H-4361              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1660

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Ebersole, Holland, Cole, Betrozoff, Locke, Walker, Wang, P. King, Long, Silver, Lux, Wineberry and Addison)

Read first time 2/3/86 and referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

AN ACT Relating to development and implementation grants for prevention, intervention, and alternative programs for alienated youth; adding a new section to chapter 28A.03 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.03 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) To encourage alienated youth to remain in or return to school, it is the intent of the legislature to aid in the planning and implementation of educational programs for such youth.

          (2) The superintendent of public instruction may grant funds for selected school planning and implementation activities for educational programs for alienated youth.  The purpose of the grant program is to provide start-up money which will lead to the development of a self-supporting program for alienated youth funded by school districts or cooperatives of school districts.

          (3) The superintendent shall appoint an advisory committee on alienated youth which committee shall be composed of certificated and noncertificated staff, administrators, parents, school directors, and counselors and others as the superintendent finds necessary.  The committee shall propose criteria to the superintendent to evaluate grant proposals for alienated youth education programs.  The criteria approved by the superintendent shall include but not be limited to the following requirements:  (a) Require as a condition of eligibility that the applicant school district demonstrate a commitment and the ability to commit local matching funds equal to the grant request to implement the alienated youth educational program within its district; (b) provision for an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the program; (c) no less than twenty percent of the grants to be used for identification and intervention programs in elementary and middle schools; (d) consideration of the number of children within an applicant district who fail to complete their elementary and secondary education; and (e) inclusion of such other requirements as the superintendent shall require.  Districts that are awarded grants must use the local resources committed in the application  for the grant for the planning and implementation of the program.  If local resources are not used accordingly, the superintendent may require return of the grant moneys.

          (4) The superintendent of public instruction shall award grants to selected school districts in the amount determined by the superintendent of public instruction, who shall take into consideration the criteria established by the advisory committee and this section.  The sum of all grants awarded per year shall not exceed the amount appropriated by the legislature for such purposes.  The money appropriated may be expended for planning, program start-up costs, and salaries for certificated and classified staff.  No district or cooperative of districts applying for such a grant shall receive more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars.  A district or cooperative of districts shall be eligible to apply for grant funds once every two years.  Each subsequent grant application by a district or cooperative of districts, however, must be used to expand the alienated youth program to another school or to initiate a new alienated youth program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The sum of three million 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 this act.