BySenate Early Learning & K-12 Education (originally sponsored by Senators Shewmake, Torres, and Dozier)

AN ACT Relating to small districts with less than 2,750 students and significant participation in skill centers; and amending RCW 28A.245.020.

(1) ((Beginning in the 2007-08 school year and thereafter, students))Students attending skill centers shall be funded for all classes at the skill center and the sending districts, up to ((one and six-tenths))1.6 full-time equivalents or as determined in the omnibus operating appropriations act. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop procedures to implement this subsection, including:

(a) Procedures to ensure that the ((school))sending district and the skill center report no student for more than ((one and six-tenths))1.6 full-time equivalent students combining both their high school enrollment and skill center enrollment((. Additionally, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop procedures));

(b) Procedures for determining the appropriate share of the full-time equivalent enrollment count between the ((resident high school))sending district and skill center;

(c)(i) Procedures for funding students for 0.8 full-time equivalent at the sending district, regardless of a student's actual enrolled weekly minutes at the sending district, if all the criteria in this subsection (1)(c)(i) are met:

(A) The total headcount enrollment of the sending district is fewer than 2,750 students;

(B) At least 10 percent of the sending district's combined 11th and 12th grade student headcount is enrolled at the skill center;

(C) The student is enrolled for at least 0.5 full-time equivalents at the sending district prior to any enhancement under this subsection;

(D) The student is enrolled for at least 0.5 full-time equivalents at the skill center; and

(E) The sending district is a member of the administrative council governing the skill center.

(ii) Nothing in this subsection (1)(c) permits a student to be reported for more than 1.6 full-time equivalents when combining high school and skill center enrollment.

(2)(a) A rural satellite skill center must report direct enrollment and receive direct funding if it meets the following criteria:

(i) The center is located at least ((thirty))30 miles from a core campus or other satellite program and enrolls students from a minimum of two school districts;

(ii) The center is solely responsible for hiring staff and covering all staffing costs;

(iii) The center is solely responsible for providing facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and training;

(iv) The center has demonstrated the ability to build successful community and local business partnerships;

(v) The center has been operational and has secured agreements for at least one year with two or more rural districts in the area to accept and enroll students in the center, has completed the required feasibility study, and has secured commitments from local businesses or industries;

(vi) The career and technical education advisory committee and the local school district board of directors recommend and support the direct funding; and

(vii) The center shares liability of all reviews for the purposes of auditing and the consolidated program review including state and federal monitoring of the career and technical education programs.

(b) A core campus skill center may receive, for administrative purposes, up to seven percent of the funding provided to a partnered rural satellite skill center under (a) of this subsection.

(c) A core campus skill center may charge the annually required per-pupil facility fee consistent with RCW 28A.245.100 related to minor repair and maintenance capital accounts as negotiated in the interdistrict cooperative agreement.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "rural," consistent with the definition in the small, rural school achievement program and the rural education achievement program eligibility criteria, means:

(a) A local education agency that serves only schools that have a national center for education statistics school locale code of ((forty-one, forty-two, or forty-three))41, 42, or 43; or

(b) A local education agency that is located entirely within counties with a population density less than ((one hundred))100 persons per square mile or counties smaller than ((two hundred twenty-five))225 square miles as determined and published by the office of financial management each year for the period of July 1st to June 30th.