BILL REQ. #:  Z-0670.1 

Read first time 02/02/09.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to the running start program; amending RCW 28A.600.310 and 28A.600.370; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The running start program has provided economic savings to parents, students, and to the state by providing the opportunity for high school students to earn college credit while enrolled in high school. The state has also been helped to advance its target for associate and baccalaureate degree completions and helped in improving students' time-to-degree rates through running start. The program's overall success has benefited students, parents, communities, and the state's economic development, all while providing real monetary savings. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to expand participation in running start and secure ample support for the continuation of this highly successful program.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.600.310 and 2005 c 125 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Eleventh and twelfth grade students or students who have not yet received the credits required for the award of a high school diploma and are eligible to be in the eleventh or twelfth grades may apply to a participating institution of higher education to enroll in courses or programs offered by the institution of higher education. A student receiving home-based instruction enrolling in a public high school for the sole purpose of participating in courses or programs offered by institutions of higher education shall not be counted by the school district in any required state or federal accountability reporting if the student's parents or guardians filed a declaration of intent to provide home-based instruction and the student received home-based instruction during the school year before the school year in which the student intends to participate in courses or programs offered by the institution of higher education. Students receiving home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW and students attending private schools approved under chapter 28A.195 RCW shall not be required to meet the student learning goals, obtain a certificate of academic achievement or a certificate of individual achievement to graduate from high school, or to master the essential academic learning requirements. However, students are eligible to enroll in courses or programs in participating universities only if the board of directors of the student's school district has decided to participate in the program. Participating institutions of higher education, in consultation with school districts, may establish admission standards for these students. If the institution of higher education accepts a secondary school pupil for enrollment under this section, the institution of higher education shall send written notice to the pupil and the pupil's school district within ten days of acceptance. The notice shall indicate the course and hours of enrollment for that pupil.
     (b) In lieu of tuition and fees, as defined in RCW 28B.15.020 and 28B.15.041, running start students shall pay to the institution of higher education all other mandatory fees as established by each community and technical college. The institution of higher education shall prorate the mandatory fees based on credit load.
     (c) The institution of higher education shall make available fee waivers for low-income students. Each institution shall establish a written policy for the determination of low-income students before offering the fee waiver. Acceptable documentation of low-income status may include, but is not limited to, documentation that a student has been deemed eligible for free or reduced-price lunches in the last five years, or other criteria established in the institution's policy.
     (2) The pupil's school district shall transmit to the institution of higher education an amount per each full-time equivalent college student at statewide uniform rates for vocational and nonvocational students. The superintendent of public instruction shall separately calculate and allocate moneys appropriated for basic education under RCW 28A.150.260 to school districts for purposes of making such payments and for granting school districts seven percent thereof to offset program related costs. The calculations and allocations shall be based upon the estimated statewide annual average per full-time equivalent high school student allocations under RCW 28A.150.260, excluding small high school enhancements, and applicable rules adopted under chapter 34.05 RCW. The superintendent of public instruction, the higher education coordinating board, and the state board for community and technical colleges shall consult on the calculation and distribution of the funds. ((The institution of higher education shall not require the pupil to pay any other fees.)) The funds received by the institution of higher education from the school district shall not be deemed tuition or operating fees and may be retained by the institution of higher education. A student enrolled under this subsection shall ((not)) be counted for the purpose of ((determining any)) meeting enrollment ((restrictions)) targets imposed by the state on the institution of higher education.
     (3) The state board for community and technical colleges shall develop long-term funding proposals to support running start that may include, but not be limited to, student tuition and performance funding. The state board for community and technical colleges shall report its recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 2010.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.600.370 and 1994 c 205 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     Any state institution of higher education may award postsecondary credit for college level academic and vocational courses successfully completed by a student while in high school and taken at an institution of higher education. ((The state institution of higher education shall not charge a fee for the award of the credits.))