BILL REQ. #:  S-3470.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/07/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to the respecting holidays of faith and conscience act; amending RCW 1.16.050 and 28A.225.010; adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 28C.18 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 1.16.050 and 2013 c 5 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following are legal holidays: Sunday; the first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day; the third Monday of January, being celebrated as the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; the third Monday of February to be known as Presidents' Day and to be celebrated as the anniversary of the births of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington; the last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day; the fourth day of July, being the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; the first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day; the eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans' Day; the fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving Day; the day immediately following Thanksgiving Day; and the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day.
     Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except employees of school districts and except those nonclassified employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of less than twelve consecutive months, shall be entitled to one paid holiday per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section. Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, including employees of school districts and those nonclassified employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to two unpaid holidays per calendar year. This includes employees of public institutions of higher education, including community colleges, technical colleges, and workforce training programs. Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select the day or days on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday provided for herein after consultation with the employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority. If an employee prefers to take the additional holidays on specific days for a reason of faith or conscience, the employer must allow the employee to do so unless the employee's absence would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
     If any of the above specified state legal holidays are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only the state legal holidays shall be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees of the state and its political subdivisions except that for port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal holiday, but in no case both, may be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.
     Whenever any legal holiday, other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the legal holiday.
     Whenever any legal holiday falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the legal holiday.
     Nothing in this section shall be construed to have the effect of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the local government legislative authority.
     The legislature declares that the thirteenth day of January shall be recognized as Korean-American day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the twelfth day of October shall be recognized as Columbus day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the ninth day of April shall be recognized as former prisoner of war recognition day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the twenty-sixth day of January shall be recognized as Washington army and air national guard day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the seventh day of August shall be recognized as purple heart recipient recognition day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the second Sunday in October be recognized as Washington state children's day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.
     The legislature declares that the sixteenth day of April shall be recognized as Mother Joseph day and the fourth day of September as Marcus Whitman day, but neither shall be considered legal holidays for any purpose.
     The legislature declares that the seventh day of December be recognized as Pearl Harbor remembrance day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purpose.
     The legislature declares that the twenty-seventh day of July be recognized as national Korean war veterans armistice day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purpose.
     The legislature declares that the nineteenth day of February be recognized as civil liberties day of remembrance but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purpose.
     The legislature declares that the nineteenth day of June be recognized as Juneteenth, a day of remembrance for the day the slaves learned of their freedom, but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purpose.
     The legislature declares that the thirtieth day of March be recognized as welcome home Vietnam veterans day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purpose.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.225.010 and 1998 c 244 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All parents in this state of any child eight years of age and under eighteen years of age shall cause such child to attend the public school of the district in which the child resides and such child shall have the responsibility to and therefore shall attend for the full time when such school may be in session unless:
     (a) The child is attending an approved private school for the same time or is enrolled in an extension program as provided in RCW 28A.195.010(4);
     (b) The child is receiving home-based instruction as provided in subsection (4) of this section;
     (c) The child is attending an education center as provided in chapter 28A.205 RCW;
     (d) The school district superintendent of the district in which the child resides shall have excused such child from attendance because the child is physically or mentally unable to attend school, is attending a residential school operated by the department of social and health services, is incarcerated in an adult correctional facility, or has been temporarily excused upon the request of his or her parents for purposes agreed upon by the school authorities and the parent: PROVIDED, That such excused absences shall not be permitted if deemed to cause a serious adverse effect upon the student's educational progress: PROVIDED FURTHER, That students excused for such temporary absences may be claimed as full-time equivalent students to the extent they would otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260 and shall not affect school district compliance with the provisions of RCW 28A.150.220; ((or))
     (e) The child is excused from school subject to approval by the student's parent for a reason of faith or conscience for up to two days without any penalty. Such absences may not mandate school closures. Students excused for such temporary absences may be claimed as full-time equivalent students to the extent they would otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260 and may not affect school district compliance with the provisions of RCW 28A.150.220; or
     (f) The child is sixteen years of age or older and:
     (i) The child is regularly and lawfully employed and either the parent agrees that the child should not be required to attend school or the child is emancipated in accordance with chapter 13.64 RCW;
     (ii) The child has already met graduation requirements in accordance with state board of education rules and regulations; or
     (iii) The child has received a certificate of educational competence under rules and regulations established by the state board of education under RCW 28A.305.190.
     (2) A parent for the purpose of this chapter means a parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of a child.
     (3) An approved private school for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW shall be one approved under regulations established by the state board of education pursuant to RCW 28A.305.130.
     (4) For the purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW, instruction shall be home-based if it consists of planned and supervised instructional and related educational activities, including a curriculum and instruction in the basic skills of occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and the development of an appreciation of art and music, provided for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade level established for approved private schools under RCW 28A.195.010 and 28A.195.040 and if such activities are:
     (a) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only and are supervised by a certificated person. A certificated person for purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW shall be a person certified under chapter 28A.410 RCW. For purposes of this section, "supervised by a certificated person" means: The planning by the certificated person and the parent of objectives consistent with this subsection; a minimum each month of an average of one contact hour per week with the child being supervised by the certificated person; and evaluation of such child's progress by the certificated person. The number of children supervised by the certificated person shall not exceed thirty for purposes of this subsection; or
     (b) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only and who has either earned forty-five college level quarter credit hours or its equivalent in semester hours or has completed a course in home-based instruction at a postsecondary institution or a vocational-technical institute; or
     (c) Provided by a parent who is deemed sufficiently qualified to provide home-based instruction by the superintendent of the local school district in which the child resides.
     (5) The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore, the provisions of subsection (4) of this section relating to the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:
     Institutions of higher education must develop policies to accommodate student absences for not less than two days to allow students to take holidays for reasons of faith or conscience so that students' grades are not adversely impacted.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28C.18 RCW to read as follows:
     Workforce training programs must develop policies to accommodate student absences for not less than two days to allow students to take holidays for reasons of faith or conscience so that students' grades are not adversely impacted.