AN ACT Relating to school enhancement and accountability; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that investing in the education of the children of the state of Washington is one of the most important responsibilities of the state. Providing the resources to local school districts to provide quality education that directly impacts children is necessary to ensure that the children of this state will be prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

The legislature further finds that parental, community, and private sector involvement in planning and implementing educational programs is advantageous to ensuring relevance and quality in the delivery of educational programs to the children of the state of Washington.

The legislature further finds that, as investors in the education of the children of the state of Washington, the public is entitled to assurances that educational programs are delivered in such a way as to ensure that children are receiving maximum benefit from the educational programs of this state.

The legislature recognizes that individual school districts have individual educational needs that can be met by providing additional dollars distributed directly to the school districts. It is the intent of the legislature, through this act, to provide local school districts the flexibility to meet individual needs with a minimum of direction from the legislature as to what those needs may be.

The purpose of this act is to provide a grant, in addition to the district's basic education allocation, to each school district based on full-time equivalent student enrollment to meet the educational needs of each district.

This act shall be known as the local education enhancement and accountability act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. School districts shall be eligible to receive a grant in addition to their basic education allocation. This additional grant shall be distributed to local school districts from the superintendent of public instruction on the basis of full-time equivalent students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Grants distributed under this act shall be used for the 1987-88 school year and the 1988-89 school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Each school board shall establish an advisory committee consisting of the chairman of the school board or a school board member appointed by the chairman who shall chair the advisory committee, the superintendent of the local district, not more than two principals from schools located in the district elected by principals in the district, two teachers from schools located in the district elected by the teachers in the district, and not less than seven nor more than fifteen citizens representing a cross-section of schools throughout the district nominated by locally recognized adult associations and selected by local school boards. To the extent possible, principals and teachers selected to serve on the advisory board shall be representative of the mix of schools within the district.

(2) The advisory committee shall develop a series of recommendations for the expenditure of the grant dollars to be submitted to the local school board for approval.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Each advisory committee shall be responsible for:

(1) Assessing the needs of the schools within the district;

(2) Assigning priority to addressing the identified needs;

(3) Preparing a comprehensive two-year plan to address the priority needs identified by the committee within the grant funding limitations;

(4) Developing an evaluation methodology to assess specifically how the expenditure of the grants demonstrate a direct educational benefit to the pupils within the district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Each advisory committee shall submit its plan to the local school board for approval. Upon approval the local board shall submit the plan to the superintendent of public instruction in detail no later than December 1, 1987. Districts may request technical assistance from their local educational service district to prepare their plans.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. New or existing programs enhanced by the funds provided to districts by a grant under this act shall not become a part of the state's basic education obligation as set forth by the Constitution.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Funding appropriated by this act and plans developed by advisory committees shall not be subject to collective bargaining.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. No school district board of directors may grant salary and compensation increases from a grant under this act in excess of the amount and or percentage as may be provided for employees as set forth in the state operating appropriations act in effect at the time the compensation is payable.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Local district grants may be used to fund any or all of the following activities if endorsed by the local advisory committee and approved by the local school district board:

(1) Innovative programs to increase the adult-pupil ratio without increasing the number of certificated staff, including but not limited to:

(a) Providing stipends to competent retired teachers to return them to the classroom as "team teachers" or classroom assistants;

(b) Providing stipends to teachers' aides;

(c) Providing incentives to administrators who spend a portion of their work day in the classroom team teaching or providing classroom assistance;

(d) Providing recognition to citizen volunteers who assist in the classroom;

(e) Providing training programs for classroom assistants, including volunteers; and

(f) Purchasing equipment that directly relates to classroom instruction or assists the teacher in minimizing time away from teaching.

(2) Dropout prevention and retrieval programs, including, but not limited to:

(a) Curriculum development;

(b) Public and private sector partnerships in expanding offerings in programs such as "Choices" and the "Registry" program;

(d) Enhancement of vocational, career, college, and pupil advisory programs;

(e) Elementary school advisory programs;

(f) Mentor pupil programs such as "Natural Helpers"; and

(g) Curriculum materials and equipment purchases.

(3) Drug and alcohol abuse programs, including, but not limited to:

(a) In-service staff training programs for the identification of students at-risk; and

(b) Community services networking to direct students who are substance abusers to appropriate treatment facilities.

(4) Early childhood programs, including but not limited to:

(a) Nutritional programs;

(b) Parental participation programs; and

(5) In-service training programs for staff development including, but not limited to:

(a) Funding speakers, facilitators, or group leaders to deliver in-service training to staff;

(b) Program materials and equipment;

(c) Tuition, registration fees, and associated fees for attendance at seminars, workshops, or courses that directly relate to enhancing adult training for classroom duties; and

(d) Travel reimbursement directly related to in-service training.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Stipends may be awarded to certificated or classified staff who assume extra duties that specifically relate to any activities included in section 10 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Small or rural districts may enter into cooperative agreements to provide educational enhancements through the sharing of grant funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. (1) Each district shall maintain specific records on how the grant dollars are spent pursuant to the district's plan. A final report shall be submitted to the superintendent of public instruction no later than August 1988, detailing: (a) How the grant funds were spent; and (b) how such expenditures directly resulted in benefitting the education of children in kindergarten through twelfth grade in their respective districts. Districts may request technical assistance from their respective educational service districts to complete the reports.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall, no later than January 31, 1989, make a comprehensive final report to the legislature on the use of the local district grants and the educational benefits derived therefrom.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The senate and house of representatives education committees, upon receiving the report of the superintendent of public instruction, shall review the report and evaluate whether to extend the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. The sum of .......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.