S-1268.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 5810

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Senators Kohl‑Welles, Finkbeiner, Kastama, Sheahan and Patterson

Read first time 02/02/2001.  Referred to Committee on Education.

Authorizing expenditures from the student achievement fund for small personalized schools.

    AN ACT Relating to establishing small personalized schools; adding a new section to chapter 28A.505 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature recognizes that a large and growing body of research supports the premise that all students learn more, perform better, and exhibit more responsible and respectful behavior in schools where they are known personally and as individuals by the adults in the school.  In light of this research, school districts are encouraged to create small personalized learning environments using available resources from the student achievement fund, the purpose of which is to improve public education and to achieve higher academic standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.505 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) School districts may, consistent with RCW 28A.505.210, spend moneys received from the student achievement fund created in RCW 43.135.045 to establish small personalized schools that have the effect of reducing class size and improving student achievement.

    (2) For the purposes of this section, "small personalized school" means a school with each of the following characteristics:

    (a) That enrolls no more than two hundred seventy-five students if it is an elementary school, or no more than four hundred forty students if it is a middle, junior high, or high school with three or four grade levels;

    (b) Where, to the extent possible, every teacher at the school works with every student assigned to the teacher's classroom for a minimum of two consecutive years;

    (c) That develops and implements a plan for high levels of parental involvement in which parents are directly engaged in supporting their child's learning and in which parents play a significant role in school governance;

    (d) That develops a governance plan that involves an administrator, teachers, parents and other community members, and, if it is a secondary school, the students;

    (e) That develops a philosophy and mission that focuses on the personalization of learning and academic and personal success for each student; and

    (f) That embodies its philosophy and mission in its daily operations and activities.

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