BILL REQ. #:  S-1910.1 

Read first time 02/20/09.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to profoundly capable divergent students; amending RCW 28A.155.010, 28A.155.020, and 28A.150.390; adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that profoundly divergent children have educational needs that are substantially different than those of normal students. Without individualized attention, profoundly divergent children underachieve and are unable to reach their full potential within our society. Furthermore, providing an inadequate education of the most capable of the profoundly divergent harms the least capable of the profoundly divergent. The innovation and skills of high functioning profoundly divergent students create opportunities for the lowest functioning of the profoundly divergent to lead fulfilling lives. By assuring that both ends of the profoundly divergent spectrum have the resources to flourish, the educational system provides for those at the margins of the intellectual strata.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.155.010 and 2007 c 115 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     It is the purpose of RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.160, 28A.160.030, and 28A.150.390 to ensure that all children with disabilities as defined in RCW 28A.155.020, and profoundly divergent children as defined in section 3 of this act, shall have the opportunity for an appropriate education at public expense as guaranteed to them by the Constitution of this state and applicable federal laws.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Students designated as profoundly divergent under subsection (2) of this section must be provided an educational opportunity in accordance with the special needs education provided for in RCW 28A.155.020.
     (2) A student is eligible for special needs educational programs for profoundly divergent students if the student's intelligence quotient deviates from the mean by three or more standard deviations on an individually administered standardized test of intelligence.
     (3) Students who must be referred for individualized testing include:
     (a) Any student who performs in the ninety-ninth percentile on a normalized test of student achievement;
     (b) Any student exhibiting a substantial number of the defining characteristics, as established by the relevant field of study, of a student whose intelligence quotient deviates from the mean by three or more standard deviations;
     (c) Any student identified in early childhood, birth through age three, as having a substantial number of the defining characteristics, as established by the relevant field of study, of a student whose intelligence quotient deviates from the mean by three or more standard deviations; or
     (d) Any student meeting any other criteria established by the office of the superintendent of public instruction for screening students whose intelligence quotient deviates from the mean by three or more standard deviations.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.155.020 and 2007 c 115 s 2 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 disabilities who require special education and for the education of profoundly divergent children.
     Students with disabilities are those children whether enrolled in school or not who through an evaluation process are determined eligible for special education due to a disability. Students who are profoundly divergent are defined in section 3 of this act.
     In accordance with part B of the federal individuals with disabilities education improvement act and any other federal or state laws relating to the provision of special education services, the superintendent of public instruction shall require each school district in the state to insure an appropriate educational opportunity for all children with disabilities and profoundly divergent children between the ages of three and twenty-one, but when the 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.155.160, functional definitions of special education, the various types of disabling conditions, and eligibility criteria for special education programs for children with disabilities and profoundly divergent children, including referral procedures, use of aversive interventions, the education curriculum and statewide or district-wide assessments, parent and district requests for special education due process hearings, and procedural safeguards. For the purposes of RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.160, an appropriate education is defined as an education directed to the unique needs, abilities, and limitations of the children with disabilities and profoundly divergent children who are enrolled either full time or part time in a school district. 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.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.150.390 and 1995 c 77 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     The superintendent of public instruction shall submit to each regular session of the legislature during an odd-numbered year a programmed budget request for special education programs for students with disabilities and profoundly divergent children. Funding for programs operated by local school districts shall be on an excess cost basis from appropriations provided by the legislature for special education programs for students with disabilities and profoundly divergent children and shall take account of state funds accruing through RCW 28A.150.250, 28A.150.260, federal medical assistance and private funds accruing under RCW 74.09.5249 through 74.09.5253 and 74.09.5254 through 74.09.5256, and other state and local funds, excluding special excess levies.