AN ACT Relating to providing state funding assistance to school districts; adding new sections to chapter 28A.03 RCW; and making appropriations.

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) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish and administer a grant program to assist eligible school districts in meeting special needs of the districts.

(2) Funds appropriated by the legislature for the purposes of the grant program and new or existing programs enhanced by funds received under the grant program shall not become a part of the state's basic program of education obligation as set forth under Article IX of the state Constitution.

(3) School districts shall be eligible to apply for additional state funds under the grant program if the school district meets the criteria under section 2 of this act or if the school district meets the criteria under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A school district of the second class under RCW 28A.57.140 may apply for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act, to help meet the special needs of the district, if the school district meets all of the criteria in this section:

(a) The median household income is at least twenty percent below the state average;

(b) The number of families receiving aid to families with dependent children exceeds the state-wide average by twenty percent or more;

(d) The assessed valuation of property for excess levy purposes would require a levy rate of more than two dollars per one thousand dollars of valuation to raise a ten percent levy;

(e) The district does not receive federal impact aid in excess of the maximum amount the district would be eligible to raise with a ten percent levy; and

(f) The district does not receive federal forest moneys in excess of their basic education allocation.

(2) The funds provided to school districts eligible under this section shall not exceed the maximum amount the district could raise under a ten percent levy less any federal impact funds provided to the district. Available funds shall be equitably distributed among all districts eligible under this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A school district may apply for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act, to help meet the special needs of the district, if the school district meets at least three of the criteria in this section:

(a) The school district's annual average full-time equivalent student enrollment is five thousand or more for the prior school year;

(b) At least forty-five percent of the lunches served by the district in the 1986-87 school year are free or reduced price meals;

(c) The dropout rate for the district as determined by the superintendent of public instruction is twenty percent or greater for the 1985-86 and 1986-87 school years; and

(d) The number of languages or dialects, or both, spoken by students in the school district as a native language other than English is eight or more.

(2) The funds provided to school districts eligible under this section shall not exceed one and forty-five one-hundredths percent of the district's state basic education allocation received in the preceding school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

Eligible school districts interested in applying for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act shall submit a grant application to the superintendent of public instruction. Grant applications shall include the following:

(1) Documentation that the district board of directors has held at least one public hearing regarding the proposed use of the grant funds. The public hearing and other public hearings held by the district may be held as part of the public hearings required pursuant to chapter 28A.65 RCW;

(2) Identified budgeted expenditures for the grant funds. The expenditure plan may be included as part of the district's annual budget required under chapter 28A.65 RCW;

(3) Documentation that the development of the expenditure plan prior to the first public hearing involved teachers, school and district administrators, educational staff associates and classified personnel, parents, students, and members of the community at-large;

(4) A description of the services, programs, or activities that will be funded in whole or in part by the grant funds; and

(5) A description of the methods and procedures to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the services, programs, or activities supported by the grant funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Each school district receiving funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act shall submit biennially to the superintendent of public instruction a report on the district's use of the grant funds. The report shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of the services, programs, or activities supported by the grant funds and other information required by the superintendent of public instruction.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish the date for submittal of reports. The superintendent of public instruction shall work with the eligible districts in developing reporting requirements that do not create excessive paperwork but which provide information necessary for the legislature to evaluate the impact of the grant program on the educational programs of the eligible school districts.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit biennially to the legislature a report on the grant program established under section 1 of this act. The first report shall be submitted not later than December 1, 1990.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 7 through 17 of this act.

(1) "Advisor" means an adult assigned specific responsibilities to work individually with at-risk students who receive services under project DREAM established under section 7 of this act.

(2) "At-risk student" or "student" or "eligible student" means a student age fourteen through age twenty-one who meets the following criteria:

(a) The student is one or more grade levels behind in basic skills as determined by placement testing or has not graduated from high school or successfully completed the general educational development test;

(b) The student has violated school district or school building rules of conduct on at least three occasions in the same school year; and

(3) "Department" means the department of social and health services.

(4) "Superintendent" means the state superintendent of public instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent, working with the employment security department, the department of social and health services, the state board for vocational education in the office of the governor, and other state agencies as are appropriate, shall be the lead agency in developing and administering project DREAM, dare to reach for educational aspirations and marks, a grant program for academic excellence for underachieving, at-risk students in school districts eligible for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act.

(2) Initially, the program shall be limited to the school districts of Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Yakima, and Pasco, focusing on the areas within these school districts with the highest percentages of underachieving, at-risk students. The program shall emphasize a focus on minority students but shall not be exclusively limited to serving minority students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

Individual programs under project DREAM shall consist of the following:

(1) Academic counseling and outreach, including study skills;

(2) Parent and family outreach and involvement;

(3) Employment and vocational counseling and training;

(4) Substance abuse awareness and counseling, and treatment as necessary;

(5) Teen pregnancy and teen parenting counseling; and

(6) Positive self-image building.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

Each adult advisor shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Maintain a caseload of at-risk students not to exceed fifteen;

(2) Sign a written agreement with each student to comply with specific state or local regulations, or both, while participating in project DREAM;

(3) Meet weekly with each student to monitor the student's progress under project DREAM;

(4) Meet bi-weekly with each student's teachers, school counselor, parent or guardian, and family members;

(5) Maintain a portfolio for each student; and

(6) Serve as the facilitator in getting the student together with or to school or community-based health care providers, vocational counselors, job service center personnel, employment interviews, and other persons or groups that can help the student gain maximum benefits from participating in project DREAM.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

Each participating student shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Sign a written agreement with their adult advisor to comply with all state or local regulations, or both, while a participant in project DREAM;

(2) Meet weekly with their adult advisor to discuss the student's progress; and

(3) Maintain a personal written or audio portfolio.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Each participating school district shall be responsible for designing the specific elements of its project DREAM program. The district shall determine, in accordance with section 7(2) of this act, which schools shall participate in the local program. Every eligible student in the building shall be encouraged to participate in the program.

(2) In designing the local program the participating districts are encouraged to consider:

(a) Dropout prevention strategies developed by school districts under RCW 28A.120.060 through 28A.120.072, the state grant program for school district student motivation, retention, and retrieval programs; and

(b) Substance abuse prevention, intervention, and aftercare strategies developed by school districts under RCW 28A.120.030 through 28A.120.050, the state grant program for school district substance abuse awareness programs.

(3) In designing the local program the participating districts shall:

(a) Contact the local job service center and establish how the center will assist the district in providing participating students employment/vocational counseling and training; and

(b) Contact the local branch office of the department and local community-based providers of health care to establish how these entities will assist the district in providing participating students counseling and information, and treatment as necessary, relating to substance abuse and teen pregnancy and teen parenting.

(4) In designing the local program, the participating districts shall be responsible for:

(a) Screening and employing adult advisors to work with at-risk students selected to participate in the program; and

(b) Providing any training necessary for the adult advisors to effectively carry out their responsibilities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Each school district participating in project DREAM shall submit biennially to the superintendent of public instruction a report on the district's local program. The report shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of the services, programs, or activities provided to the participating at-risk students and other information required by the superintendent.

(2) The superintendent shall establish the date for submittal of reports. The superintendent shall work with the participating districts in developing reporting requirements that do not create excessive paperwork but that provide information necessary for the legislature to evaluate the impact of project DREAM on the participating at-risk students.

(3) The superintendent shall submit biennially to the legislature a report on project DREAM. The first report shall be submitted not later than December 1, 1990.

The reports shall include information on how many students have or are participating in the local programs and the success of the programs in meeting the needs of the participating at-risk students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

The superintendent shall undertake the following activities relating to project DREAM:

(1) Organize a speakers' bureau of prominent role models, with an emphasis on minority role models;

(2) Meet with community and business leaders to market project DREAM; and

(3) Coordinate with other state and local agencies a centralized data base of preexisting services which can meet the purposes of project DREAM.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

The superintendent, through the state clearinghouse for education information, shall collect and disseminate to school districts and other interested parties information about project DREAM.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

The employment security department, the department of social and health services, the state board for vocational education in the office of the governor, and other state agencies as may be involved with the development of project DREAM, shall assist the superintendent in providing appropriate and necessary technical support and assistance to the school districts participating in project DREAM.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent may accept, receive, and administer for the purposes of sections 7 through 13 of this act such gifts, grants, and contributions as may be provided from public and private sources.

(2) The project DREAM account is hereby established in the custody of the state treasurer. The superintendent shall deposit in the account all moneys received under subsection (1) of this section. Moneys in the account may be spent only for the purposes of sections 7 through 13 of this act. Disbursements from this account shall be on the authorization of the superintendent or the superintendent's designee. The account is subject to the allotment procedure provided under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for disbursements.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to implement the provisions of sections 1 through 16 of this act.

(2) The respective agencies under section 15 of this act shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to implement section 15 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. (1) The sum of eleven million seven hundred seventy-eight thousand six hundred sixty dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the superintendent of public instruction from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, to carry out the purposes of sections 1, 2, 4, and 5 of this act. Not more than fifty thousand dollars of this appropriation may be used by the superintendent for administrative purposes.

(2) The sum of sixteen million three hundred eight thousand eighty-four dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the superintendent of public instruction from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, to carry out the purposes of sections 1 and 3 through 5 of this act. Not more than fifty thousand dollars of this appropriation may be used by the superintendent for administrative purposes.

(3) The sum of ten million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, to the superintendent of public instruction to carry out the purposes of sections 6 through 17 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. 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.