BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to preservice internship training for principals; adding a new section to chapter 28A.405 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.305 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) Public school restructuring is a process that best occurs building by building, with the combined support and effort of staff, students, parents, and the community at large. Critical to successful restructuring at the building level is strong principal leadership.

(2) More than half of the K-12 principals currently active in Washington have indicated an intent to retire within the next five or six years. This creates an imperative to assure their replacements will be appropriately trained to carry forward or initiate local restructuring initiatives. At the same time, it is vital that these new principals reflect the increasing diversity of the student population.

(3) As the education system learns more about restructuring, the leadership role for principals is changing. Throughout this decade and beyond, a principal must be skilled in new and different ways, including consensus building and conflict resolution. Principal leadership for positive transitional change will require training and increased opportunities for preservice testing of skills.

(4) Research indicates clearly that the ideal locus for skill development in training principals is the internship phase, characterized by opportunities for the principal candidate to work closely with a strong mentor for extended portions of the school day and year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.405 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The Washington state principal internship support program is hereby created. The purpose of the program is to provide funds to school districts to enable employees who are in a principal preparation program to complete an internship with a mentor principal.

(2)(a) Beginning in the 1994-95 school year, a maximum of two hundred principal internships shall be funded annually.

(b) The maximum amount of state funding for each internship shall be based on the state-wide average cost of providing a substitute teacher for the equivalent of ninety days of instruction, as determined by the superintendent of public instruction.

(c) Funds appropriated for the principal internship support program shall be allocated by the superintendent of public instruction to the educational service districts based on the percentage of full-time equivalent public school students enrolled in school districts in each educational service district.

(d) Once principal internship participants have been selected, the educational service districts shall allocate the funds to the appropriate school districts. The funds shall be used to pay for replacement substitute staff while the school district employee is completing the principal internship.

(e) Educational service districts may be reimbursed for costs associated with implementing the program. Reimbursement rates shall be determined by the superintendent of public instruction.

(3) The process for selecting participants in the principal internship support program shall be as follows:

(a) The candidate must be enrolled in a state board‑approved principal preparation program;

(b) The candidate must apply in writing to his or her local school district;

(c) Each school district shall determine which applicants meet its criteria for participation in the principal internship support program and shall notify in writing its educational service district of the school district's selected applicants. When submitting the names of applicants, the school district shall identify a mentor principal for each principal intern applicant.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.305 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The state board of education shall appoint a principal internship advisory task force to develop and recommend to the board performance-based standards for the principal internship support program. Principal interns must complete all the standards in order to successfully complete the internship program.

(2) Colleges, universities, and school districts may establish additional standards.

(3) Task force membership shall include, but is not limited to, persons representing the office of the superintendent of public instruction, principals, school administrators, teachers, school directors, higher education principal preparation programs, and educational service districts.

(4) The state board shall adopt the standards by rule under chapter 34.05 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:

The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to administer the principal internship support program. The state superintendent may not allocate funds to the educational service districts before the state board of education has adopted the standards under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of three million four hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.