Brief Description: Expanding high school completion programs.

Sponsors: By Representatives Upthegrove, Kagi, P. Sullivan, Haigh, Simpson, Moeller, Green, Santos, Kenney, Williams, Hunter and Miloscia.

House Committee on Education
Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education
Senate Committee on Ways & Means

Background:

High School Graduation Requirements. The State Board of Education (SBE) establishes minimum high school graduation requirements for public schools. Students must complete at least 19 credits in specified content areas, do a culminating project, and prepare a high school and beyond plan. Beginning with the class of 2008, students will also need to earn a Certificate of Academic Achievement (CAA) by meeting the state academic standards in reading, writing, and mathematics on the high school Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Students in special education can earn a Certificate of Individual Achievement (CIA). Local school districts may establish additional requirements. Students may enroll in public schools until they complete a diploma or turn 21.

High School Programs in Community and Technical Colleges. Washington's community and technical colleges offer three types of high school programs:

(1) High School Completion. High School Completion enables adults to earn a regular high school diploma issued by the college. The SBE graduation requirements apply, except that students over the age of 21 are exempt from the CAA under SBE rules.

The programs serve approximately 3,700 students per year, most of whom are over 21. Students under age 18 need a release from their high school to enroll. Students age 19 or over are eligible for a tuition waiver; those under 19 pay tuition. The programs are funded with state funds through the community and technical college budget.

(2) Drop-Out Retrieval. Eight colleges offer high school programs under contract with a local school district for students aged 16 to 21 to make up the credits they need to graduate. Students who complete the school district's graduation requirements earn their diploma from the district. About 1,700 students participate in these programs. The school district pays the college for the program under the terms of the contract using funds from the Basic Education Act (BEA) and other resources.

(3) Technical High Schools. Bates, Lake Washington, and Clover Park Technical Colleges each operate a program for juniors and seniors that offers career-technical training and courses necessary to receive a diploma from the college. Approximately 1,075 students are enrolled. The colleges bill the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for BEA funding and are prohibited from charging tuition.

Running Start. The Running Start program provides a way to use BEA funds to support students who are dually enrolled in high school and college and are earning both high school and college credits for their courses. The BEA allocation for Running Start is $4,397 per full time equivalent (FTE) student.

Although the BEA represents the largest allocation of state funds for K-12 education, there are other funding programs. For example, school districts receive $770 for each student in the Transitional Bilingual Program. Funding for the Learning Assistance Program (LAP) is $188 per student. Funding for the Student Achievement Program is $375 per FTE student for 2006-07, scheduled to increase to $450 in 2007-08.

Summary:

A pilot program is created for two community and technical colleges where students under age 21 who have completed all state and local graduation requirements except the CAA or the CIA can enroll in a high school completion program and earn a high school diploma. To be eligible, a student must also have received at least a Basic score on the high school reading and writing WASL, have attempted a retake of the test or an alternative assessment, have participated in remediation, and receive a recommendation from his or her high school principal.

The pilot colleges must make the program available to any eligible student within the college district, but may implement it in the following ways:

• contract with a local school district, in which case the school district issues the diploma;
• deliver the program and courses directly and the college issues the diploma; or
• offer some combination of contracted program and direct delivery, including through regional partnerships.

If a college delivers the program directly, it is reimbursed by the OSPI for each FTE student enrolled in high school completion courses. Funding is calculated based on the following programs:

• the BEA funding allocation, where reimbursement is calculated using a statewide average per FTE student, similar to the Running Start program;
• an amount per FTE student based on the state allocation for the LAP program;
• an amount per FTE student based on the state allocation for the Student Achievement Program; and
• for bilingual students, an amount per FTE student based on the state allocation for the Transitional Bilingual Program.

The colleges cannot charge students in the program tuition or fees for courses that lead to a diploma.

Other colleges, school districts, and Educational Service Districts (ESDs) are not precluded from offering high school completion programs for students who do not meet the criteria under the act.

School districts in the geographic area of the pilot programs must provide information to 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students and their parents about this option.

The OSPI and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges must select the two pilot colleges by June 30, 2007. They must also identify possible additional service delivery models for the program, submit a report to the Legislature with an implementation plan for the pilot projects by December 15, 2007, and submit a progress report and a plan for implementing the program statewide by December 15, 2009. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy must develop an estimate of the number of students statewide likely to participate in the program and submit it to the Legislature by December 15, 2007.

School district boards of directors are authorized to adopt a policy awarding a Certificate of Academic Completion to students who meet all state and local graduation requirements except the CAA or CIA, have retaken the WASL at least once or taken an alternative assessment, and develop a fifth year plan.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   73   21
Senate   32   16   (Senate amended)
House         (House refused to concur)
Senate         (Senate refused to recede)
House         (House refused to concur)
Senate   30   18   (Senate amended)
House   86   11   (House concurred)

Effective: July 22, 2007

Partial Veto Summary: The Governor vetoed the section relating to the Certificate of Academic Completion for high school students who do not meet the requirements for a high school diploma.