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.
(b)
School districts with approved projects as of January 31, 1992, may receive
funding in each school year for handicapped students served in the project
based on the average percentage of the kindergarten through twelfth grade
enrollment in the particular handicapped category during the prior three
years. School districts that wish to exercise this option shall notify the
selection advisory committee and the superintendent of public instruction by
May 1, 1992.
(c)
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)
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), (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.
