BILL REQ. #:  S-3237.2 

Read first time 01/16/14.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to implementing the summer knowledge improvement pilot program; amending RCW 28A.150.392; adding new sections to chapter 28A.630 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM--INTENT. The legislature finds that studies have documented that many students experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. The legislature further finds that such academic regression has a disproportionate impact on low-income students and widens the already existing educational opportunity gap. Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize a pilot program to implement an extended school year to combat summer learning loss and provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of an extended school year to improve student achievement, close the educational opportunity gap, and provide successful models for other districts to follow.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and sections 3 through 6, 8, and 9 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Eligible school" means any school that provides instruction to students in at least the grades kindergarten through five where at least seventy-five percent of the enrolled students qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program.
     (2) "Institute" means the Washington state institute for public policy.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   PILOT PROGRAM CREATED. (1) The summer knowledge improvement pilot program is created to provide state funding for an additional twenty school days for three consecutive school years for students at an approved school to receive academic instruction either before or at the end of the one hundred eighty-day school year established for other schools in the school district.
     (2) The purpose of the pilot program is to implement an extended school year to combat summer learning loss and provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of an extended school year to improve student achievement, close the educational opportunity gap, and provide successful models for other districts to follow.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   PLAN PROCESS AND COMPONENTS. (1) Any school district in the state with an eligible school may submit a plan to the office of the superintendent of public instruction by December 1, 2014, to participate in the summer knowledge improvement pilot program. A plan may address one or more eligible schools.
     (2) The school district board of directors must solicit input on the design of the plan from staff at the school, parents, and the community, including at an open public meeting. The final plan must be adopted by the school district board of directors at a subsequent open public meeting before submitting the plan to the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
     (3) A plan must include, but is not limited to, the following components:
     (a) Proposed best practices and evidence-based strategies, curriculum, and materials for improving student achievement and closing the educational opportunity gap to be implemented over the extra twenty days for all the students enrolled in the school. The best practices and evidence-based strategies, curriculum, and materials must be comparable or higher in academic rigor as is used during the regular school year;
     (b) Whether the additional twenty days will be provided only at the beginning of the school year, only at the end of the school year, or in some combination at both the beginning and end of the school year that totals twenty;
     (c) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at the school;
     (d) Evidence that at least seventy percent of the certificated and classified school staff who work in the building at least two days per week, and the principal of the school, agree to the plan; and
     (e) An agreement to work with and provide information to the evaluator of the pilot program identified under section 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   SELECTION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS. (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must: Review the plans submitted in accordance with section 4 of this act, select up to ten schools for participation in the pilot program, and notify the school districts no later than February 1, 2015, as to whether the district will or will not be part of the pilot program. To the extent practicable, the selected school districts shall be from diverse geographic regions of the state and include different sizes of school districts and schools.
     (2) The selection criteria used must include, but are not limited to, the following determinations:
     (a) All of the required plan components are completed;
     (b) The likelihood of the proposed best practices and evidence-based strategies, curriculum, and materials improving student achievement and closing the educational opportunity gap; and
     (c) Any additional criteria that the office of the superintendent of public instruction deems to be necessary to ensure high quality plans are approved.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   FUNDING. (1) State funding for each school in the pilot program shall be equal to twenty days of the average daily per student amount of all the basic education and nonbasic education funding provided by the state to the school for the regular one hundred eighty-day school year, including transportation.
     (2) Nonstate-provided funds may also be used to support the pilot program.
     (3) Neither the summer knowledge improvement pilot program nor the funding provided for the pilot program may be considered part of the state's basic education obligation as set forth under Article IX of the state Constitution.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.150.392 and 2009 c 548 s 109 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) To the extent necessary, funds shall be made available for safety net awards for districts with demonstrated needs for special education funding beyond the amounts provided through the special education funding formula under RCW 28A.150.390, including for the summer knowledge improvement pilot program created in section 3 of this act. If the federal safety net awards based on the federal eligibility threshold exceed the federal appropriation in any fiscal year, then the superintendent shall expend all available federal discretionary funds necessary to meet this need. Safety net funds shall be awarded by the state safety net oversight committee subject to the following conditions and limitations:
     (a) The committee shall consider additional funds for districts that can convincingly demonstrate that all legitimate expenditures for special education exceed all available revenues from state funding formulas. In the determination of need, the committee shall also consider additional available revenues from federal sources. Differences in program costs attributable to district philosophy, service delivery choice, or accounting practices are not a legitimate basis for safety net awards. In the determination of need, the committee shall require that districts demonstrate that they are maximizing their eligibility for all state revenues related to services for special education-eligible students and all federal revenues from federal impact aid, medicaid, and the individuals with disabilities education act-Part B and appropriate special projects. Awards associated with (b) and (c) of this subsection shall not exceed the total of a district's specific determination of need.
     (b) The committee shall then consider the extraordinary high cost needs of one or more individual special education students. Differences in costs attributable to district philosophy, service delivery choice, or accounting practices are not a legitimate basis for safety net awards.
     (c) Using criteria developed by the committee, the committee shall then consider extraordinary costs associated with communities that draw a larger number of families with children in need of special education services, which may include consideration of proximity to group homes, military bases, and regional hospitals. Safety net awards under this subsection (1)(c) shall be adjusted to reflect amounts awarded under (b) of this subsection.
     (d) The maximum allowable indirect cost for calculating safety net eligibility may not exceed the federal restricted indirect cost rate for the district plus one percent.
     (e) Safety net awards shall be adjusted based on the percent of potential medicaid eligible students billed as calculated by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with chapter 318, Laws of 1999.
     (f) Safety net awards must be adjusted for any audit findings or exceptions related to special education funding.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt such rules and procedures as are necessary to administer the special education funding and safety net award process. Before revising any standards, procedures, or rules, the superintendent shall consult with the office of financial management and the fiscal committees of the legislature. In adopting and revising the rules, the superintendent shall ensure the application process to access safety net funding is streamlined, timelines for submission are not in conflict, feedback to school districts is timely and provides sufficient information to allow school districts to understand how to correct any deficiencies in a safety net application, and that there is consistency between awards approved by school district and by application period. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall also provide technical assistance to school districts in preparing and submitting special education safety net applications.
     (3) On an annual basis, the superintendent shall survey districts regarding their satisfaction with the safety net process and consider feedback from districts to improve the safety net process. Each year by December 1st, the superintendent shall prepare and submit a report to the office of financial management and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature that summarizes the survey results and those changes made to the safety net process as a result of the school district feedback.
     (4) The safety net oversight committee appointed by the superintendent of public instruction shall consist of:
     (a) One staff member from the office of the superintendent of public instruction;
     (b) Staff of the office of the state auditor who shall be nonvoting members of the committee; and     
     (c) One or more representatives from school districts or educational service districts knowledgeable of special education programs and funding.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   PLAN IMPLEMENTATION. School districts that have summer knowledge improvement pilot program plans approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction under section 5 of this act shall begin implementation of the three-year pilot program starting with the 2015-16 school year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   PROGRAM EVALUATION. (1) The institute shall conduct an evaluation of the summer knowledge improvement pilot program created under section 3 of this act, including an examination of:
     (a) Student academic progress as measured by the statewide administered student assessments, if administered in the school, and other student achievement measures, compared to similar students and schools in school districts not participating in the program;
     (b) Other student learning and benefits identified through random surveys or interviews with teachers and parents; and
     (c) The effectiveness over the entire school year in which the pilot program takes place in combating summer learning loss, improving student achievement, and closing the educational opportunity gap.
     (2) The institute shall submit interim reports to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2016, and December 1, 2017.
     (3) Based on the effectiveness of the summer knowledge improvement pilot program and a review of other programs or states that have implemented extended school year programs, the institute shall recommend whether the pilot program should be modified, continued, or expanded to include other schools, including other elementary, middle, and high schools. The institute shall submit the recommendations and the final report on the pilot program to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2018.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Sections 2 through 6, 8, and 9 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.630 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   This act expires September 1, 2019.