ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2116

ByHouse Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Callan, Eslick, Frame, Klippert, Blake, Ramos, Lovick, Davis, Doglio, Leavitt, Senn, Pollet, and Santos)

AN ACT Relating to establishing a task force on improving institutional education programs and outcomes; creating new sections; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Two of the stated purposes of the every student succeeds act are to provide all children with a significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.

The legislature further recognizes that Article IX of the state Constitution provides that it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.

While the partnership of federal and state law is critical in ensuring that the civil and education rights of students are upheld, efforts in Washington to fully realize state and federal objectives, especially with respect to the delivery of education services in institutional facilities, remain unfinished.

The legislature, therefore, intends to establish a task force on improving institutional education programs and outcomes, with tasks and duties generally focused on educational programs in the juvenile justice system. In so doing, the legislature intends to examine issues that have not been significantly explored in recent years, build a shared understanding of past and present circumstances, and develop recommendations for improving the delivery of education services, and associated outcomes, for youth in institutional facilities.

(i) The president of the senate shall appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate, with two members serving on the committee with jurisdiction over education issues, and two members serving on the committee with jurisdiction over basic education funding.

(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives, with two members serving on the committee with jurisdiction over education issues, and two members serving on the committee with jurisdiction over basic education funding.

(iii) The governor shall appoint one member each from the state board of education and the department of children, youth, and families, and one member representing an organization that provides free legal advice to youth who are involved in, or at risk of being involved in, the juvenile justice system.

(iv) The superintendent of public instruction shall appoint three members: One member representing the superintendent of public instruction; one member who is a principal from a school district with at least twenty thousand enrolled students that provides education services to a juvenile rehabilitation facility; and one member who is a teacher with expertise in providing education services to residents of a juvenile rehabilitation facility.

(v) The task force must also include one member representing the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, selected by the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee.

(b) The task force shall choose its cochairs from among its legislative membership. One cochair must be from a minority caucus in one of the two chambers of the legislature. A member from the majority caucus of the house of representatives shall convene the initial meeting of the task force by May 1, 2020.

(2) The task force shall examine the following issues:

(a) Goals and strategies for improving the coordination and delivery of education services to youth involved with the juvenile justice system, especially youth in juvenile rehabilitation facilities, and children receiving education services, including home or hospital instruction, under RCW 28A.155.090;

(b) The transmission of student records, including individualized education programs and plans developed under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973, for students in institutional facilities, and recommendations for ensuring that those records are available to the applicable instructional staff within two business days of a student's admission to the institution;

(c) Goals and strategies for increasing the graduation rate of youth in institutional facilities, and in recognition of the transitory nature of youth moving through the juvenile justice system, issues related to grade level progression and academic credit reciprocity and consistency to ensure that:

(i) Core credits earned in an institutional facility are considered core credits by public schools that the students subsequently attend; and

(ii) Public school graduation requirements, as they applied to a student prior to entering an institutional facility, remain applicable for the student upon returning to a public school;

(d) Goals and strategies for assessing adverse childhood experiences of students in institutional education and providing trauma-informed care;

(e) An assessment of the level and adequacy of basic and special education funding for institutional facilities. The examination required by this subsection (2)(e) must include information about the number of students receiving special education services in institutional facilities, and a comparison of basic and special education funding in institutional facilities and public schools during the previous ten school years;

(f) An assessment of the delivery methods, and their adequacy, that are employed in the delivery of special education services in institutional facilities, including associated findings;

(g) School safety, with a focus on school safety issues that are applicable in institutional facilities; and

(h) Special skills and services of faculty and staff, including associated professional development and nonacademic supports necessary for addressing social emotional and behavioral health needs presenting as barriers to learning for youth in institutional facilities.

(3) The task force, in completing the duties prescribed by this section, shall solicit and consider information and perspectives provided by the department of corrections and persons and entities with relevant interest and expertise, including from persons with experience reintegrating youth from institutional facilities into school and the community at large, and from persons who provide education services in secure facilities housing persons under the age of twenty-five, examples of which include county jails, juvenile justice facilities, and community facilities as defined in RCW 72.05.020.

(4) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, with additional support provided by the department of children, youth, and families, and the department of corrections. The office of financial management, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the department of children, youth, and families, and the department of corrections shall cooperate with the task force and provide information as the cochairs may reasonably request.

(5) Legislative members of the task force are to be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, government entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

(6) In accordance with RCW 43.01.036, the task force shall report its initial findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 1, 2020. The initial findings and recommendations must address subsections (2)(b) through (f) of this section. The task force shall submit a final report to the same recipients by November 1, 2021, in time for the legislature to take action on legislation that is consistent with the findings and recommendations during the 2022 legislative session. The findings and recommendations submitted by November 1, 2021, may also include recommendations for extending the duration of the task force.

(7) This section expires June 30, 2022.

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