H-1722              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2044

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Winsley, Peery, Schoon, G. Fisher, Day, Anderson, K. Wilson, Dorn, Brumsickle, Raiter, Dellwo, Miller, Rector, Pruitt, Van Luven, Todd, Spanel, Phillips and P. King

Read first time 2/17/89 and referred to Committees on Education/Appropriations (3/1/89).

AN ACT Relating to elementary school counseling; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that emotional and family crises can have a significant impact on a child's academic performance in school.  These crises are often exacerbated by societal problems such as poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, and crime, creating additional needs for school counseling services for children living in distressed communities.  The legislature intends to establish a pilot program of grants to elementary schools for school counselors and intervention specialists.  The grants are intended to provide funding for fifty to one hundred additional school counselors or intervention specialists during the 1989-91 fiscal period, targeted to those schools with the greatest needs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) There is established a grants program for elementary school counseling, to be administered by the superintendent of public instruction.  From moneys appropriated by the legislature for this purpose, the superintendent shall distribute grants to school districts solely to increase the total number of counselors and intervention specialists working in the districts' elementary schools.  School districts may use these grants to hire additional counseling staff or to contract with an educational service district or other public or community services agency for counseling services.

          (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall disseminate information on the availability of such grants to all school districts and shall select proposals from applicant districts for funding.  A school district may apply individually or may enter into a cooperative agreement with one or more additional districts and submit a joint application.  For each school year, the minimum grant award per district or cooperative of districts shall be twenty thousand dollars.

          (3) Applications from school districts shall identify the number of counselors or intervention specialists assigned to elementary schools in the district during the 1988-89 school year and the school or schools where the increased staff will be added.  The applications shall also include data on the population of the student attendance area to be served, as determined by the superintendent of public instruction, including but not limited to indicators of:

          (a) The number of students living in poverty;

          (b) Unemployment rates;

          (c) Juvenile justice referrals;

          (d) Homelessness rates; and

          (e) Social service caseloads.

!ixThe superintendent of public instruction shall establish a means of ranking proposals for funding based upon these indicators and the proposal's potential for impacting the greatest number of high-risk students.

          (4) For the purposes of this section, "counselor" and "intervention specialist" mean:

          (a)  An educational staff associate employed by a school district or educational service district who holds certification as a school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker under state board of education rules adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.04.120;

          (b)  A counselor, social worker, or qualified mental health specialist employed by the department of social and health services;

          (c)  A psychologist licensed under Chapter 18.83 RCW; or

          (d)  A children's mental health specialist as defined in RCW 71.34.020.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The superintendent of public instruction shall gather data and other documentation on the effectiveness of the pilot program of grants for elementary school counseling provided under this act during the 1989-90 and 1990-91 school years.  The superintendent shall submit a report evaluating the program's effectiveness to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate prior to January 1, 1992.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     The sum of four million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for grants to school districts under section 2 of this act.