ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1264

ByHouse Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Bergquist, Santos, Dolan, Lovick, Peterson, Reeves, Sells, Stanford, Appleton, Callan, Wylie, and Pollet)

AN ACT Relating to secondary traumatic stress in public school staff; adding a new section to chapter 28A.415 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.415 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall identify or develop online training modules to support teachers affected by secondary traumatic stress. At a minimum, the modules must:

(a) Describe the signs and symptoms of secondary traumatic stress and how it is different from other trauma or stress disorders;

(b) Outline the reasons why teachers and other school staff might be at risk for secondary traumatic stress;

(c) Include a self-assessment for secondary traumatic stress;

(d) Describe the impact of secondary stress on various life domains, such as the cognitive, professional, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and financial domains;

(e) Teach how to craft a self-care plan with attainable objectives, explain the barriers to self-care and how to overcome these barriers; and

(f) Include an appendix of resources on secondary traumatic stress and self-care.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must make the training modules developed under this section available on its web site.

(3) Beginning in fiscal year 2021, if the number of state-allocated professional learning days for either certificated instructional staff or classified staff is increased beyond the number allocated in fiscal year 2020, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall include the training modules developed under this section on the menu of professional learning topics that may be implemented on the additional professional learning days.

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