ByHouse Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Kloba, Jinkins, Valdez, Ortiz-Self, Thai, Pollet, and Stanford; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction)

AN ACT Relating to expanded learning opportunity programs; adding a new section to chapter 28A.630 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the traditional school day and year may not be enough for all students to succeed in the twenty-first century. Research has shown that high quality expanded learning opportunities can help close opportunity gaps and complement what students are learning in the classroom.

(2) The legislature finds that expanded learning opportunities can occur inside or outside of the traditional school day and can enhance academic, experiential, and social-emotional learning. Expanded learning programs help schools move beyond the constraints of the regular day and embrace the opportunities the surrounding neighborhood can offer by capitalizing on local resources, assets, and perspectives.

(3) The legislature further finds that summer learning loss is a phenomenon where students lose academic skills during the summer break. Summer learning loss affects all students, regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, or race, but the impact to students experiencing poverty is greater because they typically do not have access to the same extracurricular learning opportunities as their more wealthy peers.

(4) Therefore, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the legislature intends to authorize demonstration projects specifically to combat summer learning loss through expanded learning opportunities. These projects will provide the opportunity to demonstrate how expanded learning opportunities can mitigate summer learning loss and improve academic learning and social-emotional growth. These projects will also provide opportunities for students to have experiences that are not regularly offered within the traditional K–12 settings.

(1) The expanded learning grant program is established to create demonstration projects of up to five years in duration in selected school districts and state-tribal education compact schools to combat summer learning loss and increase student achievement through additional instruction time and increased opportunities for enrichment.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop and administer the expanded learning grant program. In meeting its duties under this subsection (2), the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall solicit community suggestions and involvement. Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction may, through a competitive process, award grants from the program of up to one million five hundred dollars annually to each selected school district or state-tribal education compact school that proposes to implement one or more of the following:

(b) Supporting implementation of a balanced school year calendar that consists of a year-round school schedule with a summer break of six or seven weeks, and two or three week intersessions throughout the remainder of the year;

(c) Providing additional programming and supports during the traditional summer break as a strategy for offsetting summer learning loss;

(e) Creating a new model for teacher collaboration that utilizes additional educators or community-based organizations to provide expanded learning opportunities to students while enabling educators to engage in professional collaboration or planning time.

(3) An application from a school district or state-tribal education compact school for a grant under this section must, at a minimum, include the following:

(b) A description of how the demonstration project will focus on improving student achievement and closing the educational opportunity gap;

(d) A description of how the applicant will create a publicly available plan to report grant fund expenditures and disaggregate student outcomes;

(e) An indication of whether the proposed demonstration site will be a single school or include multiple schools within the district;

(f) An indication of whether the applicant will collaborate with community-based organizations to provide support for students and if so, a detailed description of the intended collaboration; and

(a) Identify criteria for evaluating grant applications and awarding grants. The criteria identified and employed under this subsection (4)(a) must align with recommendations of the expanded learning opportunities council in its December 1, 2018, report to the legislature, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, and the governor;

(c) Prioritize school districts or state-tribal education compact schools that include schools identified for improvement through the Washington school improvement framework; and

(d) Create a program evaluation plan that supports the development of an evidence base for the efficacy of the different types of expanded learning opportunities provided by school districts and state-tribal education compact schools receiving grants under this section. The evaluation plan must be available to the public and must include:

(5) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may use nonstate funds to support the program established by this section.

(a) Culturally responsive enrichment and learning activities, which may focus on: Academic and nonacademic areas; the arts; civic engagement; service-learning; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and competencies for college and career readiness;

(b) School-based programs that provide extended learning and enrichment for students beyond the traditional school day, week, or calendar; and

(c) Structured, intentional, and creative learning environments outside the traditional school day that are provided by community-based organizations in partnership with schools and align in-school and out-of-school learning through activities that complement classroom-based instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The sum of ten million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 2021, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

(2) A portion of the appropriation in subsection (1) of this section is provided solely for staff to support the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.