BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to education of offenders prosecuted as adults; amending RCW 28A.155.020; adding a new section to chapter 28A.150 RCW; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.150 RCW to read as follows:

To the extent the department of corrections, a county adult correctional facility, or the superintendent of public instruction is required to offer basic and special education services, the department, the superintendent, or the county, as appropriate, may contract with school districts, educational service districts, community and technical colleges, private vendors, or juvenile court administrators to provide those educational programs. The department or the county adult correctional facilities may also operate and staff their own educational programs. The superintendent of public instruction may not require school districts to provide basic or special education services to inmates of county adult correctional facilities or department of corrections' facilities even when the inmates are under age twenty-one.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of corrections and the superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a study to determine the educational needs of inmates under the age of twenty-one incarcerated in jail and prison, the impact of providing educational services to those inmates on the security and penological interests of the correctional institutions that incarcerate those inmates, and the ability of local school districts, the community and technical colleges, private vendors, juvenile detention centers, and the correctional institutions to provide those educational services.

(2) The department and the superintendent of public instruction shall consult with the following groups:

(a) The Washington association of school administrators;

(b) The individual school districts and educational service districts in which the department or a county jail may operate a school for inmates under age twenty-one;

(d) The state board for community and technical colleges;

(e) The higher education coordinating board;

(f) The United States department of education office of special education programs and the office for civil rights;

(g) The juvenile rehabilitation administration's residential school programs;

(h) The juvenile court administrators;

(i) The attorney general;

(j) Columbia legal services;

(k) The Washington association of prosecuting attorneys;

(l) The school districts that provide educational services to juvenile offenders incarcerated in state juvenile residential schools; and

(m) Any other person or association that in the opinion of the department or the superintendent of public instruction may assist in the study.

(3) No later than May 1, 1998, the department and the superintendent of public instruction shall provide to the committees on education in the house and senate, the criminal justice and corrections committee in the house, the human services and corrections committee in the senate, and the house and senate fiscal committees, a profile of all offenders under the age of twenty-one who are incarcerated in a department of corrections' facility. The profile shall identify the offenders individually by the following:

(a) Age;

(b) Offense or offenses of commitment;

(d) Anticipated length of stay;

(e) The number of serious infractions committed by the offender during incarceration and the number of times, if any, the offender has been placed in an intensive management unit;

(f) The offender's custody level;

(g) Whether the offender has a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma;

(h) The last grade the offender completed;

(i) Whether the offender, in the educational placement prior to incarceration was identified as a child with a disability or had an individualized education program;

(j) Whether the offender would qualify for transition planning and services under 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1414(d)(6);

(k) Whether the department has security or penological interests that warrant modification of an existing individualized education program or placement as provided by 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1414(d)(6);

(l) Whether the offender has participated in any educational programs offered by the department; and

(m) Whether the offender may be in need of special education and related services. This subsection does not require the department or the superintendent to evaluate an offender to determine if the offender is a child with disabilities in need of special education and related services.

(4) No later than September 1, 1998, the department of corrections and the superintendent of public instruction shall provide to the committees identified in subsection (3) of this section a profile of inmates under the age of twenty-one confined in county jails between the effective date of this section and August 1, 1998. The profile shall identify the inmates' characteristics as listed in subsection (3) of this section and shall include all inmates detained in a county correctional facility whether arrested, charged, pending trial, or convicted. The department and the superintendent of public instruction shall assist the counties in gathering this information.

(5) No later than September 1, 1998, the department and the superintendent of public instruction shall make a preliminary report to the committees listed in subsection (3) of this section, identifying the educational needs of inmates under the age of twenty-one in adult correctional facilities, the impact of providing educational services to those inmates on the security and penological interests of the correctional institutions that incarcerate those inmates, and the ability of local school districts, the community and technical colleges, private vendors, juvenile detention centers, and the correctional institutions to provide those educational services. The department and the superintendent, in consultation with the office of financial management, shall estimate the various capital and operating costs of providing basic educational services or basic skills education to offenders under age twenty-one, and special education and related services to all inmates under age twenty-one or to just those inmates under age eighteen and between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one who were identified as a child with a disability or had an individualized education program in the educational placement prior to incarceration in an adult correctional facility. The department and the superintendent of public instruction shall inform the committees as to which educational entity or entities are able and willing to provide those educational services.

(6) No later than November 1, 1998, the department and the superintendent of public instruction shall make final recommendations to the committees.

Sec. 3. RCW 28A.155.020 and 1995 c 77 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

There is established in the office of the superintendent of public instruction an administrative section or unit for the education of children with disabling conditions.

Children with disabilities are those children in school or out of school who are temporarily or permanently retarded in normal educational processes by reason of physical or mental disability, or by reason of emotional maladjustment, or by reason of other disability, and those children who have specific learning and language disabilities resulting from perceptual-motor disabilities, including problems in visual and auditory perception and integration.

Except as provided in section 1 of this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall require each school district in the state to insure an appropriate educational opportunity for all children with disabilities between the ages of three and twenty-one((~~, but~~)). When ((~~the~~)) a child's twenty-first birthday occurs during the school year, the educational program may be continued until the end of that school year. The superintendent of public instruction, by rule, shall establish for the purpose of excess cost funding, as provided in RCW 28A.150.390, 28A.160.030, and 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.100, functional definitions of the various types of disabling conditions and eligibility criteria for special education programs for students with disabilities. For the purposes of RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.100, an appropriate education is defined as an education directed to the unique needs, abilities, and limitations of the children with disabilities. School districts are strongly encouraged to provide parental training in the care and education of the children and to involve parents in the classroom.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the establishment or continuation of existing cooperative programs between school districts or contracts with other agencies approved by the superintendent of public instruction, which can meet the obligations of school districts to provide education for children with disabilities, or prohibit the continuation of needed related services to school districts by the department of social and health services.

This section shall not be construed as in any way limiting the powers of local school districts set forth in RCW 28A.155.070.

No child shall be removed from the jurisdiction of juvenile court, a county jail, or the department of corrections for training or education under RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.100 without the approval of the superior court of the county.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. 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 takes effect immediately.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 1998, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.