CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SENATE BILL 5883
68TH LEGISLATURE
2024 REGULAR SESSION
Passed by the Senate January 31, 2024
  Yeas 48  Nays 0
President of the Senate
Passed by the House February 27, 2024
  Yeas 94  Nays 1
Speaker of the House of Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SENATE BILL 5883 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.
Secretary
Secretary
Approved
FILED
Secretary of State
State of Washington
SENATE BILL 5883
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
BySenators Trudeau, Braun, Dhingra, Frame, Hasegawa, Kauffman, Nobles, Saldaña, Valdez, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 12/19/23.Read first time 01/08/24.Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
AN ACT Relating to the burden of proof for special education due process hearings; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the school district has the burden of proof, including the burden of persuasion and production, whenever it is a party to a due process hearing regarding the identification, evaluation, reevaluation, classification, educational placement, disciplinary action, or provision of a free appropriate public education for a student with a disability.
(2) A parent or person in parental relation seeking tuition reimbursement for a unilateral parental placement has the burden of proof, including the burden of persuasion and production, on the appropriateness of such placement.
(3) The burden of proof in this section must be met by a preponderance of the evidence.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "due process hearing" means a due process hearing held in accordance with the federal individuals with disabilities education act, Title 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.
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