FINAL BILL REPORT

                  ESSB 6559

                          C 126 L 00

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Notifying parents of school programs leading to college credit.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Senators Kohl‑Welles, Swecker, McAuliffe, Finkbeiner, Eide, Hochstatter, Bauer, Zarelli, Goings, Rasmussen, Oke, Winsley and Roach).

Senate Committee on Education

House Committee on Education

Background:  There are five programs currently offered in Washington schools in which a high school student may earn college credit: Advance Placement, College in the High School, International Baccalaureate, Tech-Prep, and Running Start.

Currently there is no statutory requirement that high schools notify parents of programs that lead to college credit.  There are joint rules adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Higher Education Coordinating Board which require school districts to annually provide information on the Running Start program to 10^th and 11^th grade students and their parents.

Summary:  Beginning with the 2000-01 school year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction must notify high schools and public schools that include ninth grade students of entities offering programs leading to college credit, if the superintendent has knowledge of such entities and if the cost of reporting these entities is minimal.  Beginning in the 2000-01 school year, high schools and public schools that include ninth grade students must annually deliver to parents information concerning the program entrance requirements and the availability of programs leading to college credit.  Programs leading to college credit include Running Start, Tech-Prep, skill centers, College in the High School, Advance Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 46 0

House7622(House amended)

Senate 47 0(Senate concurred)

Effective:June 8, 2000