BILL REQ. #:  S-3957.1 

Read first time 01/26/12.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to addressing issues of accountability and funding for alternative learning experience programs; amending RCW 28A.150.325; reenacting and amending RCW 28A.150.260; and providing an expiration date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 28A.150.325 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 34 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) ((For purposes of)) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this chapter((,)) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Alternative learning experience program" means a course or set of courses that is:
     (((a))) (i) Provided in whole or in part independently from a regular classroom setting or schedule, but may include some components of direct instruction;
     (((b))) (ii) Supervised, monitored, assessed, evaluated, and documented by a certificated teacher employed by the school district or under contract as permitted by applicable rules; and
     (((c))) (iii) Provided in accordance with a written student learning plan that is implemented pursuant to the school district's policy and rules adopted by the superintendent of public instruction for alternative learning experiences.
     (b) "Contract-based learning program" means a program that serves students in grades nine through twelve where students receive an average of at least five hours of classroom-based instruction per week. The running start program established under RCW 28A.600.300 is not a contract-based learning program.
     (2)(a) For students in grades nine through twelve, all instruction and activities in the student learning plan must generate credits that meet state or local high school graduation requirements.
     (b) For students in grades kindergarten through eight, all instruction and activities in the student learning plan must be directly related to one or more of the following core academic subjects: English, reading and language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, the arts, history, and geography.
     (c) "Dropout recovery program" means an alternative learning experience program that provides a combination of social support and academic interventions and exclusively serves students who have been suspended or expelled, are pregnant or parenting teens, have dropped out of school, or are significantly at risk of dropping out of school as determined by the school district in which the student resides.
     (3) The broad categories of alternative learning experience programs include, but are not limited to:
     (a) Online programs as defined in RCW 28A.150.262;
     (b) Parent partnership programs that include significant participation and partnership by parents and families in the design and implementation of a student's learning experience; and
     (c) Contract-based learning programs.
     (((3))) (4) School districts that offer alternative learning experience programs may not provide any compensation, reimbursement, gift, reward, or gratuity to any parents, guardians, or students for participation. School district employees are prohibited from receiving any compensation or payment as an incentive to increase student enrollment of out-of-district students in an alternative learning experience program. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, providing funds to parents, guardians, or students for the purchase of educational materials, supplies, experiences, services, or technological equipment. A district may purchase educational materials, equipment, or other nonconsumable supplies for students' use in alternative learning experience programs if the purchase is consistent with the district's approved curriculum, conforms to applicable laws and rules, and is made in the same manner as such purchases are made for students in the district's regular instructional program. Items so purchased remain the property of the school district upon program completion. School districts may not purchase or contract for instructional or co- curricular experiences and services that are included in an alternative learning experience written student learning plan, including but not limited to lessons, trips, and other activities, unless substantially similar experiences and services are available to students enrolled in the district's regular instructional program. School districts that purchase or contract for such experiences and services for students enrolled in an alternative learning experience program must submit an annual report to the office of the superintendent of public instruction detailing the costs and purposes of the expenditures. These requirements extend to contracted providers of alternative learning experience programs, and each district shall be responsible for monitoring the compliance of its providers with these requirements. However, nothing in this section shall prohibit school districts from contracting with online providers approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to chapter 28A.250 RCW.
     (((4))) (5) Part-time enrollment in alternative learning experiences is subject to the provisions of RCW 28A.150.350. Part-time students who are enrolled in alternative learning experiences are not exempt from participating in the statewide academic assessment system under RCW 28A.655.070 in the same manner as full-time students. Participation shall be based on a student's completion of the course material that is the subject of the assessment. Nonresident students in alternative learning experience programs may participate in statewide student assessments in the district of residence, subject to that district's planned testing schedule.
     (((5))) (6) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules defining minimum requirements and accountability for alternative learning experience programs.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.150.260 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 34 s 9 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 27 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The purpose of this section is to provide for the allocation of state funding that the legislature deems necessary to support school districts in offering the minimum instructional program of basic education under RCW 28A.150.220. The allocation shall be determined as follows:
     (1) The governor shall and the superintendent of public instruction may recommend to the legislature a formula for the distribution of a basic education instructional allocation for each common school district.
     (2) The distribution formula under this section shall be for allocation purposes only. Except as may be required under chapter 28A.155, 28A.165, 28A.180, or 28A.185 RCW, or federal laws and regulations, nothing in this section requires school districts to use basic education instructional funds to implement a particular instructional approach or service. Nothing in this section requires school districts to maintain a particular classroom teacher-to-student ratio or other staff-to-student ratio or to use allocated funds to pay for particular types or classifications of staff. Nothing in this section entitles an individual teacher to a particular teacher planning period.
     (3)(a) To the extent the technical details of the formula have been adopted by the legislature and except when specifically provided as a school district allocation, the distribution formula for the basic education instructional allocation shall be based on minimum staffing and nonstaff costs the legislature deems necessary to support instruction and operations in prototypical schools serving high, middle, and elementary school students as provided in this section. The use of prototypical schools for the distribution formula does not constitute legislative intent that schools should be operated or structured in a similar fashion as the prototypes. Prototypical schools illustrate the level of resources needed to operate a school of a particular size with particular types and grade levels of students using commonly understood terms and inputs, such as class size, hours of instruction, and various categories of school staff. It is the intent that the funding allocations to school districts be adjusted from the school prototypes based on the actual number of annual average full-time equivalent students in each grade level at each school in the district and not based on the grade-level configuration of the school to the extent that data is available. The allocations shall be further adjusted from the school prototypes with minimum allocations for small schools and to reflect other factors identified in the omnibus appropriations act.
     (b) The total aggregate statewide allocations calculated under subsections (4) through (12) of this section for full-time equivalent student enrollment in alternative learning experience programs as defined in RCW 28A.150.325 shall be reduced by fifteen percent for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, except that such reductions do not apply in the 2012-13 school year to student enrollment in contract-based learning programs or dropout recovery programs. The superintendent of public instruction shall determine how to implement this aggregate fifteen percent reduction among the different alternative learning experience programs. No program may receive less than a ten percent reduction and no program may receive greater than a twenty percent reduction. In determining how to implement the reductions among the alternative learning experience programs, the superintendent of public instruction must look to both how a program is currently operating as well as how it has operated in the past, to the extent that data is available, and must give consideration to the following criteria:
     (i) The category of program;
     (ii) The certificated instructional staffing ratio maintained by the program;
     (iii) The amount and type of direct personal student-to-teacher contact used by the program on a weekly basis;
     (iv) Whether the program uses any classroom-based instructional time to meet requirements in the written student learning plan for enrolled students; and
     (v) For online programs, whether the program is approved by the superintendent of public instruction under RCW 28A.250.020.
     (c) The superintendent of public instruction shall report to the legislature by December 31, 2011, regarding how the reductions in (b) of this subsection were implemented.
     (d) For the purposes of this section, prototypical schools are defined as follows:
     (i) A prototypical high school has six hundred average annual full-time equivalent students in grades nine through twelve;
     (ii) A prototypical middle school has four hundred thirty-two average annual full-time equivalent students in grades seven and eight; and
     (iii) A prototypical elementary school has four hundred average annual full-time equivalent students in grades kindergarten through six.
     (4)(a) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall be based on the number of full-time equivalent classroom teachers needed to provide instruction over the minimum required annual instructional hours under RCW 28A.150.220 and provide at least one teacher planning period per school day, and based on the following general education average class size of full-time equivalent students per teacher:

       General education
       average
       class size
Grades K-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.23
Grade 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.00
Grades 5-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.00
Grades 7-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.53
Grades 9-12 . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.74

     (b) During the 2011-2013 biennium and beginning with schools with the highest percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals in the prior school year, the general education average class size for grades K-3 shall be reduced until the average class size funded under this subsection (4) is no more than 17.0 full-time equivalent students per teacher beginning in the 2017-18 school year.
     (c) The minimum allocation for each prototypical middle and high school shall also provide for full-time equivalent classroom teachers based on the following number of full-time equivalent students per teacher in career and technical education:

       Career and technical
       education average
       class size
Approved career and technical education offered at
the middle school and high school level . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.57
Skill center programs meeting the standards established
by the office of the superintendent of public
instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.76

     (d) In addition, the omnibus appropriations act shall at a minimum specify:
     (i) A high-poverty average class size in schools where more than fifty percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals; and
     (ii) A specialty average class size for laboratory science, advanced placement, and international baccalaureate courses.
     (5) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall include allocations for the following types of staff in addition to classroom teachers:
     

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Section 2 of this act expires July 1, 2013.