BILL REQ. #:  H-0809.2 

Read first time 01/26/11.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to recruiting, preparing, and empowering school officials and holding them accountable; amending RCW 28A.400.100, 28A.405.230, and 28A.405.245; adding new sections to chapter 28A.410 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that a growing body of research indicates that successful school leadership plays a highly significant role in improving student learning. School leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn in school. The role of the school leader has progressively shifted from building manager to instructional leader. Effective school leaders create vision, develop and support teachers and school staff, and strengthen school culture. Leadership also involves direction-setting, management of personnel and resources, and redesigning the organization when necessary. Principals should be held accountable for these leadership qualities.
     (2) Therefore, the legislature intends to encourage highly capable individuals with qualities of leadership to become principals through field-based, rigorous, but flexible preparation programs offered in close collaboration with school districts. The legislature also intends to encourage school districts to provide principals with increased decision-making authority, including over personnel decisions and allocation of financial resources. Finally, the legislature intends to hold principals accountable to demonstrate the qualities essential to lead a school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The professional educator standards board shall establish a residency provisional principal certification as provided under this section and sections 3 through 6 of this act.
     (2) Applicants for residency provisional principal certification must:
     (a) Document professional managerial and leadership experience that meets the standards established by the professional educator standards board under this section;
     (b) Complete a record check as required under RCW 28A.410.010;
     (c) Have been admitted to an alternative route principal certification program approved under section 6 of this act; and
     (d) Be recommended for certification by a school district superintendent as provided under section 3 of this act.
     (3)(a) The professional educator standards board shall adopt standards that define a scope and level of professional managerial and leadership experience for residency provisional principal certification that include at a minimum:
     (i) Strategic planning;
     (ii) Supervision and evaluation of personnel;
     (iii) Budgeting and allocation of resources; and
     (iv) Employee professional development.
     (b) The standards must also include a consistent record of satisfactory performance in previous employment.
     (c) The managerial and leadership experience for residency provisional principal certification is not required to have occurred in a school setting.      
     (4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall review the qualifications of applicants and recommendations for certification submitted by school district superintendents. If the office determines that the requirements of this section have been met, the office shall issue a residency provisional principal certificate.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) School district superintendents may recommend candidates for residency provisional principal certification.
     (2) Before recommending a candidate for certification, a school district superintendent must:
     (a) Conduct a publicly announced search for the principalship of a specific school and accept applications from individuals who are seeking residency provisional principal certificates and from individuals who hold continuing, residency, or professional principal certificates issued by the professional educator standards board;
     (b) Verify that the candidate meets the standards adopted by the professional educator standards board under section 2 of this act; and
     (c) Offer the candidate the principalship of the school, contingent on the candidate receiving residency provisional principal certification.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) The holder of a residency provisional principal certificate must be enrolled in an alternative route principal certification program approved under section 6 of this act.
     (2) The holder of a residency provisional principal certificate may serve as a school principal only in one school district for not more than three years.
     (3) Residency provisional principal certificates expire:
     (a) After three years; or
     (b) If the holder's employment with the school district is terminated.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall issue a residency principal certificate to a holder of a residency provisional principal certificate if the certificate holder has successfully completed an alternative route principal certification program approved under section 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The professional educator standards board shall adopt standards for approval of alternative route principal certification programs, which may be offered by higher education institutions or nonhigher education program providers.
     (2) To receive approval to offer an alternative route principal certification program, a program provider must:
     (a) Operate the program in partnership with one or more participating school districts;
     (b) Design, develop, and use a principal development plan for each candidate. The plan must specify the coursework and training required of each candidate and must be developed by comparing the candidate's prior experience and coursework with the performance standards for residency principal certification. The alternative route program may give significant weight to a candidate's prior experience;
     (c) Require candidates to demonstrate competencies in the knowledge and skills required for residency principal certification as adopted by the professional educator standards board;
     (d) Provide intensive mentoring of a minimum of one-half of a school year for candidates, and an additional significant amount of time if necessary, progressing to increasingly less intensive monitoring and assistance as the candidate demonstrates the skills necessary to manage and lead a school; and
     (e) Demonstrate a record of success in principal preparation and certification. If the program provider has not previously offered a principal preparation program, the provider may submit a record of success in preparation and certification of other educators and evidence of appropriate knowledge and experience of the faculty and instructors in the proposed principal certification program.
     (3) The professional educator standards board may approve an alternative route principal certification program under this section for up to five years.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.400.100 and 2002 c 78 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) School districts may employ public school principals and/or vice principals to supervise the operation and management of the school to which they are assigned. Such persons shall hold valid administrative certificates and, except for persons certificated under sections 4 and 5 of this act, shall hold or have held either valid teacher certificates or valid educational staff associate certificates. Persons who hold or have held valid educational staff associate certificates must also have demonstrated successful school-based experience in an instructional role with students. Persons whose certificates were revoked, suspended, or surrendered may not be employed as public school principals or vice principals.
     (2) In addition to such other duties as shall be prescribed by law and by the job description adopted by the board of directors, each principal shall:
     (((1))) (a) Assume administrative authority, responsibility and instructional leadership, under the supervision of the school district superintendent, and in accordance with the policies of the school district board of directors, for the planning, management, supervision and evaluation of the educational program of the attendance area for which he or she is responsible((.));
     (((2))) (b) Submit recommendations to the school district superintendent regarding appointment, assignment, promotion, transfer and dismissal of all personnel assigned to the attendance area for which he or she is responsible((.));
     (((3))) (c) Submit recommendations to the school district superintendent regarding the fiscal needs to maintain and improve the instructional program of the attendance area for which he or she is responsible((.)); and
     (((4))) (d) Assume administrative authority and responsibility for the supervision, counseling and discipline of pupils in the attendance area for which he or she is responsible.
     (3) In return for the increased accountability for performance expected under RCW 28A.405.245, school district directors and superintendents are encouraged to provide principals with increased autonomy and authority to manage and lead the schools to which they are assigned including, but not limited to, decision-making authority regarding personnel and budgets.

Sec. 8   RCW 28A.405.230 and 2010 c 235 s 304 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any certificated employee of a school district employed as an assistant superintendent, director, principal, assistant principal, coordinator, or in any other supervisory or administrative position, hereinafter in this section referred to as "administrator", shall be subject to transfer, at the expiration of the term of his or her employment contract, to any subordinate certificated position within the school district. "Subordinate certificated position" as used in this section, shall mean any administrative or nonadministrative certificated position for which the annual compensation is less than the position currently held by the administrator.
     (2) Every superintendent determining that the best interests of the school district would be served by transferring any administrator to a subordinate certificated position shall notify that administrator in writing on or before May 15th preceding the commencement of such school term of that determination, or if the omnibus appropriations act has not passed the legislature by May 15th, then notification shall be no later than June 15th, which notification shall state the reason or reasons for the transfer, and shall identify the subordinate certificated position to which the administrator will be transferred. Such notice shall be served upon the administrator personally, or by certified or registered mail, or by leaving a copy of the notice at the place of his or her usual abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then resident therein.
     (3) Every such administrator so notified, at his or her request made in writing and filed with the president or chair, or secretary of the board of directors of the district within ten days after receiving such notice, shall be given the opportunity to meet informally with the board of directors in an executive session thereof for the purpose of requesting the board to reconsider the decision of the superintendent. Such board, upon receipt of such request, shall schedule the meeting for no later than the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board, and shall notify the administrator in writing of the date, time and place of the meeting at least three days prior thereto. At such meeting the administrator shall be given the opportunity to refute any facts upon which the determination was based and to make any argument in support of his or her request for reconsideration. The administrator and the board may invite their respective legal counsel to be present and to participate at the meeting. The board shall notify the administrator in writing of its final decision within ten days following its meeting with the administrator. No appeal to the courts shall lie from the final decision of the board of directors to transfer an administrator to a subordinate certificated position: PROVIDED, That in the case of principals such transfer shall be made at the expiration of the contract year and only during the first three consecutive school years of employment as a principal by a school district; except that if any such principal has been previously employed as a principal by another school district in the state of Washington for three or more consecutive school years the provisions of this section shall apply only to the first full school year of such employment.
     (4) This section applies to any person employed as an administrator by a school district on June 25, 1976, and to all persons so employed at any time thereafter, except ((that)):
     (a) RCW 28A.405.245 applies to persons first employed after June 10, 2010, as a principal by a school district meeting the criteria of RCW 28A.405.245(1)(b); and
     (b) RCW 28A.405.245 applies to persons first employed after the effective date of this section as a principal by any Washington school district.
     (5) This section provides the exclusive means for transferring an administrator subject to this section to a subordinate certificated position at the expiration of the term of his or her employment contract.

Sec. 9   RCW 28A.405.245 and 2010 c 235 s 302 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Any certificated employee of a school district under (b) of this ((section)) subsection who is first employed as a principal after June 10, 2010, and any certificated employee of a school district under (c) of this subsection who is first employed as a principal after the effective date of this section, shall be subject to transfer as provided under this section, at the expiration of the term of his or her employment contract, to any subordinate certificated position within the school district. "Subordinate certificated position" as used in this section means any administrative or nonadministrative certificated position for which the annual compensation is less than the position currently held by the administrator.
     (b) For persons first employed as a principal after June 10, 2010, but before the effective date of this section, this section applies only to school districts with an annual average student enrollment of more than thirty-five thousand full-time equivalent students.
     (c) For persons first employed as a principal after the effective date of this section, this section applies to all school districts.
     (2) During the first three consecutive school years of employment as a principal by the school district, or during the first full school year of such employment in the case of a principal who has been previously employed as a principal by another school district in the state for three or more consecutive school years, the transfer of the principal to a subordinate certificated position may be made by a determination of the superintendent that the best interests of the school district would be served by the transfer.
     (3) Commencing with the fourth consecutive school year of employment as a principal, or the second consecutive school year of such employment in the case of a principal who has been previously employed as a principal by another school district in the state for three or more consecutive school years, the transfer of the principal to a subordinate certificated position shall be based on the superintendent's determination that the results of the evaluation of the principal's performance using the evaluative criteria and rating system established under RCW 28A.405.100 provide a valid reason for the transfer without regard to whether there is probable cause for the transfer. If a valid reason is shown, it shall be deemed that the transfer is reasonably related to the principal's performance. No probationary period is required. However, provision of support and an attempt at remediation of the performance of the principal, as defined by the superintendent, are required for a determination by the superintendent under this subsection that the principal should be transferred to a subordinate certificated position.
     (4) Any superintendent transferring a principal under this section to a subordinate certificated position shall notify that principal in writing on or before May 15th before the beginning of the school year of that determination, or if the omnibus appropriations act has not passed the legislature by May 15th, then notification shall be no later than June 15th. The notification shall state the reason or reasons for the transfer and shall identify the subordinate certificated position to which the principal will be transferred. The notification shall be served upon the principal personally, or by certified or registered mail, or by leaving a copy of the notice at the place of his or her usual abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then resident therein.
     (5) Any principal so notified may request to the president or chair of the board of directors of the district, in writing and within ten days after receiving notice, an opportunity to meet informally with the board of directors in an executive session for the purpose of requesting the board to reconsider the decision of the superintendent, and shall be given such opportunity. The board, upon receipt of such request, shall schedule the meeting for no later than the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board, and shall give the principal written notice at least three days before the meeting of the date, time, and place of the meeting. At the meeting the principal shall be given the opportunity to refute any evidence upon which the determination was based and to make any argument in support of his or her request for reconsideration. The principal and the board may invite their respective legal counsel to be present and to participate at the meeting. The board shall notify the principal in writing of its final decision within ten days following its meeting with the principal. No appeal to the courts shall lie from the final decision of the board of directors to transfer a principal to a subordinate certificated position.
     (6) This section provides the exclusive means for transferring a certificated employee first employed by a school district under this section as a principal after June 10, 2010, to a subordinate certificated position at the expiration of the term of his or her employment contract.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Sections 2 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.410 RCW.