READ FIRST TIME 03/12/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to dropout prevention, intervention, and retrieval; adding new sections to chapter 28A.175 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature that increasing academic success and increasing graduation rates be dual goals for the K-12 system. The legislature finds that only seventy-four percent of the class of 2005 graduated on time. Students of color, students living in poverty, students in foster care, students in the juvenile justice system, students who are homeless, students for whom English is not their primary language, and students with disabilities have lower graduation rates than the average. The legislature further finds that students who drop out experience more frequent occurrences of early pregnancy, delinquency, substance abuse, and mental health issues, and have greater need of publicly funded health and social services. The legislature further finds that helping all students be successful in school requires active participation in coordinating services from schools, parents, and other stakeholders and agencies in the local community. The legislature finds that existing resources to vulnerable youth are used more efficiently and effectively when there is significant coordination across local and state entities. The legislature further finds that efficiency and accountability of the K-12 system would be improved by creating a dropout prevention and intervention grant program that implements research-based and emerging best practices and evaluates results.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall create a grant program and award grants to local partnerships of schools, families, and communities to begin the phase in of a statewide comprehensive dropout prevention, intervention, and retrieval system. This program shall be known as the building bridges program.
     (1) For purposes of sections 2 through 7 of this act, a "building bridges program" means a local partnership of schools, families, and communities that provides all of the following programs or activities:
     (a) A system that identifies individual students at risk of dropping out from middle through high school based on local predictive data, including state assessment data starting in the fourth grade, and provides timely interventions for such students and for dropouts, including a plan for educational success as already required by the student learning plan as defined under RCW 28A.655.061. Students identified shall include foster care youth, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and students receiving special education services under chapter 28A.155 RCW;
     (b) Coaches or mentors for students as necessary;
     (c) Staff responsible for coordination of community partners that provide a seamless continuum of academic and nonacademic support in schools and communities;
     (d) Retrieval or reentry activities; and
     (e) Alternative educational programming, including, but not limited to, career and technical education exploratory and preparatory programs and online learning opportunities.
     (2) One of the grants awarded under this section shall be for a two-year demonstration project focusing on providing fifth through twelfth grade students with a program that utilizes technology and is integrated with state standards, basic academics, cross-cultural exposures, and age-appropriate preemployment training. The project shall:
     (a) Establish programs in two western Washington and one eastern Washington urban areas;
     (b) Identify at-risk students in each of the distinct communities and populations and implement strategies to close the achievement gap;
     (c) Collect and report data on participant characteristics and outcomes of the project, including the characteristics and outcomes specified under section 3(1)(e) of this act; and
     (d) Submit a report to the legislature by December 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall:
     (a) Identify criteria for grants and evaluate proposals for funding in consultation with the workforce training and education coordinating board;
     (b) Develop and monitor requirements for grant recipients to:
     (i) Identify students who both fail the Washington assessment of student learning and drop out of school;
     (ii) Identify their own strengths and gaps in services provided to youth;
     (iii) Set their own local goals for program outcomes;
     (iv) Use research-based and emerging best practices that lead to positive outcomes in implementing the building bridges program; and
     (v) Coordinate an outreach campaign to bring public and private organizations together and to provide information about the building bridges program to the local community;
     (c) In setting the requirements under (b) of this subsection, encourage creativity and provide for flexibility in implementing the local building bridges program;
     (d) Identify and disseminate successful practices;
     (e) Develop requirements for grant recipients to collect and report data, including, but not limited to:
     (i) The number of and demographics of students served including, but not limited to, information regarding a student's race and ethnicity, a student's household income, a student's housing status, whether a student is a foster youth or youth involved in the juvenile justice system, whether a student is disabled, and the primary language spoken at a student's home;
     (ii) Washington assessment of student learning scores;
     (iii) Dropout rates;
     (iv) On-time graduation rates;
     (v) Extended graduation rates;
     (vi) Credentials obtained;
     (vii) Absenteeism rates;
     (viii) Truancy rates; and
     (ix) Credit retrieval;
     (f) Contract with a third party to evaluate the infrastructure and implementation of the partnership including the leveraging of outside resources that relate to the goal of the partnership. The third-party contractor shall also evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the partnerships relative to the type of entity, as identified in section 4 of this act, serving as the lead agency for the partnership; and
     (g) Report to the legislature by December 1, 2008.
     (2) In performing its duties under this section, the office of the superintendent of public instruction is encouraged to consult with the work group identified in section 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   In awarding the grants under section 2 of this act, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall prioritize schools or districts with dropout rates above the statewide average and shall attempt to award building bridges program grants to different geographic regions of the state. Eligible recipients shall be one of the following entities acting as a lead agency for the local partnership: A school district, a tribal school, an area workforce development council, an educational service district, an accredited institution of higher education, a vocational skills center, a federally recognized tribe, a community organization, or a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. If the recipient is not a school district, at least one school district must be identified within the partnership. The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that grants are distributed proportionately between school districts and other recipients. This requirement may be waived if the superintendent of public instruction finds that the quality of the programs or applications from these entities does not warrant the awarding of the grants proportionately.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   To be eligible for a grant under section 2 of this act, grant applicants shall:
     (1) Build or demonstrate a commitment to building a broad-based partnership of schools, families, and community members to provide an effective and efficient building bridges program. The partnership shall consider an effective model for school-community partnerships and include local membership from, but not limited to, school districts, tribal schools, secondary career and technical education programs, skill centers that serve the local community, an educational service district, the area workforce development council, accredited institutions of higher education, tribes or other cultural organizations, the parent teacher association, the juvenile court, prosecutors and defenders, the local health department, health care agencies, public transportation agencies, local division representatives of the department of social and health services, businesses, city or county government agencies, civic organizations, and appropriate youth-serving community-based organizations. Interested parents and students shall be actively included whenever possible;
     (2) Demonstrate how the grant will enhance any dropout prevention and intervention programs and services already in place in the district;
     (3) Provide a twenty-five percent match that may include in-kind resources from within the partnership;
     (4) Track and report data required by the grant; and
     (5) Describe how the dropout prevention, intervention, and retrieval system will be sustained after initial funding, including roles of each of the partners.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) Educational service districts, in collaboration with area workforce development councils, shall:
     (a) Provide technical assistance to local partnerships established under a grant awarded under section 2 of this act in collecting and using performance data; and
     (b) At the request of a local partnership established under a grant awarded under section 2 of this act, provide assistance in the development of a functional sustainability plan, including the identification of potential funding sources for future operation.
     (2) Local partnerships established under a grant awarded under section 2 of this act may contract with an educational service district, workforce development council, or a private agency for specialized training in such areas as cultural competency, identifying diverse learning styles, and intervention strategies for students at risk of dropping out of school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall establish a state-level work group that includes K-12 and state agencies that work with youth who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out of school. The state-level leadership group shall consist of one representative from each of the following agencies and organizations: The workforce training and education coordinating board; career and technical education including skill centers; relevant divisions of the department of social and health services; the juvenile courts; the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys; the Washington state office of public defense; the employment security department; accredited institutions of higher education; the educational service districts; the area workforce development councils; parent and educator associations; the department of health; local school districts; agencies or organizations that provide services to special education students; community organizations serving youth; federally recognized tribes and urban tribal centers; each of the major political caucuses of the senate and house of representatives; and the minority commissions.
     (2) To assist and enhance the work of the building bridges programs established in section 5 of this act, the state-level work group shall:
     (a) Identify and make recommendations to the legislature for the reduction of fiscal, legal, and regulatory barriers that prevent coordination of program resources across agencies at the state and local level;
     (b) Develop and track performance measures and benchmarks for each partner agency or organization across the state including performance measures and benchmarks based on student characteristics and outcomes specified in section 3(1)(e) of this act; and
     (c) Identify research-based and emerging best practices regarding prevention, intervention, and retrieval programs.
     (3) The work group shall report to the legislature and the governor on an annual basis beginning December 1, 2007, with recommendations for implementing emerging best practices, needed additional resources, and eliminating barriers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   (1) During the 2007-2009 biennium, school districts that contract with eligible alternative educational service providers to provide education programs, including GED preparation, that generate course credits towards high school graduation, for students who are at risk of dropping out of school, or who have dropped out of school, may continue to use allocations under RCW 28A.150.250 to fund contracts with those providers. For purposes of this section, "eligible alternative educational service providers" includes community and technical colleges and community-based organizations that meet all state requirements for receiving state K-12 formula allocations. Students attending these programs will be considered full-time equivalent students if they are enrolled in programming totaling at least twenty-five hours per week. A student will not be considered enrolled if their consecutive days of absence from school exceed twenty school days and attendance has not resumed.
     (2) All school districts with contracts with eligible alternative educational service providers shall provide information to the office of the superintendent of public instruction including, but not limited to: (a) The number of students enrolled in those programs; (b) the amount of weekly instructional hours provided; (c) the location of the instruction program provided; and (d) the number and types of staff providing the instruction in the programs. By December 1, 2008, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall submit a report to the office of financial management and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature that summarizes the information provided by the school districts pursuant to this subsection.
     (3) The state-level work group established under section 7 of this act shall examine issues related to school districts' use of basic education allocations under this section including, but not limited to, findings or other relevant communications by the state auditor. The work group shall develop recommendations and submit a report to the appropriate legislative committees by December 1, 2009.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 2 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.175 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2007, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.