H-4428

AN ACT Relating to special educational services demonstration projects; amending RCW 28A.630.820 and 28A.630.840; adding a new section to chapter 28A.630 RCW; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 28A.630.820 and 1991 c 265 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

It is the intent of the legislature to (1) encourage school districts, individually and cooperatively, to develop innovative special services demonstration projects that use resources efficiently and increase student learning; (2) promote noncategorical approaches to special services program design, funding, and administration; (3) develop efficient and cost-effective means for identifying students as specific learning disabled, in order to increase the proportion of resources devoted to classroom instruction; ((~~and~~)) (4) avoid unnecessary labeling of students while still providing state funding for needed services; and (5) provide a means to grant waivers from state rules.

Sec. 2. RCW 28A.630.840 and 1991 c 265 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Project funding may include state, federal, and local funds, as specified by the district in its approved project ((~~cost~~)) proposal. ((~~The superintendent of public instruction shall include all project funding for a participating district in a project contract and disburse the funds as contract payments.~~))

(2) As a general guideline, subject to refinements in the district ((~~cost~~)) proposal and approval by the superintendent of public instruction, the portion of state handicapped funding included as project funding shall be determined as follows:

(a) If the district serves specific learning disabled students in the project, the portion of the handicapped allocation attributed to specific learning disabled students shall be included, with proportional adjustments if the project serves only part of the district's specific learning disabled population;

(b) If other handicapped students are served in the project, the portions of the handicapped allocation attributed to those students shall be included, with proportional adjustments if the project serves only part of the district's population in those categories of handicapped students.

(3) State handicapped allocations shall be calculated for project districts according to the handicapped funding formula in use for other districts, ((~~but~~)) except for the provisions of section 3 of this act and with the following changes:

(a) ((Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, funding in each school year for specific learning disabled and other handicapped students served in a project shall be based on the average percentage of the kindergarten through twelfth grade enrollment in the particular handicapped category during the prior three years.

~~(b)~~)) Project funding for school districts that had pilot projects approved under section 13, chapter 233, Laws of 1989, and that were participating in projects under this section on January 31, 1992, shall be based for the duration of a project under RCW 28A.630.820 through 28A.630.840 on four percent of the kindergarten through twelfth grade enrollment considered as specific learning disabled, without regard to the actual number of students so identified. The legislature recognizes the importance of continuing and developing the pilot projects.

((~~(c)~~)) (b) The funding percentages for demonstration projects specified in (a) ((~~and (b)~~)) of this subsection shall be used to adjust basic education allocations under RCW 28A.150.260 and learning assistance program allocations under RCW 28A.165.070.

((~~(d)~~)) (c) State handicapped allocations under subsection (2) of this section up to the level required by federal maintenance of effort rules shall be expended for services to handicapped students in the project. Allocations greater than the amount needed to comply with federal maintenance of effort rules ((~~shall~~)) may at the option of the district be designated as noncategorical project funds and may be expended on services to any student served in the project.

(4) Federal handicapped allocations may be designated in whole or in part for project use ((~~, if the amounts are included in the district's approved cost proposal and the project contract~~)).

(5) Learning assistance program allocations may be designated in whole or in part for project use((~~, if the amounts are included in the district's approved cost proposal and the project contract~~)). These allocations shall be calculated for project districts according to the funding formula in use for other districts, except that any increases in the district allocation above the fiscal year 1991 amount shall be designated as noncategorical project funds and may be expended on services to any student served in the project.

(6) Transitional bilingual program allocations may be designated in whole or in part for project use((~~, if the amounts are included in the district's approved cost proposal and the project contract~~)). These allocations shall be calculated for project districts according to the funding formula in use for other districts, except that any increases in the district allocation above the fiscal year 1991 amount shall be designated as noncategorical project funds and may be expended on services to any student served in the project.

(7) Funding under the federal remediation program allocations may be designated in whole or in part for project use((~~, if the amounts are included in the district's approved cost proposal and the project contract~~)).

(8) Funding from local sources may be designated for project use((~~, if the amounts are included in the district's approved cost proposal and the project contract~~)).

(9) Expenditures of noncategorical project funds under subsections (3)((~~(d)~~))(c), (5), and (6) of this section shall be accounted for in new and discrete program or subprogram codes designated by the superintendent of public instruction. The codes shall take effect by September 1, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The legislature finds that the state system of funding handicapped education has fiscal incentives to label children as handicapped and that unnecessary labeling can be detrimental to children. The legislature encourages demonstration projects that provide needed services without unnecessary labeling. To test this approach, the legislature intends to maintain the funding level for innovative special services programs that reduce the incidence of unnecessary labeling.

(2) School districts may propose demonstration projects under this section to provide needed services and achieve major reductions in the percentage of district students labeled as handicapped in one or more specified categories. State handicapped funding for districts with such projects shall be based for the duration of the project and for two years after the end of the project on the average percentage of the kindergarten through twelfth grade enrollment in the specified categories during the 1991-92 school year or, for projects approved after the effective date of this section, during the school year before the start of the project.

(3) Funding under subsection (2) of this section is contingent on the following: (a) The funding is spent on children needing special services; and (b) the overall percentage of first through twelfth grade students in the district labeled as handicapped declines each year of the project after the 1991-92 school year, excluding handicapped students who transfer into the district.

(4) School districts with approved demonstration projects that wish to convert to a project under this section shall by May 1, 1992, notify the selection advisory committee and the superintendent of public instruction and propose appropriate modifications to the project.

(5) This section expires September 1, 1997.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall expire January 1, 1996.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.