HB 2167

Brief Description: Providing flexibility in the education system.

Sponsors: Representatives Maxwell, Priest, Green, Quall, Moeller, White, Orwall, Sullivan, Van De Wege, Liias and Probst.

Hearing Date: 2/17/09

Staff: Barbara McLain (786-7383)

Background:

Title 28A of the Revised Code of Washington contains most of the laws pertaining to Washington's public school system. School districts are political subdivisions of the state whose structure, duties, and responsibilities are established by state law, with functions to be carried out under the direction of elected boards of directors. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is assigned by the state Constitution to have supervision over all matters pertaining to the common schools, but most of the duties of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) are established in law.

There are a number of laws requiring the OSPI to provide information to school districts or requiring school districts to provide information to parents and students about health issues, educational options, and state policies. Other laws direct school districts to take certain actions in the areas of curriculum, courses, assessments, and student plans.

Summary of Bill:

A number of laws related to information, notice and reporting, and required actions by school districts in the areas of curriculum, courses, assessments, and student plans are repealed, suspended, or modified.

The following requirements are repealed:

• the OSPI must provide information about immunizations;

• the OSPI must include information in traffic education courses on the proper use of the left-hand lane, motorcycle awareness, and driving safely among bicyclists and pedestrians;

• any course in Washington State history and government must include content areas such as commerce, the Constitution, state geography, and state history and culture;

• the OSPI must require districts to annually inform high school students that employers may request transcripts;

• school districts are encouraged to adopt curriculum for a family preservation education program;

• on or before January 1, 2002, the OSPI must make a report on grants awarded under the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program;

• school districts must provide information about the Running Start programs to students in grades 10 through 12, including online courses; and

• student learning plans are required for 5th and 8th through 12th grade students who were not successful on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning or who may not be on track to graduate due to credit deficiencies or absences.

The following requirements are suspended until July 1, 2011:

• school districts must require visual and auditory screening and prepare or provide records. There is an exception where screening is required by federal law for students with disabilities;

• school and public and private day care administrators must file a written annual report with the Department of Health on the immunization status of children attending day care;

• the OSPI must provide school districts with a list of financial literacy skills, instructional materials, and assessments. Each school district is encouraged to provide students an opportunity to master financial literacy skills;

• the OSPI must provide a manual of the Common School Code to public agencies within the common school system and sell it to other public and nonpublic agencies;

• the OSPI must provide an annual report to the Legislature on the educational experiences and progress of students in foster care;

• school districts must provide all high school students with the option to take a common math college readiness test, beginning in the fall of 2009 and subject to funding; and

• the OSPI, by the 2010-11 school year, must develop assessments of the technology learning standards and make them available for voluntary use.

The following requirements are suspended until the 2011-12 school year:

• school districts must have classroom-based assessments or other strategies in social studies, the arts, and health and fitness, and must conduct classroom-based assessments in civics at specified grades;

• school districts must adopt course equivalencies for career and technical high school courses; and

• the OSPI must provide high schools with contact information for programs offering college credit, and high schools must publish entrance requirements and the availability of local programs that lead to college credits.

The following requirements are modified to allow online notice or information, or to provide written information only at the request of a parent:

• the OSPI must provide online notice of the State Board of Health rules regarding contagious diseases only when there are significant changes;

• the OSPI must provide online access to, rather than printing and distributing, rules and forms for visual and auditory screening;

• public and private schools must provide online access to information about the meningococcal and human papillomavirus diseases, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing;

• schools must provide online information to students and parents about compulsory attendance laws, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing;

• the OSPI must annually provide online access to information regarding enrollment options, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing;

• school districts must annually provide online information about intradistrict and interdistrict enrollment options, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing;

• the OSPI must collect and provide online information to districts regarding child abuse and neglect prevention curriculum, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing;

• school districts may provide parents with information regarding their rights under the Public Records Act regarding access to school employee discipline records for sexual misconduct, and must provide the information on request rather than annually;

• schools must provide written notice of the school's pesticide use policy and methods on request rather than annually; and

• schools must provide online information to parents about opportunities available to students through educational pathways, unless a parent specifically requests the information in writing.

The following requirements are modified:

• a school district that has received approval for its plan for using funds for the Learning Assistance Program is not required to resubmit a plan unless the district has made a significant change. The OSPI must establish guidelines defining a "significant change;"

• school districts and the OSPI are required to submit a dropout report every other year rather than annually; and

• school districts must ensure that communications to parents regarding transitional bilingual instruction are appropriately bilingual and provide in-service training for staff involved in the program only to the extent funds are available.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.