BILL REQ. #:  S-0604.1 

Read first time 01/21/13.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to long-term suspension and expulsion of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.600 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.600 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) When a student is suspended for more than ten days or expelled, the school from which the student is suspended or expelled must:
     (i) Create a plan to provide academic services to the student during his or her period of suspension or expulsion; and
     (ii) Create a plan for the student's reentry into the school.
     (b) Both plans must be provided to the student and his or her parent or legal guardian on the first day of the student's suspension or expulsion.
     (2) In order for the student to be eligible for reentry into his or her school, the student must show that steps were taken to address the cause of the suspension or expulsion.
     (3) The school from which the student was suspended or expelled must:
     (a) Determine whether the steps taken by the student are satisfactory for the student's reentry into school; and
     (b) Meet with the student and his or her parent or legal guardian to discuss the best placement for the student in his or her present school, a specific program, or an alternative school. The school must attempt to meet with the student and his or her parent or legal guardian in person and the attempts must be documented. However, if more than one attempt to meet in person has failed, then meeting by phone or e-mail is acceptable.
     (4) Upon reentry into a school, the school the student is attending must:
     (a) Provide the student with support, mentoring, and monitoring, in the form of contact, with an adult designated by the school. The designee must meet with the student at a minimum one time per week, for at least one month upon the student's reentry; and
     (b) Provide the student with an agreement regarding the school's expectations for the student's behavior. The agreement must be signed by the student, the student's parent or legal guardian, and a school designee.
     (5) In addition to the adult designee providing support and monitoring to the reentering student, a peer mentor may also be used for support and monitoring of the reentering student.
     (6) The school may support and monitor the student in additional ways, as it deems appropriate.