S-3362

AN ACT Relating to before-and-after-school child care; amending RCW 28A.215.010; adding new sections to chapter 28A.215 RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that school-age children need the opportunity to attend a quality, developmentally appropriate before-and-after-school care program. The cost of before-and-after-school programs creates financial hardships for many families and often results in children being left alone at home. A structured before-and-after-school program can ensure the safety and welfare of school-age children.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall create a before-and-after-school child care program. Under the program, each school district board of directors shall provide for before-and-after-school child care for eligible children enrolled in grades kindergarten through six. The board may contract for services and space as necessary and for services to be offered jointly by more than one school building or district.

(2) The program shall be available to children in kindergarten through sixth grade whose parents are employed, if living with both parents, or whose parent is employed, attending school, or a job training program if from a single parent household. The rules shall provide that other children may participate in the program at full cost.

(3) Districts shall implement programs to serve all eligible students in grades kindergarten through six for the 1992-93 school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall distribute funds appropriated by the legislature to school districts for the program.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW. The rules shall include:

(a) Standards for care;

(b) Procedures for application and distribution of funds to school districts; and

(c) Limits on local fees to no more than ten percent of the program cost and providing for waivers or reductions in tuition or fees in the cases of students whose families, by reason of their low incomes, would have difficulty paying the entire amount of the tuition or fees. At a minimum, any tuition or fees shall be waived for students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent of the federal poverty line.

Sec. 4. RCW 28A.215.010 and 1969 ex.s. c 223 s 28A.34.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The board of directors of any school district shall have the power to establish and maintain nursery schools and to provide before-and-after-school and vacation care in connection with the common schools of said district located at such points as the board shall deem most suitable for the convenience of the public, for the care and instruction of infants and children residing in said district. The board shall establish such courses, activities, rules, and regulations governing nursery schools and before-and-after-school care as it may deem best: PROVIDED, That these courses and activities shall meet the minimum standard for such nursery schools as established by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, or its successor agency, and the state board of education. Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law, the board of directors may fix a reasonable charge for the care and instruction of children attending such schools. Fees for before-and-after-school child care shall be set by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with section 3 of this act. The board may, if necessary, supplement such funds as are received for the superintendent of public instruction or any agency of the federal government, by an appropriation from the general school fund of the district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of two hundred thirty-five million five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as is necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the state general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of before-and-after-school child care programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.215 RCW.