AN ACT Relating to student enrollment options; amending RCW 28A.58.230; adding new sections to Title 28A RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Differences in interests and learning styles of both students and teachers make it imperative that our public schools offer diverse curricula and instructional strategies. Secondary students need access to challenging programs or vocational instruction matched to their abilities and interests. Student success depends on parental involvement in education, and on students' commitment to participate in a learning community. Quality integrated and multicultural educational opportunities are necessary for all students. The programs created in this act are intended to provide increased enrollment options for students. While recognizing that greater flexibility in enrollment options will not, by itself, solve all the problems of our education system, the legislature finds that allowing and encouraging student choice among public education institutions is consistent with the deeply held American value of freedom to make the choices that shape our families' lives. In addition, since the primary source of funding for public education institutions is the state general fund, to which all taxpayers contribute, it follows that taxpayers should have access to all the educational program choices funded by their state tax dollars. Enrollment options are also a component of a broader effort to restructure education that has already demonstrated the benefits of encouraging local efforts to create distinctive and innovative schools. The learning by choice and running start programs further expand this state's efforts to put more power in the hands of parents, students, and local educators to enable Washington state to meet the challenge of preparing all students for productive lives in the twenty-first century.

PART I

LEARNING BY CHOICE PROGRAM

NEW SECTION. Sec. 101. LEARNING BY CHOICE PROGRAM. The learning by choice program is hereby created. Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, parents and guardians may choose to have their children attend a school within a nonresident public school district, subject only to sections 103 through 111 and 113 of this act and other interdistrict enrollment options provided by law. State funding for the student shall be paid to the school district the student actually attends. School districts may voluntarily choose to limit nonresident enrollment in any or all of their schools, but except as provided in section 107 of this act, no district may refuse students permission to leave the school district in which they reside in order to transfer to another school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 102. INFORMATION BOOKLET. The superintendent of public instruction shall annually prepare an information booklet outlining parents' and guardians' options for enrollment of their children in any school or appropriate special education program in a nonresident public school district within the state. Beginning in 1991, the booklet shall be distributed to all school districts by the office of the superintendent of public instruction. School districts shall distribute the information booklet to the parents and guardians of all students. The booklet shall include:

(1) Information about the learning by choice program;

(2) A state uniform transfer application form for transfer to a school or appropriate special education program in a nonresident school district;

(3) An outline of the procedure and deadlines for enrolling a student in a school or appropriate special education program within a nonresident school district;

(4) Information about the running start program;

(5) Information about other public school transfer policies; and

(6) The telephone number of an enrollment options information hotline which shall be available toll-free to residents of the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 103. INTERDISTRICT TRANSFER PROCEDURES. (1) Each school district board of directors shall annually determine the number of transfer slots available for nonresident students in each of its schools and special education programs, and shall make this information available to the public.

(2) All school districts accepting applications for admission shall randomly select students from the total number of applicants to fill the number of transfer slots identified by the school board for the school or special education program. Selection shall be by lottery only, with each application given a number and the numbers selected by random drawing. The random drawing shall establish the order of selection of all those who applied, so that if some of those who are initially selected do not enroll, alternates may be notified, in the order their numbers were drawn, that space has become available for them.

(3) If an application is rejected, the school district rejecting the application shall state the reason for rejection in the notification. A school district may reject a student application only because:

(a) It was not selected high enough in a random lottery selection process;

(b) There were no designated transfer slots for the school or appropriate special education program; or

(4) The school district shall notify parents or guardians of the acceptance or rejection of their children according to the timelines and procedures developed by the superintendent of public instruction.

(5) A resident school district may request an optional exit interview or questionnaire with the parents or guardians of a child transferring under the enrollment options program. No parent or guardian may be forced to attend such an interview or to complete the questionnaire.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 104. SUPERINTENDENT'S DUTIES. By December 15, 1990, the superintendent of public instruction shall establish a timeline and procedures for the learning by choice program that will allow the greatest possible opportunity for students to select nonresident schools, while assuring adequate time for schools to plan, assign or transfer staff, and prepare for student movement. The timeline and procedures shall be established to assure that a school district has adequate time to fulfill its duties under RCW 28A.67.070, 28A.58.450, and 28A.65.425. The timeline and procedures shall include, but not be limited to: Dates and procedures for application, acceptance or rejection by the school district and parent or guardian, and written notification of parents, guardians, and the resident school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 105. STUDENT TRANSPORTATION. (1) It is the obligation of the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a nonresident school district to transport his or her child to the nearest school bus stop of the nonresident school to which the child has transferred. The obligation to transport the child to the nearest bus stop of the nonresident school shall continue for the duration of the child's enrollment in the nonresident school district.

(2) Parents or guardians of students who are eligible to receive free and reduced priced breakfasts or lunches shall receive payment on a per-mile basis for the parent's or guardian's transportation of the student from the student's home to the nearest school bus stop of the nonresident school to which the student has transferred. Transportation payments from money provided by the state for this purpose, shall be administered by the school district in which the student is enrolled.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish rules for transportation payments to eligible parents or guardians for the cost of mileage as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 106. ELIGIBILITY FOR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. Eligibility of transfer students in the learning by choice program for participation in extracurricular activities shall be subject to rules adopted by the Washington interscholastic athletic association as authorized by the state board of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 107. DISTRICTS WITH DESEGREGATION PLANS. (1) The board of directors of any school district implementing a desegregation plan shall adopt a policy on interdistrict student transfers under sections 101 through 113 of this act. Under the policy, the district may not deny a student's application to transfer to another district if the transfer would lessen the difference between the minority percentages of the two districts.

(2) The parent or guardian of a student who is a resident of a district that has an adopted or court-ordered desegregation plan shall submit an application for transfer both to the resident district and the nonresident school district. If the resident district denies the application of its resident student for release from the district, the resident district shall notify the parent or guardian and nonresident district of its denial within fifteen days of receipt of the application. The decision of the resident district shall be final.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 108. Parents of students who are home schooled under the provisions of chapter 28A.27 RCW and who do not reside in a district with a desegregation plan may apply for admission of their child to a nonresident district in accordance with sections 101 through 111 and 113 of this act for part-time enrollment in a nonresident school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 109. SPECIAL EDUCATION. If a child requiring special education services under chapter 28A.13 RCW applies for admission to an appropriate special education program in a nonresident school district in which the student is not currently enrolled, the application shall be granted only if the receiving school district has a special education instructional program appropriate to meet the student's educational needs and the receiving district has identified that space is available in the specific special education program. Selection of students for each program shall be done in accordance with section 103 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 110. LEVY PROVISIONS. (1) School districts may establish annual transfer fees for nonresident students enrolled pursuant to the learning by choice program if the levy rate per thousand dollars adjusted assessed valuation for the serving district is higher than the levy rate for the district in which the student resides. These fees, if applied, shall be applied uniformly for all such nonresident students except as provided in this section. The fee amount charged for any school year by a school district may not exceed three hundred dollars, annually adjusted by the consumer price index, or an amount calculated as follows, whichever is less: (a) The district's levy per student to be collected in the first calendar year of that school year multiplied by (b) the difference between the two districts' levy rates, divided by the levy rate of the serving school district.

(2) School districts shall not charge fees under this section for students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-priced breakfasts or lunches. The state shall pay any annual transfer fees for these students.

(3) For purposes of this section:

(a) Assessed valuations shall be adjusted to one hundred percent using the county indicated ratio established in RCW 84.48.075;

(b) "Levy per student" means the district's certified general fund maintenance and operations levy for the full calendar year, divided by the district's full-time-equivalent October student enrollment count for the year prior to the school year for which the tuition is charged.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 111. CONTINUING ENROLLMENT. Once a student is enrolled in a nonresident school district, the student shall be treated as a resident student by the nonresident school district for all purposes, except as set forth in sections 105 and 110 of this act, and may continue to attend that school district without further transfer applications.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 112. INTRADISTRICT TRANSFER POLICIES. Each school district in the state shall adopt a policy allowing intradistrict enrollment options no later than June 30, 1991. Each district shall establish its own policy on how the intradistrict enrollment options will be implemented and shall distribute an information booklet on intradistrict enrollment options. The booklet shall be given to the parent or guardian of each newly enrolled student at the time of enrollment and shall be distributed annually to all parents or guardians at the same time as the distribution of the information booklet required in section 102 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 113. EFFECT ON EXISTING TRANSFER PROGRAMS. Nothing in sections 101 through 111 of this act affects or reduces transfers under RCW 28A.58.217, 28A.58.225 through 28A.58.245, and 28A.120.092.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 114. STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. (1) An interim task force is hereby created to study the need to:

(a) Provide programs that will foster the development of program diversity and cooperative programs between districts including, but not limited to, theme curriculum schools;

(b) Provide relief to districts that experience significant declines in enrollment through the use of enrollment decline factors;

(d) Provide relief to certificated and classified staff who may be displaced by fluctuations in enrollment. The use of preferential transfer rights should be considered; and

(e) Provide a transportation subsidy to low-income parents for districts that establish a policy allowing intradistrict transfers.

(2) Membership of the task force shall include two members of the house of representatives selected by the speaker of the house of representatives, two members of the state senate selected by the president of the senate, and one representative each from the office of the superintendent of public instruction selected by the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education selected by the state board of education, and the governor's office selected by the governor.

(3) Based on the study of the issues in subsection (1) of this section, the task force shall make specific recommendations to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate no later than December 15, 1990.

(4) The task force shall expire December 15, 1990.

Sec. 115. Section 28A.58.230, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 37, chapter 3, Laws of 1983 and RCW 28A.58.230 are each amended to read as follows:

Every school district shall admit on a tuition free basis all persons of school age who reside within this state, and do not reside within another school district carrying the grades for which they are eligible to enroll: PROVIDED, That nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting RCW 28A.58.240 ((or)), 28A.58.245, section 101, or 109 through 111 and 113 of this 1990 act.

PART II

RUNNING START PROGRAM

NEW SECTION. Sec. 201. RUNNING START PROGRAM. (1) The legislature hereby creates the running start program to allow high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to attend vocational technical institutes, community colleges, and public colleges and universities located in Washington state either on a full-time or part-time basis while concurrently enrolled in high school.

(2) The following criteria shall be used as design criteria in the implementation plan for this postsecondary options program:

(a) No student may be charged tuition or other fees for participation in the program. State basic education funds shall follow the student, in proportion to the number of course hours taken at the high school and other institution, to cover the costs of students' tuition, books, fees, and supplies at the vocational technical institute, community college, or public college or university.

(b) An adequate system for annually informing parents, guardians, and all high school students of opportunities available through the program shall be established.

(c) Student qualifications for enrolling in vocational technical institutes shall be established by the state board of education and for community colleges and public colleges and universities shall be established by the higher education coordinating board.

(d) The plan shall provide for initially serving up to five thousand students per year, and these students shall not be counted towards existing higher education institution enrollment limits.

(e) An evaluation system shall be developed to determine how the program is working for the institutions and the students, and how much change in the number of students participating in the running start program is recommended each school year.

(f) No district may refuse students the permission to leave the school or school district, part time or full time, in order to participate in the program.

(g) Credits earned by students at these institutions shall apply to both high school graduation requirements and to graduation requirements from the vocational technical institute, community college, or public college or university.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 202. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN‑-TASK FORCE‑-REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The governor shall appoint a task force including representatives of the higher education coordinating board, the institutions of higher education, vocational technical institutes, the state board for community college education, the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, and other educators. This task force shall design an implementation plan pursuant to section 201 of this act for the program and submit it to the state board of education, the higher education coordinating board, the legislature, and the governor by December 1, 1990. The legislature shall consider the task force implementation plan during the 1991 legislative session.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 203. BEGINNING ENROLLMENT. The program shall allow high school juniors and seniors to enroll in vocational technical institutes, community colleges, and public colleges and universities no later than the 1992-93 school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 204. RULES. The higher education coordinating board and the state board of education shall adopt rules to implement the program.

PART III

MISCELLANEOUS

NEW SECTION. Sec. 301. STUDY‑-REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a study of the learning by choice and running start programs that includes:

(a) The number of students participating in the learning by choice and running start programs, and the number of interdistrict enrollments that are accomplished by district agreements under RCW 28A.58.217, 28A.58.225 through 28A.58.240, 28A.58.245, and 28A.120.092;

(b) The reasons voluntarily given by parents or guardians for requesting transfers under the programs; and

(c) A representative sample survey of parents and guardians, students, teachers, principals, superintendents, and school board members on the effects of the programs.

(2) The report of the results of the initial study shall be submitted to the education committees of the house of representatives and senate and to the governor no later than December 15, 1993.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 302. Subheadings and section headings as used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 303. Sections 101 through 111, 113, 202, and 204 of this act are each added to Title 28A RCW.