2410-S

AN ACT Relating to establishment of a community and school collaboration program; adding new sections to chapter 28A.630 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that an escalating number of students are engaging in violent behavior, are unable to make successful transitions from school-to-school and school-to-work, and are dropping out of school. Poor attendance, behavior, and achievement among students; the lack of community schools and safe havens for students; the absence of parental involvement; the lack of training and preparation for students entering the work force; minimal support and guidance for students when they make transitions between schools; and the lack of community and family empowerment support all contribute to the inability of young people to succeed in school and lead productive lives.

(2) The legislature further finds that communities can best identify the needs of children within that community and develop strategies to meet those needs. Communities recognize the necessity of collaborating within their communities to develop and implement solutions that include the active participation by schools, business leaders, and the community.

(3) The legislature further finds communities and schools must work together to develop and operate a sustained infrastructure that will address the long-term needs of students and the community. Social service resources do exist in communities, but there is limited coordination at the school site to leverage available resources, develop relations with service agencies, assist with the implementation of services, and target services and improvement strategies directly to students.

(4) The purpose of this act is to equip students with the resources, skills, knowledge, and motivation necessary to avoid violent behavior, to stay in school, and to make successful transitions from school-to-school and school-to-work through the establishment of community and school collaboration projects geographically distributed throughout the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:

(1) There is established in the office of the superintendent of public instruction a community and school collaboration program, which shall fund and coordinate community-based projects to develop comprehensive community improvement activities at schools to meet the needs of students. The projects shall integrate the community support services by placing community and school project coordinators at the school site; leverage and coordinate community resources in a nonduplicative, cost-effective, and accountable manner at the school site; and mobilize public and private resources to support youth and families.

(2) Goals of the projects within the program shall include at a minimum:

(a) Reduction of the school drop-out rate through improved student attendance, behavior, and educational achievement;

(b) Expansion of the use of schools as community centers and safe havens open outside of normal school hours;

(c) Improvement in school-to-school transitions for preschool-aged students through increased parental involvement and education and collaboration with the head start program and the early childhood education assistance program;

(d) Improvement in school-to-school transitions for high school and college-aged students identified as at risk of failing to move successfully into a college or training program; and

(e) Increasing successful school-to-work transitions for students through educationally linked job internships, mentored job shadowing experiences, and the development of personalized education and career plans for participating students.

(3) Applications for project funding under sections 3 and 4 of this act shall:

(a) Define the community requesting funding;

(b) Designate a lead agency or organization responsible for project management, describe the membership of the community project's board of advisors or governing entity, and provide evidence of written interagency agreements with existing youth service organizations to carry out project activities;

(c) Contain a written agreement between a school district and the identified lead agency to implement a community and school collaboration project;

(d) Document the active participation of public and private entities in the community, including the various communities of color, that are currently providing services to school-age children, including at a minimum, schools, law enforcement, local government, youth services agencies and organizations, job training organizations, mental health, and health care providers;

(e) Identify the school, schools, or other sites to be used as the project sites;

(f) Describe the services and activities that will be undertaken by the project, including identification of specific services for which funding is requested;

(g) Describe the coordinated system for meeting the needs of students that the community will develop, including a description of how the proposed system will build upon existing services and existing community efforts to coordinate services for school-aged children;

(h) Identify community matching funds, as provided in section 3 of this act, that have been committed to the project; and

(i) Describe the evaluation process, including a system to collect baseline data, developed to demonstrate the success of the project in achieving performance standards, including, but not limited to, student attendance, drop-out rates, educational achievement, successful transition from school to school, employment, college entrance, and postsecondary achievement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall award grants for community and school collaboration projects for teens. Grants shall be made competitively based upon the information provided in the applications for funding. To the greatest extent practicable, grants shall be geographically distributed throughout the state.

(2) Twenty-five percent of the funding for projects under sections 2 through 4 of this act shall be community matching funds provided by private or public entities in the communities requesting funding.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:

Communities and schools collaboration projects shall have an initial duration of two years. To the extent funding is available, projects may be renewed for an additional two years.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall appoint a communities and schools collaboration task force. The task force shall: (a) Develop strategies to expand communities and school collaboration projects to a state-wide basis; (b) collect and share information regarding successful activities and outcomes in existing projects; and (c) set priorities for state-wide expansion of the program using community need factors, including at a minimum the incidence of youth violence, the student dropout rate, and the need to promote geographic distribution of the program throughout the state.

(2) The task force shall include a representative of the superintendent of public instruction, the director of the department of community development, and the department of social and health services. The task force also shall include members who have participated in successful community and school collaboration projects at the local level including educators, health and human service providers, law enforcement officials, and other community leaders.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act shall expire June 30, 2000.