I was elected President, assumed office in 2000, and served until 2002. The irony of the situation was that there were officially no members at the time of my election. With that in mind my task was obvious. Along with interested colleagues we embarked on a recruitment drive that resulted in increasing the paid membership to close to one hundred members. Our first goal was to achieve parity with nationally certified teachers regarding the stipend they received for gaining national recognition as outstanding educators. We lobbied legislators and members of the Nevada Department of Education, as well as State School Board members, to support our cause. This effort was eventually recognized in the legislature during the term of my successor. We also pursued private licensure for school psychologists, but were defeated in our effort primarily due to opposition from clinical therapists in the private sector. This is unfortunate because it was never our intention to compete with them for clients. Instead, our motivation was based on advice from our Medicaid consultant who informed us that if school psychologists were licensed privately that we could apply for recognition by Medicaid as providers. This would have meant that our work with children in schools could have been billed to Medicaid for reimbursement and the funds used to support mental health programs in the school districts. Alas, this was not meant to be.

I was reappointed President in 2005 by a newly formed seven member Board that was created with the collaborative effort of myself along with concerned past Presidents. Our purpose in developing this Board was to replace a system of electing a President annually and expending considerable effort in filling leadership positions. This task was extremely frustrating and often futile. The membership appreciated the need for a Statewide identity expressed through an organization, but the reticence to serve became obvious to all of us in leadership roles. The Board satisfied the leadership goal as well as the need for Statewide representation, since a self imposed requirement mandated that Board members had to come from different geographical regions; and, since Board members served for more that one year, we also instilled some continuity. One of our accomplishments in 2006 was to sponsor a statewide Threat Assessment Workshop hosted by the Oregon Forensic Institute free of charge to all NvASP members. It was gratifying to see school psychologists attending from all over Nevada. Two more goals were accomplished during this restructuring. A web site was established and we achieved corporation status in Nevada.

I stepped down from my post in November, 2006 feeling that I had accomplished the goal of passing on a viable organization to the next generation of leaders. I was assured by Don Blagg, NASP Representative for Nevada, that he would serve with the remaining Board members to further our goals as a profession.

Keith M. Croskery, EdD, NCSP, MFT, LADC
 

 

My direct involvement with NvASP began around the year 2000. At that time, there was no newsletter, but a yearly get together took place in Clark County in conjunction with their special education conference. In 2002, I was involved with a legislative proposal (initiated much earlier) to provide for private licensure of school psychologists. We hired our first paid lobbyist-now Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell and we made it to written bill. While we did not get very far on that proposal, active lobbying paid off on economic issues. Our profession was added to the list of "shortage" positions which trigger additional 20% PERS contribution. Also, we gained parity with nationally certified teachers for a 5% annual stipend for NCSP certification. Our last large membership meeting was in 2003 in Reno as part of a DOE training. In 2004, we rewrote our bylaws providing for a 7 member board of directors with 4 year terms. The hope was that such an arrangement would allow for institutional continuity and provide for more stability for the organization. We also received Nevada non-profit status. 

Jerry Apolito

 

My first recollection of anything NvASP has to be the annual conferences where the School Psychologists from the South and North (of Nevada) met in Tonopah at the Mizpah Hotel. Unfortunately, after the demise of the MX Missile Project by the Department of Defense, hard times fell upon Tonopah and the Mizpah Hotel was closed and boarded-up. The economy took, of course, a dive off of the high board into a drained pool. It is not too inaccurate to state that one knows times are bad when the Chinese restaurant shuts it’s doors; and that is what has happened in Tonopah. Though three or four restaurants remain open the local McDonalds franchise seems to be doing the best—no doubt helped by its proximity to Tonopah High School and a familiar name to tourists.

The annual conferences were well attended by both Clark and Washoe School Districts. The School Psychologists from the “Rurals” almost always sent their one or two to the conference. The agendas were full (would be nice to know if anyone has a copy they could make available to NvASP archives) and the presenters were often known on the national level. How did they get to Tonopah? I suspect most of them did not know that Tonopah was not a neighborhood in Las Vegas or Reno until they landed in one of those two towns, paid for the rental car and asked for a “street map” marked for Tonopah. Back “then” the drive from Vegas did not need to contend with North Las Vegas traffic, the USAF firing range on the East of U.S. 95, or the prison on the left. Now commuter traffic extends close to the cutoff to the Nevada Test Site outside of the Las Vegas Valley.

NvASP Presidents that come to mind (and there is no intentional slighting of anyone of the many I don’t list---the memory dims): Jim Tranor (sp), Jim Kirk, Bev Budd, Mary Lyn Eckelcamp, Robbie Robison, Lyle Mendive and Tony Del Vecchio. This is an opportunity for those of you out here shaking your head in disbelief, to correct the record (and the spelling) and update the above brief list.

While I was President (first of three terms. It is easy to have three terms when it is the President’s responsibility to call elections and the President does not do so…!) I arranged for NvASP to have a first generation Macintosh “loaned” to us. Two days after it crashed our resident geek informed me that the computer was NOT designed to function with five different operating systems loaded. This machine was listed as a portable computer; and at the end of my third term I carried the machine to Las Vegas and gave it to the President Elect. It has never made its way back North. It would be classified as a museum piece.

In coordination with Joe Crank (UNLV) and Gary Fisher (UNR) we successfully petitioned the Commission on Professional Standards in Education for Nevada to accept the NCSP as evidence of appropriate training to be licensed as a School Psychologist in Nevada. Thus, we were among the first thirteen states to offer reciprocity through the NCSP process. During recent sessions of the Nevada Legislature others in the organization have successfully lobbied for additional pay for School Psychologists holding the NCSP designation.

Joe Crank, Ph.D., NCSP, is responsible for UNLV having a NASP recognized program for School Psychology at the Specialist Level. Joe’s work placed Nevada as one of the “pioneer states” to have a NASP recognized program. Since that time Joe has also worked closely with several School Psychologists in Nevada in facilitating their work towards the NCSP certification. This has been helpful for those School Psychologists who have been in the practice for years but did not seek NCSP certification during the introductory days of the NCSP.

One of the early School Psychologists in Nevada (Washoe County School District-[WCSD]) was Marvin PIcollo, Ed.D. I believe he started at Reno High School as a Counselor and then move into the School Psychology field. He was a champion of Special Education and School Psychology and was recognized as such by having a WCSD school named in his honor. Have you wondered why WCSD School Psychologists are on the Administrator Salary Schedule? Another thanks to Dr. Picollo.

I encourage you to hit the word processing icon on your quick-start or dock and dash off your remembrances of NvASP and School Psychology in Nevada……write of some of your experiences that could happen only in a remote-rural school districts, and send them to angelatrombley@yahoo.com

 

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