BILL REQ. #:  S-1974.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/01/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to assisting persistently lowest-achieving schools to become more accountable; amending RCW 28A.657.050, 28A.657.050, 28A.657.060, 28A.657.090, and 28A.657.100; adding new sections to chapter 28A.657 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that in 2010 an accountability system was created for the Washington public schools, which was to be implemented in two phases. The first phase used federal guidelines to designate the persistently lowest-achieving schools that were eligible for federal Title I funds to apply for a federal school improvement grant to implement federal intervention strategies to improve student performance. The system was initially voluntary but a required action process was to begin in 2011. The legislature further finds that under the required action process four of the persistently lowest-achieving schools that were on a downward trend were offered the opportunity to use the federal school improvement grants to take required actions. The legislature further finds that the Renton and Onalaska school districts show promising improvement that other districts can build upon. The legislature intends to implement phase two of the accountability process beginning in the 2013-14 school year to assist the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools. Additionally, the legislature intends to create a second level in the required action process that authorizes the office of the superintendent of public instruction to take certain actions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By June 1, 2013, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must identify the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools using the student results on the statewide reading and mathematics assessments.
     (2) A school district with at least one school identified as one of the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools shall be designated as a required action district.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall provide each required action school district superintendent with written notice by certified mail or personal service of the identification of the school within the district as one of the most persistently lowest-achieving schools causing the district to be designated a required action district.
     (4) A district designated as a required action district must notify all parents of students attending a school identified as one of the most persistently lowest-achieving schools in the district, the designation of the district as a required action district, and the process for complying with the required action process in RCW 28A.657.040 through 28A.657.100.
     (5) Each required action district designated under this section must follow the process and comply with the requirements in RCW 28A.657.040 through 28A.657.100.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.657.050 and 2012 c 53 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The local district superintendent and local school board of a school district designated as a required action district must submit a required action plan to the state board of education for approval. Unless otherwise required by subsection (3) of this section, the plan must be submitted under a schedule as required by the state board. A required action plan must be developed in collaboration with administrators, teachers, and other staff, parents, unions representing any employees within the district, students, and other representatives of the local community. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a district with assistance in developing its plan if requested. The school board must conduct a public hearing to allow for comment on a proposed required action plan. The local school district shall submit the plan first to the office of the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines. After the office of the superintendent of public instruction has approved that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines, the local school district must submit its required action plan to the state board of education for approval, unless the district is designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act.
     (2) A required action plan must include all of the following:
     (a) Implementation of one of the four federal intervention models required for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant, for those persistently lowest-achieving schools that the district will be focusing on for required action, or for a district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act, one of the four federal intervention models or the collaborative schools for innovation and success model in accordance with chapter 28A.630 RCW. However, a district may not establish a charter school under a federal intervention model without express legislative authority, unless the district is designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act. If a required action district chooses to establish a charter school as the intervention model, then the charter school that is established counts towards the maximum number of charter schools that may be established in accordance with RCW 28A.710.150. The intervention models are the turnaround, restart, school closure, and transformation models, or for a district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act, the intervention models are the four federal intervention models or the collaborative schools for innovation and success model in accordance with chapter 28A.630 RCW. The intervention model selected must address the concerns raised in the academic performance audit and be intended to improve student performance to allow a school district to be removed from the list of districts designated as a required action district by the state board of education within three years of implementation of the plan;
     (b) Submission of an application for a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the superintendent of public instruction, except that a district designated as a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act shall receive the state funds appropriated for this purpose;
     (c) A budget that provides for adequate resources to implement the federal model selected and any other requirements of the plan;
     (d) A description of the changes in the district's or school's existing policies, structures, agreements, processes, and practices that are intended to attain significant achievement gains for all students enrolled in the school and how the district intends to address the findings of the academic performance audit; and
     (e) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at a school identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school, which include improving mathematics and reading student achievement and graduation rates as defined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction that enable the school to no longer be identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.
     (3)(a) For any district designated for required action, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 10, 2010, and for a school district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act after the effective date of this section, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan. For any district applying to participate in a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project under RCW 28A.630.104, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 7, 2012, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement an innovation and success plan.
     (b) If the school district and the employee organizations are unable to agree on the terms of an addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, the parties, including all labor organizations affected under the required action plan, shall request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint an employee of the commission to act as a mediator to assist in the resolution of a dispute between the school district and the employee organizations. Beginning in 2011, and each year thereafter, mediation shall commence no later than April 15th. All mediations held under this section shall include the employer and representatives of all affected bargaining units.
     (c) If the executive director of the public employment relations commission, upon the recommendation of the assigned mediator, finds that the employer and any affected bargaining unit are unable to reach agreement following a reasonable period of negotiations and mediation, but by no later than May 15th of the year in which mediation occurred, the executive director shall certify any disputed issues for a decision by the superior court in the county where the school district is located. The issues for determination by the superior court must be limited to the issues certified by the executive director.
     (d) The process for filing with the court in this subsection (3)(d) must be used in the case where the executive director certifies issues for a decision by the superior court.
     (i) The school district shall file a petition with the superior court, by no later than May 20th of the same year in which the issues were certified, setting forth the following:
     (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the school district and its principal representative;
     (B) The name, address, and telephone number of the employee organizations and their principal representatives;
     (C) A description of the bargaining units involved;
     (D) A copy of the unresolved issues certified by the executive director for a final and binding decision by the court; and
     (E) The academic performance audit that the office of the superintendent of public instruction completed for the school district in the case of a required action district, or the comprehensive needs assessment in the case of a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project.
     (ii) Within seven days after the filing of the petition, each party shall file with the court the proposal it is asking the court to order be implemented in a required action plan or innovation and success plan for the district for each issue certified by the executive director. Contemporaneously with the filing of the proposal, a party must file a brief with the court setting forth the reasons why the court should order implementation of its proposal in the final plan.
     (iii) Following receipt of the proposals and briefs of the parties, the court must schedule a date and time for a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be limited to argument of the parties or their counsel regarding the proposals submitted for the court's consideration. The parties may waive a hearing by written agreement.
     (iv) The court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in a required action plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school district's academic performance audit, and allows for the award of a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal or state funds for school improvement to the district from the office of the superintendent of public instruction to implement one of the ((four federal)) intervention models. In the case of an innovation and success plan, the court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in the plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school's comprehensive needs assessment. The court's decision must be issued no later than June 15th of the year in which the petition is filed and is final and binding on the parties; however the court's decision is subject to appeal only in the case where it does not allow the school district to implement a required action plan consistent with the requirements for the award of a federal school improvement grant or other federal or state funds for school improvement by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (e) Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees incurred under this statute.
     (f) Any party that proceeds with the process in this section after knowledge that any provision of this section has not been complied with and who fails to state its objection in writing is deemed to have waived its right to object.
     (4) All contracts entered into between a school district and an employee must be consistent with this section and allow school districts designated as required action districts to implement one of the ((four federal)) intervention models in a required action plan.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.657.050 and 2010 c 235 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The local district superintendent and local school board of a school district designated as a required action district must submit a required action plan to the state board of education for approval. Unless otherwise required by subsection (3) of this section, the plan must be submitted under a schedule as required by the state board. A required action plan must be developed in collaboration with administrators, teachers, and other staff, parents, unions representing any employees within the district, students, and other representatives of the local community. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a district with assistance in developing its plan if requested. The school board must conduct a public hearing to allow for comment on a proposed required action plan. The local school district shall submit the plan first to the office of the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines. After the office of the superintendent of public instruction has approved that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines, the local school district must submit its required action plan to the state board of education for approval.
     (2) A required action plan must include all of the following:
     (a) Implementation of one of the four federal intervention models required for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant, for those persistently lowest-achieving schools that the district will be focusing on for required action, or for a district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act, one of the four federal intervention models or the collaborative schools for innovation and success model in accordance with chapter 28A.630 RCW. However, a district may not establish a charter school under a federal intervention model without express legislative authority, unless the district is designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act. If a required action district chooses to establish a charter school as the intervention model, then the charter school that is established counts towards the maximum number of charter schools that may be established in accordance with RCW 28A.710.150. The intervention models are the turnaround, restart, school closure, and transformation models, or for a district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act, the intervention models are the four federal intervention models or the collaborative schools for innovation and success model in accordance with chapter 28A.630 RCW. The intervention model selected must address the concerns raised in the academic performance audit and be intended to improve student performance to allow a school district to be removed from the list of districts designated as a required action district by the state board of education within three years of implementation of the plan;
     (b) Submission of an application for a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the superintendent of public instruction, except that a district designated as a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act shall receive the state funds appropriated for this purpose;
     (c) A budget that provides for adequate resources to implement the federal model selected and any other requirements of the plan;
     (d) A description of the changes in the district's or school's existing policies, structures, agreements, processes, and practices that are intended to attain significant achievement gains for all students enrolled in the school and how the district intends to address the findings of the academic performance audit; and
     (e) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at a school identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school, which include improving mathematics and reading student achievement and graduation rates as defined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction that enable the school to no longer be identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.
     (3)(a) For any district designated for required action, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 10, 2010, and for a school district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act after the effective date of this section, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan.
     (b) If the school district and the employee organizations are unable to agree on the terms of an addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, the parties, including all labor organizations affected under the required action plan, shall request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint an employee of the commission to act as a mediator to assist in the resolution of a dispute between the school district and the employee organizations. Beginning in 2011, and each year thereafter, mediation shall commence no later than April 15th. All mediations held under this section shall include the employer and representatives of all affected bargaining units.
     (c) If the executive director of the public employment relations commission, upon the recommendation of the assigned mediator, finds that the employer and any affected bargaining unit are unable to reach agreement following a reasonable period of negotiations and mediation, but by no later than May 15th of the year in which mediation occurred, the executive director shall certify any disputed issues for a decision by the superior court in the county where the school district is located. The issues for determination by the superior court must be limited to the issues certified by the executive director.
     (d) The process for filing with the court in this subsection (3)(d) must be used in the case where the executive director certifies issues for a decision by the superior court.
     (i) The school district shall file a petition with the superior court, by no later than May 20th of the same year in which the issues were certified, setting forth the following:
     (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the school district and its principal representative;
     (B) The name, address, and telephone number of the employee organizations and their principal representatives;
     (C) A description of the bargaining units involved;
     (D) A copy of the unresolved issues certified by the executive director for a final and binding decision by the court; and
     (E) The academic performance audit that the office of the superintendent of public instruction completed for the school district.
     (ii) Within seven days after the filing of the petition, each party shall file with the court the proposal it is asking the court to order be implemented in a required action plan for the district for each issue certified by the executive director. Contemporaneously with the filing of the proposal, a party must file a brief with the court setting forth the reasons why the court should order implementation of its proposal in the final plan.
     (iii) Following receipt of the proposals and briefs of the parties, the court must schedule a date and time for a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be limited to argument of the parties or their counsel regarding the proposals submitted for the court's consideration. The parties may waive a hearing by written agreement.
     (iv) The court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in a required action plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school district's academic performance audit, and allows for the award of a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal or state funds for school improvement to the district from the office of the superintendent of public instruction to implement one of the ((four federal)) intervention models. The court's decision must be issued no later than June 15th of the year in which the petition is filed and is final and binding on the parties; however the court's decision is subject to appeal only in the case where it does not allow the school district to implement a required action plan consistent with the requirements for the award of a federal school improvement grant or other federal or state funds for school improvement by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (e) Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees incurred under this statute.
     (f) Any party that proceeds with the process in this section after knowledge that any provision of this section has not been complied with and who fails to state its objection in writing is deemed to have waived its right to object.
     (4) All contracts entered into between a school district and an employee must be consistent with this section and allow school districts designated as required action districts to implement one of the ((four federal)) intervention models in a required action plan.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.657.060 and 2010 c 235 s 106 are each amended to read as follows:
     A required action plan developed by a district's school board and superintendent must be submitted to the state board of education for approval. The state board must accept for inclusion in any required action plan the final decision by the superior court on any issue certified by the executive director of the public employment relations commission under the process in RCW 28A.657.050. The state board of education shall approve a plan proposed by a school district only if the plan meets the requirements in RCW 28A.657.050 and provides sufficient remedies to address the findings in the academic performance audit to improve student achievement. Any addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, negotiated under RCW 28A.657.050 or by agreement of the district and the exclusive bargaining unit, related to student achievement or school improvement shall not go into effect until approval of a required action plan by the state board of education. If the state board does not approve a proposed plan, it must notify the local school board and local district's superintendent in writing with an explicit rationale for why the plan was not approved. Nonapproval by the state board of education of the local school district's initial required action plan submitted is not intended to trigger any actions under RCW 28A.657.080. With the assistance of the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the superintendent and school board of the required action district shall either: (((a) [(1)])) (1) Submit a new plan to the state board of education for approval within forty days of notification that its plan was rejected, or (((b) [(2)])) (2) submit a request to the required action plan review panel established under RCW 28A.657.070 for reconsideration of the state board's rejection within ten days of the notification that the plan was rejected. If federal or state funds are not available, the plan is not required to be implemented until such funding becomes available. If federal or state funds for this purpose are available, a required action plan must be implemented in the immediate school year following the district's designation as a required action district.

Sec. 6   RCW 28A.657.090 and 2010 c 235 s 109 are each amended to read as follows:
     A school district must implement a required action plan upon approval by the state board of education. The office of (([the])) the superintendent of public instruction must provide the required action district with technical assistance and federal school improvement grant funds or other federal funds for school improvement, if available, or state funds, to implement an approved plan. The district must submit a report to the superintendent of public instruction that provides the progress the district is making in meeting the student achievement goals based on the state's assessments, identifying strategies and assets used to solve audit findings, and establishing evidence of meeting plan implementation benchmarks as set forth in the required action plan.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.657.100 and 2010 c 235 s 110 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction must provide a report twice per year to the state board of education regarding the progress made by all school districts designated as required action districts.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction must recommend to the state board of education that a school district be released from the designation as a required action district after the district implements a required action plan for a period of three years; has made progress, as defined by the superintendent of public instruction, in reading and mathematics on the state's assessment over the past three consecutive years; and no longer has a school within the district identified as persistently lowest-achieving. The state board shall release a school district from the designation as a required action district upon confirmation that the district has met the requirements for a release.
     (3)(a) If the state board of education determines that the required action district has not met the requirements for release, the district ((remains in required action and must submit a new or revised plan under the process in RCW 28A.657.050)) enters level two of the required action process. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall review the actions taken in accordance with the required action process and create a new three-year plan with input from the school district board of directors to be implemented by the office of the superintendent of public instruction using a management structure chosen by the superintendent of public instruction. The superintendent of public instruction may choose to implement one of the federal intervention models as provided in RCW 28A.657.050 or the collaborative schools for innovation and success model in accordance with chapter 28A.630 RCW. If the superintendent chooses to establish a charter school as the intervention model, then the charter school that is established counts towards the maximum number of charter schools that may be established in accordance with RCW 28A.710.150.
     (b) The three-year plan for level two of the required action process must contain a performance framework that sets out the indicators, measures, and metrics for improvement of student learning including: Student academic proficiency, student academic growth, achievement gap among subgroups, attendance, recurrent enrollment graduation rates, postsecondary readiness, financial performance, and sustainability.
     (c) A required action district that is designated to enter level two of the required action process must notify all parents of students attending a school identified as one of the most persistently lowest-achieving schools in the district of the designation of the district as a level two required action district, and the process for complying with the requirements in this subsection (3).
     (d) The superintendent of public instruction must provide a report twice per year to the state board of education regarding the progress made by all school districts designated for level two of the required action process. The biannual report must include data on student learning indicators identified in the required action district level two plan; outline implementation success, challenges, and risks; and include a sustainability plan. The state board of education may provide input and recommended actions if it deems the three-year plan is not making sufficient improvement.
     (4) If at the end of the three-year plan instituted in accordance with subsection (3) of this section the state board of education determines that the required action district has not made sufficient improvement as determined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the school must be closed and the students assigned to another school, unless there is no viable option to accommodate the students due to lack of capacity or inability to provide equitable access to educational programs and services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Certificated and classified employees assigned to a school that is scheduled to enter level two of the required action process may apply to the original school district for a transfer of assignment within the original district, which request must be considered according to the policies and procedures of the district regarding transfers of assignment.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall exercise the powers of a school district board of directors under RCW 28A.400.300 with regard to employment of certificated and classified employees assigned at the schools entering level two of the required action process.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction may delegate the responsibility to hire, assign, evaluate, and dismiss employees assigned at the schools entering level two of the required action process.
     (4) For any district designated for level two of the required action process, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after the effective date of this section must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Section 3 of this act expires June 30, 2019.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Section 4 of this act takes effect June 30, 2019.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   Section 2 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.