AN ACT Relating to the voluntary elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority group isolation in public elementary and secondary schools; creating new sections; making an appropriation; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that magnet schools promote the voluntary elimination of minority group segregation and discrimination among students. It is the intent of the legislature to provide eligible school districts an opportunity to apply for grants for costs involved in starting magnet school programs which are separate from and in addition to the state funds allocated for the state's basic program of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It is the purpose of sections 1 through 9 of this act:

(1) To provide financial assistance for start-up costs to eligible local school districts to enable local school districts to begin to establish and operate magnet schools;

(2) To meet the special needs incident to the elimination of minority group segregation and discrimination among students and faculty in elementary and secondary schools through the use of magnet schools;

(3) To encourage through magnet schools the voluntary elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial proportions of minority group students; and

(4) To encourage the development of courses of instruction within magnet schools that will substantially strengthen the knowledge of academic subjects and the grasp of tangible and marketable vocational skills of students attending such schools.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A local school district is eligible to receive assistance under sections 1 through 9 of this act if the district:

(1) Is implementing a plan undertaken according to a final order issued by a court of the United States or a court of the state of Washington that requires the desegregation of minority group segregated children or faculty in the elementary and secondary schools of such district; or

(2) Without having been required to do so, has developed and is implementing or will, if assistance is made available to it under sections 1 through 9 of this act, adopt and implement a plan that reduces, eliminates, or prevents minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial proportions of minority group students; and

(3) Has a minority student population in excess of twenty-five percent.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The superintendent of public instruction shall, under sections 1 through 9 of this act, make allocation grants to eligible local school districts for start-up costs for magnet schools that are part of a desegregation plan and are designed to bring students from different social, economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds together.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. For the purpose of sections 1 through 9 of this act:

(1) "Magnet school" means a school or education center that offers a special curriculum or special programs capable of attracting substantial numbers of students of different racial backgrounds.

(2) "Minority group isolation" means the situation where the minority racial distribution of a school varies more than twenty percent from the district average, provided that no single minority racial group exceeds fifty percent of the school's student enrollment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Magnet school funds under sections 1 through 9 of this act may be used by eligible local school districts for start-up costs for developing magnet school programs and for conducting magnet school programs during their first year of operation as follows:

(1) Planning and promotional activities directly related to academic programs and services;

(2) The acquisition of books, materials, and equipment, including computers and their maintenance and operation, necessary for the conduct of programs;

(3) The payment or subsidy of the compensation of elementary and secondary instructional staff who are certified or licensed by the state;

(4) Transportation costs associated with transporting students to the program; and

(5) Costs associated with encouraging parental involvement in the schools including additional staff time for evening meetings, transportation costs, educational and parent training programs, and promotional activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) Each eligible local educational agency which desires to receive assistance under sections 1 through 9 of this act shall submit a magnet schools application to the superintendent of public instruction. Each application shall be in the form that the superintendent of public instruction may reasonably require. Each application shall contain assurances that the local school district will meet the conditions enumerated in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) As part of the application required by subsection (1) of this section, each eligible local school district shall certify that the district agrees:

(a) To use funds made available under sections 1 through 9 of this act for the purposes specified in section 6 of this act;

(b) To employ instructional staff in the courses of instruction assisted under sections 1 through 9 of this act who are certified or licensed by the state to teach the subject matter of the courses of instruction;

(c) To provide assurances that the local school district will not engage in discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or handicap in the hiring, promotion, or assignment of employees of the district or other personnel for whom the district has any administrative responsibility;

(d) To provide assurances that the local school district will not engage in discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or handicap in the assignment of students to schools or to courses of instruction within schools of such district except to carry out its desegregation plan;

(e) To provide assurances that the local school district will not engage in discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or handicap in designing or operating extracurricular activities for students;

(f) To describe how assistance made available under sections 1 through 9 of this act will be used to promote desegregation;

(g) To provide assurances that the district will carry out a high quality education program that will encourage greater parental decision-making and involvement; and

(h) To provide other assurances as the superintendent of public instruction determines are necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 1 through 9 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) In approving applications under sections 1 through 9 of this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall give priority to:

(a) The number of minority children enrolled in the district and the proportion of minority group children involved in any desegregation plan;

(b) The need for assistance based on the expense or difficulty of effectively carrying out a desegregation plan and starting the program or projects for which assistance is sought; and

(c) The degree to which starting the program or project for which assistance is sought will help achieve the purposes of sections 1 through 9 of this act.

(2) In approving applications under sections 1 through 9 of this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall give special consideration to the degree to which the program for which assistance is sought involves the collaborative efforts of institutions of higher education, community-based organizations, the superintendent, or any other private organizations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) Magnet schools assistance act funds shall be distributed to school districts based on the number of full-time equivalent students on October 1, 1989.

(2) No local school district may spend more than ten percent of its allocation for planning.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The sum of seven 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 the purposes of sections 1 through 9 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. This act shall expire June 30, 1991.