READ FIRST TIME 03/05/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to skill centers; amending RCW 84.52.068; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that student access to programs offered at skill centers can help prepare them for careers, apprenticeships, and postsecondary education. The legislature further finds that current limits on how school districts and skill centers report full-time equivalent students and the time students are served provide a disincentive for school districts to send their students to skill centers. The legislature further finds that there are barriers to providing access to students in rural and remote areas but that there are opportunities to do so with satellite and branch campus programs, distance and online learning programs, and collaboration with higher education, business, and labor. The legislature further finds that skill centers provide opportunities for dropout prevention and retrieval programs by offering programs that accommodate students' work schedules and provide credit retrieval opportunities. The legislature further finds that implementing the recommendations from the study by the workforce training and education coordinating board will enhance skill center programs and student access to those programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A skill center is a regional career and technical education partnership established to provide access to comprehensive industry-defined career and technical programs of study that prepare students for careers, employment, apprenticeships, and postsecondary education. A skill center is operated by a host school district and governed by an administrative council in accordance with a cooperative agreement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Beginning in the 2007-08 school year and thereafter, students attending skill centers shall be funded for all classes at the skill center and the sending districts, up to one and six-tenths full-time equivalents or as determined in the omnibus appropriations act. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop procedures to ensure that the school district and the skill center report no student for more than one and six-tenths full-time equivalent students combining both their high school enrollment and skill center enrollment. Additionally, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop procedures for determining the appropriate share of the full-time equivalent enrollment count between the resident high school and skill center.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall review and revise the guidelines for skill centers to encourage skill center programs. The superintendent, in cooperation with the workforce training and education coordinating board, skill center directors, and the Washington association for career and technical education, shall review and revise the existing skill centers' policy guidelines and create and adopt rules governing skill centers as follows:
     (a) The threshold enrollment at a skill center shall be revised so that a skill center program need not have a minimum of seventy percent of its students enrolled on the skill center core campus in order to facilitate serving rural students through expansion of skill center programs by means of satellite programs or branch campuses;
     (b) The developmental planning for branch campuses shall be encouraged. Underserved rural areas or high-density areas may partner with an existing skill center to create satellite programs or a branch campus. Once a branch campus reaches sufficient enrollment to become self-sustaining, it may become a separate skill center or remain an extension of the founding skill center; and
     (c) Satellite and branch campus programs shall be encouraged to address high-demand fields.
     (2) Rules adopted under this section shall allow for innovative models of satellite and branch campus programs, and such programs shall not be limited to those housed in physical buildings.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and deliver a ten-year capital plan for legislative review before implementation.
     (4) Subject to available funding, the superintendent shall:
     (a) Conduct approved feasibility studies for serving noncooperative rural and high-density area students in their geographic areas; and
     (b) Develop a statewide master plan that identifies standards and resources needed to create a technology infrastructure for connecting all skill centers to the K-20 network.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Subject to available funding, skill centers shall provide access to late afternoon and evening sessions and summer school programs, to rural and high-density area students aligned with regionally identified high-demand occupations. When possible, the programs shall be specifically targeted for credit retrieval, dropout prevention and intervention for at-risk students, and retrieval of dropouts. Skill centers that receive funding for these activities must participate in an evaluation that is designed to quantify results and identify best practices, collaborate with local community partners in providing a comprehensive program, and provide matching funds.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish and support skill centers of excellence in key economic sectors of regional significance. The superintendent shall broker the development of skill centers of excellence and identify their roles in developing curriculum and methodologies for reporting skill center course equivalencies for purposes of high school graduation.
     (2) Once the skill centers of excellence are established, the superintendent of public instruction shall develop and seek funding for a running start for career and technical education grant program to develop and implement career and technical programs of study targeted to regionally determined high-demand occupations. Grant recipients should be partnerships of skill centers of excellence, community college centers of excellence, tech-prep programs, industry advisory committees, area workforce development councils, and skill panels in the related industry. Grant recipients should be expected to develop and assist in the replication of model career and technical education programs of study. The career and technical education programs of study developed should be consistent with the expectations in the applicable federal law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   The superintendent of public instruction shall assign at least one full-time equivalent staff position within the office of the superintendent of public instruction to serve as the director of skill centers.

Sec. 8   RCW 84.52.068 and 2005 c 514 s 1104 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A portion of the proceeds of the state property tax levy shall be deposited into the student achievement fund as provided in this section.
     (2)(a) The amount of the deposit shall be based upon the average number of full-time equivalent students in the school districts during the previous school year as reported to the office of the superintendent of public instruction by August 31st of the previous school year.
     (b) For the 2004-2005 through 2007-2008 school years, an annual amount equal to two hundred fifty-four dollars per full-time equivalent student in all school districts shall be deposited in the student achievement fund.
     (c) For the 2008-2009 school year, an annual amount equal to two hundred sixty-five dollars per full-time equivalent student in all school districts shall be deposited in the student achievement fund.
     (d) For the 2009-2010 school year, an annual amount equal to two hundred seventy-seven dollars per full-time equivalent student in all school districts shall be deposited in the student achievement fund.
     (e) For the 2010-2011 school year and each year thereafter, an annual amount equal to two hundred seventy-eight dollars per full-time equivalent student in all school districts shall be deposited in the student achievement fund.
     (f) The school district annual amounts shall be deposited based on the monthly apportionment schedule as defined in RCW 28A.510.250. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall notify the department of the monthly amounts to be deposited into the student achievement fund to meet the apportionment schedule. The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that moneys generated by skill center students is returned to skill centers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 2 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.