BILL REQ. #:  H-3840.2 

Prefiled 01/08/10. Read first time 01/11/10.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to creating a dropout prevention recognition program; adding new sections to chapter 28A.175 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) Providing students with the opportunity to graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills to be successful in today's world is now clearly part of Washington's definition of a basic education. Some students will only achieve this objective with supplemental interventions, support, and counseling;
     (b) Dropout prevention is a fundamental strategy for strengthening our society, building our economy, reducing crime, reducing government spending, and increasing individual freedom and opportunity;
     (c) For every dropout prevented, the chances of that person committing a crime are reduced by twenty percent, and that person stands to increase his or her lifetime earnings by three hundred thousand dollars in today's dollars. In addition, for every dropout prevented, taxpayers save an estimated ten thousand five hundred dollars per year for each year of the individual's life between the ages of twenty and sixty-five;
     (d) There are known and proven strategies to reduce the dropout rate, including ones that are successful for high risk and troubled students, but these proven models have never been brought to scale; and
     (e) Grants and project-based funding will never provide a sustainable source of resources to support dropout prevention strategies.
     (2) Therefore, the state should use a market-based approach and make a long-term commitment to recognize and reward demonstrated success in reducing the dropout rate by investing the savings generated from each prevented dropout in the public schools.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Effective July 1, 2013, the dropout prevention recognition program is created as provided in this section and sections 3 through 6 of this act to provide a financial award for high schools that demonstrate reduction from one school year to the next in high school dropouts, based on a measure of dropout prevention that has been statistically adjusted for student demographics and made reliable over time.
     (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the state board of education, shall:
     (a) Calculate the annual extended graduation rate for each high school, which is the rate at which a class of students enters high school as freshmen and graduates with a high school diploma, including students who receive a high school diploma after the year they were expected to graduate;
     (b) Adjust the rate for student transfers and statistically adjust the rate for student demographics in the high school, including the number of students eligible for free and reduced price meals, special education and English language learner students, students of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, and student mobility, which shall be the "adjusted extended graduation rate";
     (c) Adjust the calculation to prevent the rate from being affected by fluctuations in the size of a class of students and to create a reliable measure over time;
     (d) Calculate the change in the adjusted extended graduation rate for each school year compared to the prior school year; and
     (e) Translate the change in the adjusted extended graduation rate into a number of students that the change in rate represents, which if a positive number shall be the "adjusted number of students prevented from dropping out."

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Annually beginning in the 2013-14 school year, for each adjusted number of students prevented from dropping out as defined under section 2 of this act, a high school shall be eligible for a dropout prevention recognition award of ten thousand five hundred dollars, which amount shall be adjusted annually for inflation after 2013-14 using the implicit price deflator. The dropout prevention recognition award represents the annual estimated savings to the taxpayers realized when a student avoids dropping out.
     (a) Fifty percent of an award under this section shall be allocated to the eligible high school to be used for dropout prevention activities in the school as specified in subsection (2) of this section. The principal of the high school shall determine the use of funds after consultation with parents and certificated and classified staff of the school.
     (b) Fifty percent of an award under this section shall be allocated to the school district in which the eligible high school is located to be used for dropout prevention activities as specified in subsection (2) of this section in the high school or in other schools in the district.
     (c) The eligible high school and school district must account for the use of award funds separately from funds received from state funding formulas or other sources. Funds may be expended over a three-year period.
     (d) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may withhold distribution of award funds under this section to an otherwise eligible high school or school district if the superintendent of public instruction issues a finding that the school or school district has willfully manipulated the graduation rates, for example by expelling, suspending, transferring, or refusing to enroll students at-risk of dropping out of school.
     (2) High schools and school districts may use dropout prevention recognition award funds to support any of the following dropout prevention and reengagement activities, offered directly by the school or district or under contract with education agencies or community-based organizations including but not limited to educational service districts, workforce development councils, and boys and girls clubs:
     (a) Use of graduation coaches as defined in section 4 of this act;
     (b) Opportunity internship activities under RCW 28C.18.164;
     (c) Dropout reengagement programs provided by community-based organizations or community and technical colleges;
     (d) Extended school day, extended school year, and tutoring programs for students identified as at-risk of dropping out of school, including instruction to assist these students in meeting graduation requirements in mathematics and science;
     (e) Outreach and counseling targeted to students identified as at-risk of dropping out of school, or who have dropped out of school, to encourage them to consider learning alternatives such as preapprenticeship programs, skill centers, running start, technical high schools, and other options for completing a high school diploma;
     (f) Preapprenticeship programs or running start for the trades initiatives under RCW 49.04.190;
     (g) Mentoring programs for students;
     (h) Development and use of dropout early warning data systems;
     (i) Counseling, resource and referral services, and intervention programs to address social, behavioral, and health factors associated with dropping out of school;
     (j) Implementing programs for in-school suspension or other strategies to avoid excluding middle and high school students from the school whenever possible;
     (k) Parent engagement activities such as home visits and off-campus parent support group meetings related to dropout prevention and reengagement; and
     (l) Early learning programs for prekindergarten students.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     For the purposes of section 3 of this act, a "graduation coach" means a certificated staff person assigned to identify and provide intervention services to students who have dropped out or are at-risk of dropping out of school or of not graduating on time through the following activities:
     (1) Monitoring and advising on individual student progress toward graduation;
     (2) Providing student support services and case management;
     (3) Motivating students to focus on a graduation plan;
     (4) Encouraging parent and community involvement;
     (5) Connecting parents and students with appropriate school and community resources;
     (6) Securing supplemental academic services for students;
     (7) Implementing schoolwide dropout prevention programs and interventions; and
     (8) Analyzing data to identify at-risk students.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall regularly inform high schools and school districts about the opportunities under sections 2 through 6 of this act and the activities that have been demonstrated to increase the likelihood of a school receiving a dropout prevention recognition award. The office shall make every effort to keep dropout prevention and reduction of the dropout rate a top priority for school directors, administrators, and teachers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The dropout prevention recognition program account is created in the state treasury.
     (2) Beginning July 1, 2013, funds must be appropriated from the state general fund each fiscal year and deposited in the dropout prevention recognition program account in an amount equal to one percent of the state appropriation from the state general fund to support basic education under RCW 28A.150.260(3), (4), and (8) for that fiscal year.
     (3) Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation and do not lapse at the end of the fiscal year.
     (4) Expenditures from the account may be made only to provide dropout prevention recognition program awards under section 3 of this act. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate the award funds to eligible high schools and school districts from the funds appropriated for this purpose.
     (5) If insufficient funds are available in the account to provide a full award for each eligible high school and school district, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall prorate the awards across all eligible schools and school districts and notify the governor and the legislature of the amount of the shortfall.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   By July 31, 2012, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall calculate an adjusted number of students prevented from dropping out as defined under section 2 of this act for each high school in the state and shall notify the high schools of what their dropout prevention recognition award under section 3 of this act would be in the 2012-13 school year if the program were in effect in that year. The office shall notify all high schools that the implementation of the award program in the 2013-14 school year is based on performance improvements in the 2012-13 school year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the state board of education, must submit the methodology and preliminary results from the calculation of the adjusted extended graduation rate and the adjusted number of students dropping out as required under section 2 of this act to the education committees of the legislature for review by December 31, 2011, and provide the legislature an opportunity to act before the methodology is adopted.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   This act may be known and cited as the dropout prevention act.