H-2423.1

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1803

ByHouse Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Callan, Harris, Dolan, Davis, Ramos, Santos, Senn, Sullivan, Pollet, and Frame)

AN ACT Relating to updating school district director compensation through the revision and preservation of a uniform compensation structure and an examination of future needs; amending RCW 28A.343.400 and 28A.320.050; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 28A.343.400 and 1987 c 307 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each member of the board of directors of a school district may receive compensation of ((fifty dollars))$100 per day or portion thereof for attending board meetings and for performing other services on behalf of the school district, not to exceed ((four thousand eight hundred dollars))$7,800 per year((, if the district board of directors has authorized by board resolution, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the provision of such compensation. A board of directors of a school district may authorize such compensation only from locally collected excess levy funds available for that purpose, and compensation for board members shall not cause the state to incur any present or future funding obligation)). Compensation provided to a director under this section that is in excess of $3,000 per year must be authorized by the board of directors at a regularly scheduled meeting.

(2) Any director may waive all or any portion of his or her compensation under this section as to any month or months during his or her term of office, by a written waiver filed with the district as provided in this section. The waiver, to be effective, must be filed any time after the director's election and before the date on which the compensation would otherwise be paid. The waiver shall specify the month or period of months for which it is made.

(3) The compensation provided ((in))under this section shall be in addition to any reimbursement for expenses paid to such directors by the school district.

Sec. 2. RCW 28A.320.050 and 1977 c 73 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The actual expenses of school directors in going to, returning from, and attending upon directors' meetings or other meetings called or held pursuant to statute, including costs for child care, shall be paid.

(2) Likewise, the expenses of school superintendents and other school representatives chosen by the directors to attend any conferences or meetings or to attend to any urgent business at the behest of the state superintendent of public instruction or the board of directors shall be paid.

(3) The board of directors may pay the actual and necessary expenses for travel, lodging, and meals a superintendent candidate incurs when he or she attends an employment interview in the school district.

(4) The school directors, school superintendents, other school representatives, or superintendent candidates may be advanced sufficient sums to cover their anticipated expenses in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the state auditor and which shall substantially conform to the procedures provided in RCW 43.03.150 through 43.03.210.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall annually distribute funds to each school district in an amount equaling $3,000 per year for each member of the board of directors. Funds provided to school districts in accordance with this section may only be used for school director compensation provided under RCW 28A.343.400.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules to implement this section.

(3) This section applies beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

(2) The examination required by this section, at a minimum, must address:

(a) The duties and responsibilities of school directors and to what extent those duties, and the factors relevant to their completion, may have changed in the previous 10 years;

(b) Demographic data about school district boards of directors and the communities they represent for the purpose of understanding the diversity of school district boards of directors and whether that diversity reflects the communities they serve;

(c) The significant variances in school district budgets, student enrollments, tax bases, and revenues;

(d) Options for periodically updating school director compensation, including the frequency and timing of potential compensation reviews, potential entities that may be qualified to conduct the reviews, and considerations related to inflationary indices or other measures that reflect cost of living changes; and

(e) Options for funding the actual and potential costs of school director compensation, including salaries, per diem amounts, expense reimbursements, and health care benefits.

(3) In completing the examination required by this section, the department of commerce shall consult with interested parties, including the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the Washington state school directors' association, the Washington association of school administrators, and educational service districts.

(4) The department of commerce shall, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, report its findings and recommendations to the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and the committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over fiscal matters and K-12 education by November 18, 2022.

(5) This section expires June 30, 2023.

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