CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5166
66TH LEGISLATURE
2019 REGULAR SESSION
Passed by the Senate April 19, 2019
  Yeas 32  Nays 14

President of the Senate
Passed by the House April 10, 2019
  Yeas 64  Nays 28

Speaker of the House of Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Brad Hendrickson, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5166 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.

Secretary
Secretary
Approved
FILED
Secretary of State
State of Washington

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5166

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed Legislature - 2019 Regular Session
State of Washington
66th Legislature
2019 Regular Session
BySenate Higher Education & Workforce Development (originally sponsored by Senators Hasegawa, Carlyle, Frockt, Palumbo, and Nguyen)
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/19.
AN ACT Relating to providing religious accommodations for students at postsecondary educational institutions during exams or other requirements to successfully complete a program; amending RCW 28B.10.039; adding a new chapter to Title 28B RCW; and recodifying RCW 28B.10.039.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28B.10.039 and 2014 c 168 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
((Institutions of higher education))(1) Postsecondary educational institutions must develop policies to accommodate student absences ((for up to two days per academic year,)) to allow students to take holidays for reasons of faith or conscience or for organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious organization, so that students' grades are not adversely impacted by the absences.
(2) The institution's policy must require faculty to reasonably accommodate students who, due to the observance of religious holidays, expect to be absent or endure a significant hardship during certain days of the course or program. "Reasonably accommodate" means coordinating with the student on scheduling examinations or other activities necessary for completion of the program and includes rescheduling examinations or activities or offering different times for examinations or activities.
(3) Any student seeking reasonable accommodations under this section must provide written notice to the faculty, within the first two weeks of the beginning of the course, of the specific dates the student requests accommodations regarding examinations or other activities.
(4) A postsecondary educational institution shall provide notice to students of its policy by publishing the policy on the institution's web site and including either the policy or a link to the policy in course or program syllabi. The notice to students must also include notification of the institution's grievance procedure.
(5) A postsecondary educational institution may not require a student to pay any fees for seeking reasonable accommodations under this section.
(6) For the purposes of this section, "postsecondary educational institution" means an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, a degree-granting institution as defined in RCW 28B.85.010, a private vocational school as defined in RCW 28C.10.020, school as defined in RCW 18.16.020, and any entity offering academic credit for an apprenticeship program under RCW 49.04.150.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. RCW 28B.10.039 is recodified as a section in a new chapter in Title 28B RCW.
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