AN ACT Relating to improving student achievement; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.215 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) The Washington state institute for public policy concluded in 2014 that the state's early childhood education and assistance program has a positive impact on third, fourth, and fifth grade test scores, and the program generates about four dollars and seventy-five cents of benefits for every dollar of cost; and

(b) Researchers at the University of Washington Tacoma's Center for Strong Schools also found that two-thirds of the ninth grade academic achievement gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their more advantaged peers can be explained by what happens over the summer during the elementary school years.

(2) The legislature intends to improve student achievement by:

(a) Increasing the number of summer early childhood education and assistance programs at K-12 school building sites; and

(b) Providing summer step-up grants to increase the number of summer learning programs that combine academics and other forms of personal development.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, by March 1, 2018, the department must contract for up to an additional six hundred slots in summer early childhood education and assistance programs at K-12 school building sites. The department must distribute the slots across the state.

(2) The department must give priority to summer early childhood education and assistance programs operated in K-12 school buildings that: (a) Plan to include four-year old children; (b) are in low-income areas or areas underserved by early childhood education programs; and (c) plan to fund summer meals using reimbursements from the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources.

(3) The department may adopt rules to implement this section.

(4) By October 1, 2019, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the department shall submit a report to the governor and the education committees of the legislature that describes how many summer early childhood education and assistance program slots were funded, participant's school readiness outcomes compared to children that did not receive the summer school programming, and lessons learned in funding summer meals using reimbursements from the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources; and that includes recommendations for continuing, modifying, or expiring the program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) The summer step-up grant program is established to increase the number of summer learning programs that combine academics and other forms of learning or skill development.

(b) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must develop and administer the competitive grant program.

(2)(a) By March 1, 2018, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must award grants to summer learning programs that are at least four weeks in length, for any of grades kindergarten through twelve that agree to create or expand summer learning programs.

(b) The office must identify criteria to evaluate applicants. The application must require, among other things, that the applicant describe: (i) The number and grade levels of the students that grant money will serve; (ii) how the summer learning program will combine academics with other programs; and (iii) how summer meals will be funded, including whether meals will be reimbursed by the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources.

(c) In awarding grants, the office must give priority to applicants that plan to fund summer meals using reimbursements from the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources.

(d) Grant money must be used to support summer learning programs that combine academics and developmentally appropriate interpersonal and decision-making knowledge and skills.

(e) The grant period is two years. Throughout the grant period, the grantees must cooperate with the office to evaluate program effectiveness and to draft the report required in this section.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement this section.

(4) By October 1, 2019, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the superintendent of public instruction shall submit a report to the governor and the education committees of the legislature that describes how many students were supported during the summer learning programs funded by the summer step-up grants described in this section, lessons learned in combining academics and social development and awareness in summer learning programs, lessons learned in funding summer meals using reimbursements from the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources, and includes recommendations for continuing, modifying, or expiring the summer step-up grant program.

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