HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 2410

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                          Education

Title:  An act relating to establishment of a community and school collaboration program.

Brief Description:  Establishing a community and school collaboration program.

Sponsors:  Representatives Wineberry, Dorn, Veloria, J. Kohl and Caver.

Brief History:

Reported by House Committee on:

Education, January 28, 1994, DPS.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 17 members:  Representatives Dorn, Chair; Cothern, Vice Chair; Brough, Ranking Minority Member; B. Thomas, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Brumsickle; Carlson; G. Cole; Eide; Hansen; Holm; Jones; Karahalios; J. Kohl; Patterson; Pruitt; Roland; and L. Thomas.

Staff:  Robert Butts (786-7111).

Background:  Many educators, parents and others believe that more needs to be done to provide students with the resources, skills, knowledge and motivation necessary to avoid violent behavior, to stay in school and to make successful transitions from school-to-school and school-to-work.

A strategy that has been used to assist in achieving these goals is to substantially increase the coordination and collaboration between schools, communities and public and private human service providers.

Summary of Substitute Bill:  A community and school collaboration program is established in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).  The program is to fund and coordinate community-based projects to develop comprehensive community improvement activities at schools.

The projects are to place community and school project coordinators in schools, leverage and coordinate community resources in an efficient manner, and mobilize public and private resources to support youth and families.

Project goals are to include:

(a) reducing school drop-out rates;

(b) expanding the use of schools as community centers and safe havens open outside of normal school hours;

(c) improving school-to-school transitions for preschool-aged students through increased parental involvement and education and through collaboration with early childhood education programs;

(d) improving school-to-school transitions for at-risk high school and college-aged students; and

(e) increasing successful school-to-work transitions for students through internships, mentored job shadowing experiences, and the development of personalized education and career plans.

Application requirements include designating a lead agency, providing evidence of interagency agreements with youth service organizations, providing documentation of the active participation of public and private entities in the community, providing a description of the services and activities that will be undertaken by the project, identifying community matching funds and describing the evaluation process to be used.

OSPI shall award grants competitively.  To the greatest extent practicable, grants shall be geographically distributed throughout the state.  Twenty-five percent of the funding for projects must be community matching funds provided by private or public entities.

Projects will have an initial duration of two years.  To the extent funding is available, projects may be renewed for an additional two years.

The superintendent is to appoint a task force to develop strategies for expanding the program statewide.

The act expires on June 30, 2000.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  A task force was added, and the appropriation was removed.

Fiscal Note:  Requested January 17, 1994.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  This program helps families and youth.  It makes sense out of a very complicated system of education, social and health services.  The program also brings everyone to the table, including business, to solve problems.  It is a proven model in both urban and rural settings.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  (PRO) Rep. Wineberry, (sponsor); Jack Healy, Snohomish Communities in Schools; Laura Porter, Mason County Commissioner; Linda Thompson-Black, Director, Seattle Cities in Schools; Errol Paredo, student; Claudia Schroeder, student; and Don Halker, business representative, Cities in Schools, Woodinville.