BILL REQ. #:  S-0653.1 

Read first time 01/24/13.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to school suspensions and expulsions; and amending RCW 28A.600.015, 28A.600.020, and 28A.600.410.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 28A.600.015 and 2006 c 263 s 701 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt and distribute to all school districts lawful and reasonable rules prescribing the substantive and procedural due process guarantees of pupils in the common schools. Such rules shall authorize a school district to use informal due process procedures in connection with the short-term suspension of students to the extent constitutionally permissible: PROVIDED, That the superintendent of public instruction deems the interest of students to be adequately protected. When a student suspension or expulsion is appealed, the rules shall authorize a school district to impose the suspension or expulsion temporarily after an initial hearing for no more than ten consecutive school days or until the appeal is decided, whichever is earlier. Any days that the student is temporarily suspended or expelled before the appeal is decided shall be applied to the term of the student suspension or expulsion and shall not limit or extend the term of the student suspension or expulsion. An expulsion or suspension of a student may not be for an indefinite period of time.
     (2) Short-term suspension procedures may be used for suspensions of students up to and including, ten consecutive school days.
     (3) Emergency expulsions must end or be converted to another form of corrective action within ten school days from the date of the emergency removal from school. Notice and due process rights must be provided when an emergency expulsion is converted to another form of corrective action.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.600.020 and 2006 c 263 s 706 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The rules adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.600.010 shall be interpreted to ensure that the optimum learning atmosphere of the classroom is maintained, and that the highest consideration is given to the judgment of qualified certificated educators regarding conditions necessary to maintain the optimum learning atmosphere.
     (2) Any student who creates a disruption of the educational process in violation of the building disciplinary standards while under a teacher's immediate supervision may be excluded by the teacher from his or her individual classroom and instructional or activity area for all or any portion of the balance of the school day, or up to the following two days, or until the principal or designee and teacher have conferred, whichever occurs first. Except in emergency circumstances, the teacher first must attempt one or more alternative forms of corrective action. In no event without the consent of the teacher may an excluded student return to the class during the balance of that class or activity period or up to the following two days, or until the principal or his or her designee and the teacher have conferred.
     (3) In order to preserve a beneficial learning environment for all students and to maintain good order and discipline in each classroom, every school district board of directors shall provide that written procedures are developed for administering discipline at each school within the district. Such procedures shall be developed with the participation of parents and the community, and shall provide that the teacher, principal or designee, and other authorities designated by the board of directors, make every reasonable attempt to involve the parent or guardian and the student in the resolution of student discipline problems. Such procedures shall provide that students may be excluded from their individual classes or activities for periods of time in excess of that provided in subsection (2) of this section if such students have repeatedly disrupted the learning of other students. The procedures must be consistent with the rules of the superintendent of public instruction and must provide for early involvement of parents in attempts to improve the student's behavior.
     (4) The procedures shall assure, pursuant to RCW 28A.400.110, that all staff work cooperatively toward consistent enforcement of proper student behavior throughout each school as well as within each classroom.
     (5)(a) A principal shall consider imposing long-term suspension or expulsion as a sanction when deciding the appropriate disciplinary action for a student who, after July 27, 1997:
     (((a))) (i) Engages in two or more violations within a three-year period of RCW 9A.46.120, 28A.320.135, 28A.600.455, 28A.600.460, 28A.635.020, 28A.600.020, 28A.635.060, 9.41.280, or 28A.320.140; or
     (((b))) (ii) Engages in one or more of the offenses listed in RCW 13.04.155.
     (b) The principal shall communicate the disciplinary action taken by the principal to the school personnel who referred the student to the principal for disciplinary action.
     (6) Any corrective action involving a suspension or expulsion from school for more than ten days must have an end date of not more than one calendar year from the time of corrective action. Districts shall make reasonable efforts to assist students and parents in returning to an educational setting prior to and no later than the end date of the corrective action.
     (7) Nothing in this section prevents a public school district, educational service district, the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss, or the state school for the blind if it has suspended or expelled a student from the student's regular school setting from providing educational services to the student in an alternative setting or modifying the suspension or expulsion on a case-by-case basis.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.600.410 and 1992 c 155 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The state of Washington excludes tens of thousands of students from school each year due to out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. Out-of-school suspensions and expulsions contribute to poor academic achievement, lower graduation rates, and higher dropout rates. It is the intent of the legislature to minimize the use of out-of-school suspension and expulsion and its impact on student achievement by reducing the number of days that students are excluded from school due to disciplinary action. Student behavior should not result in the permanent loss of educational opportunity in the public school system.
     School districts are encouraged to find alternatives to suspension including reducing the length of a student's suspension conditioned by the commencement of counseling or other treatment services. Consistent with current law, the conditioning of a student's suspension does not obligate the school district to pay for the counseling or other treatment services except for those stipulated and agreed to by the district at the inception of the suspension.