Brief Summary of Bill

Prohibits schools and districts from taking any action that may stigmatize or likely stigmatize a student based on attendance, academic performance, or behavior that is unsatisfactory.
Directs review of policies and practices designed to improve school climate and create a safe, respectful learning environment.
Establishes a work group to make recommendations on school climate and safe, respectful learning environment training requirements for educators.

Background: School Culture and a Safe, Positive Learning Environment. The evaluation system for school principals and classroom teachers includes minimum evaluation criteria. For school principals, one of the criteria is creating a school culture that promotes the ongoing improvement of learning and teaching for students and staff. For classroom teachers, one of the criteria is fostering and managing a safe, positive learning environment. For paraeducators, one of the standards of practice must be supporting a positive and safe learning environment.

Review of Disciplinary Standards. Within each school the school principal must determine that appropriate student discipline is established and enforced. In order to assist the principal in carrying out the intent of this section, the principal and the certificated employees in a school building must confer at least annually in order to develop and/or review building disciplinary standards and uniform enforcement of those standards.

Center for the Improvement of Student Learning (CISL). Located within the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), CISL facilitates access to information and materials on educational improvement and research. CISL must work in conjunction with parents, educational service districts, institutions of higher education, and education, parent, community, and business organizations to address the academic and non-academic needs of all students.

Social Emotional Learning Work Group. The 2015-17 Operating Budget directed OSPI to convene a work group to recommend comprehensive benchmarks for developmentally appropriate interpersonal and decision-making knowledge and skills of social and emotional learning for grades kindergarten through high school. The 2017-19 Operating Budget directed OSPI to continue this work group to identify and articulate developmental indicators for each grade level for each of the social emotional learning benchmarks, solicit feedback from stakeholders, and develop a model of best practices or guidance for schools. The work group recommendations are due by June 30, 2019.

Summary of Bill: Stigmatization Prohibition. No school or district may stigmatize, or take any action that would likely stigmatize, a student based on attendance, academic performance, or behavior that is unsatisfactory.

Review of School Climate Policies. School principals, classroom teachers, and paraeducators must confer annually to develop or review policies and practices designed to improve school climate and create a safe, respectful learning environment. These policies and procedures must be consistent with the prohibition against stigmatization.

School Climate Work Group. CISL must convene a work group to make recommendations on school climate and safe, respectful learning environment training requirements for educators. These recommendations must emphasize that stigmatization is counterproductive to the state's goal of improving school climate and creating a safe, respectful learning environment. The work group must include representatives from certain agencies and organizations.

By November 1, 2018, the work group must report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature on the following:

the components of school climate and safe, respectful learning environment training that are common to all types of educators at all levels of experience;
best practices for making principals and administrators accountable for improving school climate and creating a safe, respectful learning environment; and
options for incorporating common components into: (1) various educator preparation programs; (2) initial and renewal educator certification and paraeducator certificate requirements; (3) evaluations and training on the components of evaluation criteria; and (4) other trainings or professional development.

In developing its recommendations, the work group must consider:

teacher and principal evaluation training materials;
recommendations from the Social Emotional Learning Work Group; and
the variety of school climates and cultures across the state and the variety of methods by which educators receive new information, with the goal of developing recommendations that will work for most, if not all, schools.