Inclusive Practices and Legal Updates for School Psychologists and LEPs with Katie Pettersen and Corrina Schader

Embedding LGBTQ+ Affirming & Inclusive
Approaches Into Your Practice

This workshop will be recorded.

Students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or gender diverse (LGBTQ+) are among schools’ most vulnerable youth, experiencing bullying and harassment at disproportionately high levels (Kosciw, Greytak, Palmer, & Boesen, 2014). Various studies conducted nationwide indicate that LGBTQ youth experience struggles with maintaining passing grades, high absenteeism, school drop-out, and suicidality at substantially higher rates than their straight, cisgender peers. According to the 2015 National School Climate Survey conducted by GLSEN, “More than 8 in 10 LGBTQ students experienced harassment or assault at school.” Further, 1 in 7 LGBTQ students reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year due to their sexual orientation, gender, or gender expression.” Sadly, these threats are not only coming from peers. According to GLSEN’s Survey, students report that, “When asked to describe how staff responded to reports of victimization, LGBTQ students most commonly said that staff did nothing or told the student to ignore it; 2 in 10 students were told to change their behavior (e.g., to not act “so gay” or dress in a certain way” (2019). Unfortunately, these challenges are even more salient now, with a multitude of states recently passing laws that strip trans students of their rights, threaten the safety of LGBTQ+ youth and their loved ones, and force teachers to “not say gay.” 

Our workshop will empower school psychologists, LEPs, and other practitioners to incorporate inclusive practices into their schools, districts, clinics, and private practices.  We will review and discuss the GLSEN model policy for gender identity, as well as steps for using the District and School Transgender & Gender Diverse Readiness Assessment created by Todd Savage, NCSP. We provide attendees space to fill out a Gender Support Plan with the help of a case study and a fishbowl role-play that we put on. Finally, we will spend time reviewing legal updates in this area, including Supreme Court rulings Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta. 

In this session, participants will be able to:

1. Deepen our understanding of LGBTQ+ terminology, explore differentiated definitions, and the power of affirming youth through the use of respective names/pronouns.

2. Unpack the development and implementation of gender support plans to amplify student support in school.

3. Discuss legal updates and how they affect students, families, staff, and our roles. 

4. Share resources, connections, and best practices with others in similar roles across the field and the state, sharing contact information and fostering long-term connections with others looking to support and serve LGBTQ+ youth and families.

Katie Pettersen is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Licensed Educational Psychologist working in Santa Clara Unified School District. Katie is an ardent advocate of student needs, and has worked with various teams to support the development of programming to support all students. Katie is passionate about special education and mental health policy and regularly engages in advocacy at the California state capitol. Katie's areas of interest within the field of school psychology include mental health awareness,  Autism Spectrum Disorders, and supporting LGBTQ+ youth. In addition to her work with SCUSD, Katie serves as Region 2 Representative for the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP) and Membership Chair of the Santa Clara County Association of School Psychologists (SCCASP).

Corrina is a Licensed Educational Psychologist and the founder of Mindful LEP, a private practice offering evaluationplay- and art-based support to children and families. With nine years of experience as a school psychologist, she brings a deep, practical understanding of what students and staff need to feel safe, seen, and supported in schools. Corrina currently serves as Secretary for the Santa Clara County Association of School Psychologists (2026–27 term), where she's passionate about building community and resources for practitioners across the county. She is excited to co-lead this workshop on inclusive practices for LGBTQ+ students and staff, bringing both her clinical background and her heart for creating school environments where every student can thrive.

This course meets the qualifications for 3 hours of continuing education credit for LEPs, LMFTs, LPCCs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. This course also qualifies for 3 hours of continuing professional development for Nationally Certified School Psychologists, under provider number 1025. CASP maintains responsibility for the program and its content.

Don't miss this opportunity!

If you are not yet a SCCASP member, JOIN now and save on all 2026-2027 events!  

Membership fees:

• Regular/Associate: $30
• Retired/Student: $20

For disability assistance, please contact events@sccasp.org.