HB 2116

Brief Description: Establishing a task force on improving institutional education programs and outcomes.

Sponsors: Representatives Callan, Eslick, Frame, Klippert, Blake, Ramos, Lovick, Davis, Doglio, Leavitt, Senn, Pollet and Santos.

Hearing Date: 1/21/20

Staff: Ethan Moreno (786-7386).

Background:

Article IX of the Washington Constitution establishes that the paramount duty of the state is to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.

Article XIII of the Washington Constitution requires the state to foster and support educational, reformatory, and penal institutions, institutions for the benefit of youth who are blind or deaf or otherwise disabled, institutions for persons who are mentally ill or developmentally disabled, and other institutions as the public good may require.

Institutional facilities that provide services for youth are operated by the Department of Social and Health Services, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, the Department of Corrections, and counties. The provided institutional facilities include, but are not limited to, residential habilitation facilities, long-term juvenile institutions (juvenile rehabilitation facilities), community facilities, and county detention centers.

State law also includes specific requirements establishing and governing residential education programs and education programs for juvenile inmates and juveniles in adult jails.

Summary of Bill:

A 12-member Joint Select Legislative Task Force on Improving Institutional Education Programs and Outcomes (Task Force) is established. The membership of the Task Force is as follows:

• the President of the Senate must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the Senate, with each member serving on the committee with jurisdiction over education issues;

• the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker) must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the House of Representatives, with each member serving on the committee with jurisdiction over education issues;

• the President of the Senate and the Speaker must jointly appoint one member representing counties, as recommended by an association representing counties;

• the Governor must appoint one member from each of the following agencies:

  • the State Board of Education;

  • the Department of Children, Youth, and Families;

  • the Department of Corrections; and

  • the Youth Academy of the Military Department; and

• the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) must appoint two members representing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and one member who is a superintendent from a school district with at least 20,000 enrolled students that provides education services to a juvenile rehabilitation facility.

The Task Force is directed to examine the following issues:

• goals and strategies for improving the coordination and delivery of education services to the highly mobile youth population, especially youth in juvenile rehabilitation settings;

• goals and strategies for increasing the graduation rate of youth in institutional settings;

• the level and adequacy of education funding and education staffing ratios for institutional settings; and

• the transmission of academic records for students in institutional settings and recommendations for ensuring that those records are available to the applicable instructional staff within two business days of a person's admission to the institution.

Governance and initial meeting provisions are also established for the Task Force. The Task Force must choose its cochairs from among its legislative membership. In accordance with specified provisions, and the initial meeting of the Task Force, which is to be called by a member from the majority caucus of the House of Representatives, must be by July 1, 2019.

Staff support for the Task Force is to be provided by the Senate Committee Services and the House of Representatives Office of Program Research. The Office of Financial Management must cooperate with the Task Force and provide information as the cochairs may reasonably request.

The Task Force must report its initial findings and recommendations to the Governor and the appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate by December 1, 2019. The initial findings and recommendations must address the transmission of academic records. The Task Force must submit a final report to the same recipients by December 1, 2020.

Provisions establishing and governing the Task Force expire June 30, 2021.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.