S-0899

AN ACT Relating to providing state funding assistance to school districts; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish and administer a grant program to assist eligible school districts in meeting special needs of the districts.

(2) Funds appropriated by the legislature for the purposes of the grant program and new or existing programs enhanced by funds received under the grant program shall not become a part of the state's basic program of education obligation as set forth under Article IX of the state Constitution.

(3) School districts shall be eligible to apply for additional state funds under the grant program if the school district meets the criteria under section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) A school district of the second class under RCW 28A.315.230 may apply for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act, to help meet the special needs of the district, if the school district meets all of the criteria in this section:

(a) The median household income is at least twenty percent below the state average;

(b) The number of families receiving aid to families with dependent children exceeds the state-wide average by twenty percent or more;

(d) The assessed valuation of property for excess levy purposes would require a levy rate of more than two dollars per one thousand dollars of valuation to raise a ten percent levy;

(e) The district does not receive federal impact aid in excess of the maximum amount the district would be eligible to raise with a ten percent levy; and

(f) The district does not receive federal forest moneys in excess of their basic education allocation.

(2) If a second class school district is a joint district under RCW 28A.315.350, the criteria under subsection (1) of this section shall be applied based upon the county which comes closest to meeting the criteria under subsection (1) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Eligible school districts interested in applying for funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act shall submit a grant application to the superintendent of public instruction. Grant applications shall include the following:

(1) Documentation that the district board of directors has held at least one public hearing regarding the proposed use of the grant funds. The public hearing and other public hearings held by the district may be held as part of the public hearings required pursuant to chapter 28A.505 RCW;

(2) Identified budgeted expenditures for the grant funds. The expenditure plan may be included as part of the district's annual budget required under chapter 28A.505 RCW;

(3) Documentation that the development of the expenditure plan prior to the first public hearing involved teachers, school and district administrators, educational staff associates and classified personnel, parents, students, and members of the community at-large;

(4) A description of the services, programs, or activities that will be funded in whole or in part by the grant funds; and

(5) A description of the methods and procedures to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the services, programs, or activities supported by the grant funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Each school district receiving funds under the grant program established under section 1 of this act shall submit biennially to the superintendent of public instruction a report on the district's use of the grant funds. The report shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of the services, programs, or activities supported by the grant funds and other information required by the superintendent of public instruction.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish the date for submittal of reports. The superintendent of public instruction shall work with the eligible districts in developing reporting requirements that do not create excessive paperwork but which provide information necessary for the legislature to evaluate the impact of the grant program on the educational programs of the eligible school districts.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit biennially to the legislature a report on the grant program established under section 1 of this act. The first report shall be submitted not later than December 1, 1992.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to implement this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The sum of eleven million seven hundred seventy-eight thousand six hundred sixty dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the superintendent of public instruction from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, to carry out the purposes of sections 1 through 5 of this act. Not more than fifty thousand dollars of this appropriation may be used by the superintendent for administrative purposes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.