H-1511       _______________________________________________

 

                        HOUSE BILL NO. 1104

             _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington      49th Legislature     1985 Regular Session

 

By Representatives Long, Holland, Ebersole, Rayburn and May

 

 

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Education.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to early childhood education; amending RCW 28A.41.130; adding a new section to chapter 28A.58 RCW; and making an appropriation.

 

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

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.58 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Every school district shall test students before the students enter kindergarten with an assessment device designed or selected by the local school districts.  The assessment device shall be designed to measure the student's social, emotional, physical, and academic readiness to begin kindergarten and any other factors deemed necessary by the school district.

    (2) The assessment shall be made in the spring of each year of students planning on entering kindergarten in the fall, but assessments may be made during the summer or fall of students who  were not able to be assessed in the spring.  An assessment shall be made of every student before the child is enrolled in kindergarten or begins school for the first time.

    (3) The school districts shall seek the assistance of volunteers and community groups in administering the assessment.

    (4) The results of the assessment shall be compiled by the superintendent of public instruction who shall make those results available annually to the parents of those children tested, the legislature, and to all local school districts.  The results shall be used to properly place students and advise parents.  A child who is five years of age shall not be denied admission to a school or program operated by the school.

    (5) The superintendent of public instruction shall work with school districts to develop programs to provide appropriate educational opportunities for kindergarten students of different levels.  The  superintendent of public instruction shall maintain a list of these programs throughout the state and distribute the list to school districts without programs.

 

    Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 46, Laws of 1973 as last amended by section 30, chapter 3, Laws of 1983 and RCW 28A.41.130 are each amended to read as follows:

    From those funds made available by the legislature for the current use of the common schools, the superintendent of public instruction shall distribute annually as provided in RCW 28A.48.010 to each school district of the state operating a program approved by the state board of education an amount which, when combined with an appropriate portion of such locally available revenues, other than receipts from federal forest revenues distributed to school districts pursuant to RCW 28A.02.300 and 28A.02.310, as the superintendent of public instruction may deem appropriate for consideration in computing state equalization support, excluding excess property tax levies, will constitute a basic education allocation in dollars for each annual average full time equivalent student enrolled, based upon one full school year of one hundred eighty days, except that for kindergartens one full school year shall be one hundred eighty half days of instruction, or the equivalent as provided in RCW 28A.58.754, as now or hereafter amended.

    Basic education shall be considered to be fully funded by those amounts of dollars appropriated by the legislature pursuant to RCW 28A.41.130 and 28A.41.140 to fund those program requirements identified in RCW 28A.58.754 in accordance with the formula and ratios provided in RCW 28A.41.140.

    Operation of a program approved by the state board of education, for the purposes of this section, shall include a finding that the ratio of students per classroom teacher in grades kindergarten through three is not greater than the ratio of students per classroom teacher in grades four and above for such district:  PROVIDED, That for the purposes of this section, "classroom teacher" shall be defined as an instructional employee possessing at least a provisional certificate, but not necessarily employed as a certificated employee, whose primary duty is the daily educational instruction of students:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the state board of education shall adopt rules and regulations to insure compliance with the student/teacher ratio provisions of this section, and such rules and regulations shall allow for exemptions for those special programs and/or school districts which may be deemed unable to practicably meet the student/teacher ratio requirements of this section by virtue of a small number of students:  PROVIDED, FURTHER, That these rules and regulations shall provide that any district that has a ratio of no greater than ((twenty-five)) twenty-four students per classroom teacher in grades kindergarten through three in school year 1985-86 and reduces the student/teacher ratio by one student each year for four years until reaching a ratio of not more than twenty students per classroom teacher in grades kindergarten through three commencing in school year 1989-90 shall be in conformance with this section.

    If a school district's basic education program fails to meet the basic education requirements enumerated in RCW 28A.41.130, 28A.41.140 and 28A.58.754, the state board of education shall require the superintendent of public instruction to withhold state funds in whole or in part for the basic education allocation until program compliance is assured:  PROVIDED,  That the state board of education may waive this requirement in the event of substantial lack of classroom space.

    ((This section shall be effective September 1, 1982.))

 

    NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.       The sum of .......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of the allocation to school districts to implement the reduction of the student/teacher ratio in grades kindergarten through three of twenty-four students to one classroom teacher in school year 1985-86 and twenty-three students to one classroom teacher in school year 1986-87.