching to the next level. Previously the work focused on the technical scheduling of adults and students and neglected to bring to surface the concepts of rightful presence—full humanity, true belonging, collective responsibility—particularly for students who benefit from the most intensive support. By adopting a stance toward rightful presence, Wisconsin leaders and educators can create the space to explore implementation shifts in their particular settings. This session will explore the learnings of one district that is deeply engaging in fostering rightful presence and how their work opened deeper dialogue and intentional support for all adults to co-create schools where students can experience true belonging.

 11:30-12:45 Lunch

12:00-12:45 Membership Meeting

1:00-2:15 Concurrent Sessions 

1. Wisconsin Mediation System

Heidi Siebert, Director of Special Education-CESA 7, Wisconsin Special Education Mediation System-Educational Partner. Courtney Salzar, Executive Director of WIFACETS and Parent Partner of WSEMS.

The Wisconsin Special Education Mediation System is a free, neutral system to use when relationships between districts and parents/guardians have become strained.  But how can we leverage the resources and expertise within the system to support the improvement of communication and collaboration proactively? This session will dive into those resources and expertise to help build your toolbox for when educational decisions are being made for student with IEPs.  We will discuss hot button topics that seem to be rising to the surface and how you can support continued positive relationships with all stakeholders.  This session will include WSEMS information along with questions/discussion topics from the field that are impacting relationships and how to navigate them.

2. Handle with Care: Supporting Students After Trauma Through Community Partnership

Matt Kaemmerer, Director of Pupil Services, Oshkosh Area School District, 2025 WCASS Outstanding Administrator Award Winner. Jennifer Skolaski, Committee Facilitator, Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review Committee. Meredith Birmingham, Detective, Fox Crossing Police Department. Leah Olson, School Social Worker, Oshkosh Area School District.

This session highlights the journey and impact of the Winnebago County Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) team and how its findings led to the implementation of the Handle with Care (HWC) program in the Oshkosh Area School District and its expansion across the county. Presenters will share how OFR data revealed the deep connection between childhood trauma and substance use, prompting the adoption of the national Handle with Care model in Oshkosh. Law enforcement representatives will describe their role in identifying and communicating HWC alerts, while a school social worker will explain how schools use those alerts to provide timely, trauma-informed support to students. Success stories will illustrate the real-world impact of this collaboration, and the session will close with time for audience questions and discussion. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how multi-sector partnerships can be used to reduce trauma and promote well-being in their schools and communities.

3. Building Inclusive Classrooms: Reforming Practices from Co-Teaching to Grading in a Small District

Laurin Dodd, Director of Pupil Services, Winneconne Community School District. Rachel Ryf, Program Support Teacher, Winneconne Community School District.

In this session, the team from the Winneconne Community School District will share their journey of the inclusionary practices their small, rural district has implemented to support positive outcomes for students with disabilities. They will dig into specific strategies they've used to foster more inclusive environments, including the expansion of co-teaching models across grade levels and content areas. In this session the team will also highlight recent changes at the high school level and discuss adjustments to their grading practices that have increased access for all students. These intentional shifts have led to meaningful results across the district. This session will not only share what they’ve done, but also the positive impact these efforts have had on student success.

4. Creating a K-12 FBA System and Implementing it Consistently

Katherine Smith, Statewide FBA Trainer  CESA 1. Danielle Ozimek, District Autism Specialist, Mequon-Thiensville School Disctrict

2:15-2:45 Break with Vendors

2:45-4:15 Concurrent Sessions

1. Dispute Resolution Panel

Kylie Owens, Attorney, Attolles. Daniel Parker, Student Engagement Section Manager, DPI. Heidi Siebert, Director of Special Education-CESA 7, Wisconsin Special Education Mediation System-Educational Partner

Working from problems of practice encountered by our very own members, this panel of attorneys, DPI representatives, district leaders, and experts in the field will explore successful ways for districts to address and to be proactive with dispute resolution.

2. Behavior Related Concerns Panel

Renning, Lewis, and Lacy. Matt Kaemmerer, Director of Pupil Services, Oshkosh Area School District. Eva Shaw, Consultant - Autism and Emotional Behavioral Disability, DPI. Marge Resan, Compliance, DPI

Working from problems of practice encountered by our very own members, this panel of attorneys, DPI representatives, district leaders, and experts in the field will explore successful ways for districts to address and to be proactive with behavior concerns.

3. LRE and FAPE Panel

Boardman Clark. Iris Jacobson, Missy Lesik, Altoona School District, Director of Student Services and Special Education. Sandra Cohen, Attorney, Boardman Clark

Working from problems of practice encountered by our very own members, this panel of attorneys, DPI representatives, district leaders, and experts in the field will explore successful ways for districts to address and to be proactive with LRE and FAPE.

4. Staff Collaboration, Communication, & Concerns

Jim Heiden, WCASS Executive Director. Jenny Niesen, Director of Special Education, Jefferson School District. Tess O'Brien-Heinzen, Attorney, Renning, Lewis, & Lacy.

Working from problems of practice encountered by our very own members, this panel of attorneys, DPI representatives, district leaders, and experts in the field will explore successful ways for districts to address and to be proactive with staff conflict, staff role clarity, etc.

4:30-6:30 Networking Reception

Friday, October 3, 2025

7:00-8:00 Breakfast 

8:10-9:30 Legal Hot Topics: Panel Discussion

Panel Facilitated by Danica Lewis, WCASS Co-Director of Member Learning. Attorney Panelists: Chad Wade and Tess O'Brien-Heinzen, Renning, Lewis, & Lacy S.C. Mary Gerbig, Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson & Vliet, & Boardman Clark

Join us for a lively discussion about current hot topics. This group of esteemed attorneys will answer questions shared by student services leaders.

9:45-10:30 & 10:45-11:30 Community Conversations (repeated)

1.  New Directors' Networking 
2.  Explicit Instruction 
   
3.  Functional Behavioral Assessments
4.  Advocacy: The Bigger Picture
5.  DPI Reorganization & Supports
6.  Developing & Implementing Inclusive Practices
7.  Legal Roundtable
8.  Legal Roundtable
9.  Legal Roundtable
10.  Legal Roundtable: Seclusion/Restraint

Conference Fees

Member: $375*
Non-Member: $450
*Must be logged in to see member pricing*

Sending a team?
Team of 3 Conference fees:
Members: $1,040
(Each additional team member is $340)

Please email [email protected] with the following information in order to receive the team of 3 (or more) discount!
For each team member we need:
1. name
2. title
3. school
4. WCASS member status
5. CESA region
6. email address
7. Dietary Restrictions

WCASS will register the group for you and email you the confirmation and invoice. 

Overnight Information

Wilderness Resort/Glacier Canyon Lodge
45 Hillman Road
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Special room rate of $129 per night
Room block guaranteed through August 31, 2025.
After this date, the room rate will be honored if rooms are still available. Overflow block available at Wilderness Resort.  
Call 1-800-867-9453 and use the code: Leader #A71383

Accessibility: For questions about accessibility or to request special assistance during the event, please contact Gail Anderson at [email protected]. Three weeks advance notice is required to allow us to provide seamless access. If you need to cancel the special request this must be done at least 3 working days prior to the start of the event.

Questions? For questions on registration, payment, or general information please call the WCASS office at 608-204-9819.