S-4382               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5037

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Senators Gaspard and Bauer)

Read first time 2/7/86.

AN ACT Relating to studying school dropout statistics; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     (1) Beginning with the 1986-87 school year, school districts shall be required to report annually to the superintendent of public instruction:

          (a) Dropout rates of students in each of the grades nine through twelve;

          (b) Dropout rates for student populations, by ethnicity, in each of the grades nine through twelve; and

          (c) The causes or reasons, or both, attributed to students for having dropped out of school in grades nine through twelve.

          (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules under chapter 34.04 RCW to assure uniformity in the information districts are required to report under subsection (1) of this section.  In developing rules, the superintendent of public instruction shall consult with school districts, including administrative and counseling personnel, with regard to the methods through which information is to be collected and reported.

          (3) In reporting on the causes or reasons, or both, attributed to students for having dropped out of school, school building officials shall, to the extent reasonably practical, obtain such information directly from students.  In lieu of obtaining such information directly from students, building principals and counselors shall identify the causes or reasons, or both, based on their professional judgment.

          (4) Beginning with the 1987 legislative session, the superintendent of public instruction shall report annually to the legislature the information collected under subsection (1) of this section.  Beginning with the 1991 legislative session, the report shall include the number of students in the ninth through twelfth grades who drop out of school over a four-year period.