AN ACT Relating to education; amending RCW
28A.150.220, 28A.150.220, and 28A.600.060; reenacting and amending RCW
28A.230.090; and providing a contingent effective date.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1.
RCW 28A.150.220 and 1990 c 33 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) For the purposes of this section and RCW
28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260:
(a) The term "total program hour
offering" shall mean those hours when students are provided the
opportunity to engage in educational activity planned by and under the
direction of school district staff, as directed by the administration and board
of directors of the district, inclusive of intermissions for class changes,
recess and teacher/parent-guardian conferences which are planned and scheduled
by the district for the purpose of discussing students' educational needs or
progress, and exclusive of time actually spent for meals.
(b) "Instruction in work skills"
shall include instruction in one or more of the following areas: Industrial
arts, home and family life education, business and office education,
distributive education, agricultural education, health occupations education,
vocational education, trade and industrial education, technical education and
career education.
(2) Satisfaction of the basic education goal
identified in RCW 28A.150.210 shall be considered to be implemented by the
following program requirements:
(a) Each school district shall make available
to students in kindergarten at least a total program offering of four hundred
fifty hours. The program shall include reading, arithmetic, language skills
and such other subjects and such activities as the school district shall
determine to be appropriate for the education of the school district's students
enrolled in such program;
(b) Each school district shall make available
to students in grades one through three, at least a total program hour offering
of two thousand seven hundred hours. A minimum of ninety-five percent of the
total program hour offerings shall be in the basic skills areas of
reading/language arts (which may include ((foreign)) languages other
than English, including American Indian languages), mathematics, social
studies, science, music, art, health and physical education. The remaining
five percent of the total program hour offerings may include such subjects and
activities as the school district shall determine to be appropriate for the
education of the school district's students in such grades;
(c) Each school district shall make available
to students in grades four through six at least a total program hour offering
of two thousand nine hundred seventy hours. A minimum of ninety percent of the
total program hour offerings shall be in the basic skills areas of
reading/language arts (which may include ((foreign)) languages other
than English, including American Indian languages), mathematics, social
studies, science, music, art, health and physical education. The remaining ten
percent of the total program hour offerings may include such subjects and
activities as the school district shall determine to be appropriate for the
education of the school district's students in such grades;
(d) Each school district shall make available
to students in grades seven through eight, at least a total program hour
offering of one thousand nine hundred eighty hours. A minimum of eighty-five
percent of the total program hour offerings shall be in the basic skills areas
of reading/language arts (which may include ((foreign)) languages other
than English, including American Indian languages), mathematics, social
studies, science, music, art, health and physical education. A minimum of ten
percent of the total program hour offerings shall be in the area of work
skills. The remaining five percent of the total program hour offerings may
include such subjects and activities as the school district shall determine to
be appropriate for the education of the school district's students in such
grades;
(e) Each school district shall make available
to students in grades nine through twelve at least a total program hour
offering of four thousand three hundred twenty hours. A minimum of sixty
percent of the total program hour offerings shall be in the basic skills areas
of language arts, ((foreign)) languages other than English, which may
be American Indian languages, mathematics, social studies, science, music,
art, health and physical education. A minimum of twenty percent of the total
program hour offerings shall be in the area of work skills. The remaining
twenty percent of the total program hour offerings may include traffic safety
or such subjects and activities as the school district shall determine to be
appropriate for the education of the school district's students in such grades,
with not less than one-half thereof in basic skills and/or work skills:
PROVIDED, That each school district shall have the option of including grade
nine within the program hour offering requirements of grades seven and eight so
long as such requirements for grades seven through nine are increased to two
thousand nine hundred seventy hours and such requirements for grades ten
through twelve are decreased to three thousand two hundred forty hours.
(3) In order to provide flexibility to the
local school districts in the setting of their curricula, and in order to
maintain the intent of this legislation, which is to stress the instruction of
basic skills and work skills, any local school district may establish minimum
course mix percentages that deviate by up to five percentage points above or
below those minimums required by subsection (2) of this section, so long as the
total program hour requirement is still met.
(4) Nothing contained in subsection (2) of this
section shall be construed to require individual students to attend school for
any particular number of hours per day or to take any particular courses.
(5) Each school district's kindergarten through
twelfth grade basic educational program shall be accessible to all students who
are five years of age, as provided by RCW 28A.225.160, and less than twenty-one
years of age and shall consist of a minimum of one hundred eighty school days
per school year in such grades as are conducted by a school district, and one
hundred eighty half-days of instruction, or equivalent, in kindergarten:
PROVIDED, That effective May 1, 1979, a school district may schedule the last
five school days of the one hundred and eighty day school year for
noninstructional purposes in the case of students who are graduating from high
school, including, but not limited to, the observance of graduation and early
release from school upon the request of a student, and all such students may be
claimed as a full time equivalent student to the extent they could otherwise
have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260.
(6) The state board of education shall adopt
rules to implement and ensure compliance with the program requirements imposed
by this section, RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260, and such related supplemental
program approval requirements as the state board may establish: PROVIDED, That
each school district board of directors shall establish the basis and means for
determining and monitoring the district's compliance with the basic skills and
work skills percentage and course requirements of this section. The
certification of the board of directors and the superintendent of a school
district that the district is in compliance with such basic skills and work
skills requirements may be accepted by the superintendent of public instruction
and the state board of education.
(7) Handicapped education programs,
vocational-technical institute programs, state institution and state
residential school programs, all of which programs are conducted for the common
school age, kindergarten through secondary school program students encompassed
by this section, shall be exempt from the basic skills and work skills
percentage and course requirements of this section in order that the unique
needs, abilities or limitations of such students may be met.
(8) Any school district may petition the state
board of education for a reduction in the total program hour offering
requirements for one or more of the grade level groupings specified in this
section. The state board of education shall grant all such petitions that are
accompanied by an assurance that the minimum total program hour offering
requirements in one or more other grade level groupings will be exceeded
concurrently by no less than the number of hours of the reduction.
Sec. 2.
RCW 28A.150.220 and 1992 c 141 s 503 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Satisfaction of the basic education program
requirements identified in RCW 28A.150.210 shall be considered to be
implemented by the following program:
(a) Each school district shall make available
to students enrolled in kindergarten at least a total instructional offering of
four hundred fifty hours. The program shall include instruction in the
essential academic learning requirements under RCW 28A.630.885 and such other
subjects and such activities as the school district shall determine to be
appropriate for the education of the school district's students enrolled in
such program;
(b) Each school district shall make available
to students enrolled in grades one through twelve, at least a district-wide
annual average total instructional hour offering of one thousand hours. The
state board of education may define alternatives to classroom instructional
time for students in grades nine through twelve enrolled in alternative
learning experiences. The state board of education shall establish rules to
determine annual average instructional hours for districts including fewer than
twelve grades. The program shall include the essential academic learning
requirements under RCW 28A.630.885 and such other subjects and such activities
as the school district shall determine to be appropriate for the education of
the school district's students enrolled in such group;
(c) If the essential academic learning
requirements include a requirement of languages other than English, the
requirement may be met by students receiving instruction in one or more
American Indian languages.
(2) Nothing contained in subsection (1) of this
section shall be construed to require individual students to attend school for
any particular number of hours per day or to take any particular courses.
(3) Each school district's kindergarten through
twelfth grade basic educational program shall be accessible to all students who
are five years of age, as provided by RCW 28A.225.160, and less than twenty‑one
years of age and shall consist of a minimum of one hundred eighty school days
per school year in such grades as are conducted by a school district, and one
hundred eighty half‑days of instruction, or equivalent, in kindergarten:
PROVIDED, That effective May 1, 1979, a school district may schedule the last
five school days of the one hundred and eighty day school year for
noninstructional purposes in the case of students who are graduating from high
school, including, but not limited to, the observance of graduation and early
release from school upon the request of a student, and all such students may be
claimed as a full time equivalent student to the extent they could otherwise
have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260.
(4) The state board of education shall adopt
rules to implement and ensure compliance with the program requirements imposed
by this section, RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260, and such related supplemental
program approval requirements as the state board may establish.
Sec. 3.
RCW 28A.230.090 and 1992 c 141 s 402 and 1992 c 60 s 1 are each reenacted and
amended to read as follows:
(1) The state board of education shall
establish high school graduation requirements or equivalencies for students. Any
course in Washington state history and government used to fulfill high school
graduation requirements is encouraged to include information on the culture,
history, and government of the American Indian peoples who were the first
inhabitants of the state.
(2) In recognition of the statutory authority
of the state board of education to establish and enforce minimum high school
graduation requirements, the state board shall periodically reevaluate the
graduation requirements and shall report such findings to the legislature in a
timely manner as determined by the state board.
(3) Pursuant to any ((foreign language))
requirement for instruction in languages other than English established
by the state board of education or a local school district, or both, for
purposes of high school graduation, students who receive instruction in
American sign language or one or more American Indian languages shall be
considered to have satisfied the state or local school district ((foreign
language)) graduation requirement for instruction in one or more
languages other than English.
(4) If requested by the student and his or her
family, a student who has completed high school courses before attending high
school shall be given high school credit which shall be applied to fulfilling
high school graduation requirements if:
(a) The course was taken with high school
students, if the academic level of the course exceeds the requirements for
seventh and eighth grade classes, and the student has successfully passed by
completing the same course requirements and examinations as the high school
students enrolled in the class; or
(b) The academic level of the course exceeds
the requirements for seventh and eighth grade classes and the course would
qualify for high school credit, because the course is similar or equivalent to
a course offered at a high school in the district as determined by the school
district board of directors.
(5) Students who have taken and successfully
completed high school courses under the circumstances in subsection (4) of this
section shall not be required to take an additional competency examination or
perform any other additional assignment to receive credit. Subsection (4) of
this section shall also apply to students enrolled in high school on April 11,
1990, who took the courses before attending high school.
Sec. 4.
RCW 28A.600.060 and 1991 c 116 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:
The recipients of the Washington state honors
awards shall be selected based on student achievement in both verbal and
quantitative areas, as measured by a test or tests of general achievement
selected by the superintendent of public instruction, and shall include student
performance in the academic core areas of English, mathematics, science, social
studies, and ((foreign)) languages
other than English, which may be American Indian languages. The performance level in such academic core subjects
shall be determined by grade point averages, numbers of credits earned, and
courses enrolled in during the beginning of the senior year.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
Section 2 of this act shall take effect September 1, 2000. However, section 2
of this act shall not take effect if, by September 1, 2000, a law is enacted
stating that a school accountability and academic assessment system is not in
place.
