BySenators Wilson, C., Wellman, Zeiger, Frockt, Hasegawa, and Saldaña; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction

AN ACT Relating to expanded learning opportunity programs; adding a new section to chapter 28A.630 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the traditional school day and year may not be enough for all students to succeed in the twenty-first century. Research has shown that high-quality expanded learning opportunities can help close opportunity gaps and complement what students are learning.

(2) The legislature finds that expanded learning opportunities can occur inside or outside of the traditional school day and can enhance academic, experiential, and social-emotional learning. Expanded learning programs help schools move beyond the constraints of the regular day and embrace the opportunities the surrounding neighborhood has to offer by capitalizing on local resources, assets, and perspectives.

(3) The legislature further finds that summer learning loss is a phenomenon where students lose academic skills over the summer break. Summer learning loss affects all students, regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, or race; however, the impact to students experiencing poverty is greater because they typically do not have access to the same extracurricular learning opportunities as their more wealthy peers.

(4) Therefore, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the legislature intends to authorize demonstration projects specifically to combat summer learning loss through expanded learning opportunities. These projects will provide the opportunity to demonstrate how expanded learning opportunities can mitigate summer learning loss and improve academic learning, social-emotional growth, and provide opportunities for students to have experiences not regularly offered within the traditional K–12 experience.

(1) The expanded learning grant program is established to create demonstration projects within selected school districts of up to five years in length that support more time for instruction and opportunities for enrichment in order to combat summer learning loss and increase student achievement.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop and administer the expanded learning grant program.

(3) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction may award grants of up to one million five hundred dollars annually, through a competitive process, to school districts or state-tribal education compact schools that propose to implement any one or more of the following:

(b) Support implementation of a balanced school year calendar that consists of a year-round school schedule with a shorter summer break that is six to seven weeks and intersessions of two to three weeks spread throughout the remainder of the year;

(c) Provide additional programing and supports during the traditional summer break as a strategy for offsetting summer learning loss;

(e) Create a new teacher collaboration model that brings in additional educators or community-based organizations to provide expanded learning to students while freeing up educator time to engage in professional collaboration or planning time.

(4) At a minimum, an applicant school district or state-tribal education compact school application for an expanded learning grant must include the following:

(d) Whether the proposed demonstration site will be a single school or include multiple schools within the school district;

(e) Whether the school district or state-tribal education compact school will collaborate with community-based organizations to provide support for students and if so, the details of this collaboration; and

(b) Establish timelines for submitting and reviewing applications and award the first grants by December 1, 2019;

(c) Prioritize school districts or state-tribal education compact schools that include schools identified for improvement through the Washington school improvement framework;

(d) Create an evaluation plan that supports the development of an evidence base for the efficacy of the different types of expanded learning opportunities provided by demonstration sites. The evaluation plan must include impacts on student outcomes as measured by the Washington school improvement framework and identification of scalable practices.

(6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may also use nonstate-provided funds to support the expanded learning grant program.

(a) Culturally responsive enrichment and learning activities, which may focus on: Academic and nonacademic areas; the arts; civic engagement; service-learning; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and competencies for college and career readiness;

(b) School-based programs that provide extended learning and enrichment for students beyond the traditional school day, week, or calendar; and

(c) Structured, intentional, and creative learning environments outside the traditional school day that are provided by community-based organizations in partnership with schools and align in-school and out-of-school learning through activities that complement classroom-based instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The sum of ten million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 2021, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

(2) A portion of the appropriation in subsection (1) of this section is provided solely for staff to support the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.