AN ACT Relating to school resource officers to increase school safety; adding new sections to chapter 36.28A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.101 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.320 RCW.

The definition in this section applies throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "School resource officer" means a commissioned law enforcement officer in the state of Washington with sworn authority to make arrests, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing police department or sheriff's office to work in schools to address crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities affecting or occurring in or around K-12 schools.

(2) School resource officers should focus on keeping students out of the criminal justice system when possible and should not be used to attempt to impose criminal sanctions.

(1) By December 31, 2019, the commission, in collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public instruction school safety center, shall develop training for school resource officers. The training curriculum must be based on best practices and include information about implicit bias and interacting with students with disabilities.

(2) The commission shall make the training developed under subsection (1) of this section available to all school resource officers. The commission may charge a reasonable fee to defer the cost of making the training available.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "school resource officer" has the same meaning as in section 1 of this act.

(1) By December 31, 2019, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs in collaboration with the Washington state school directors' association must develop and publish a model agreement for school resource officer programs for use by school districts and law enforcement agencies.

(a) State the program's purpose, the roles and responsibilities of school districts and law enforcement agencies, requirements for information sharing, and terms for supervision of the school resource officer; and

(1) After August 1, 2020, school districts that have a school resource officer program must adopt an agreement with the employing police department or sheriff's office, at a public meeting, that at a minimum incorporates the model agreement developed under section 2 of this act within thirty days of the start of any program.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "school resource officer" has the same meaning as in section 1 of this act.

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs must establish and implement a grant program to fund school resource officers. Grants must be awarded to proposals submitted jointly between local law enforcement agencies and public school entities. Grant applications must be reviewed using peer review panels. The Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs may prioritize grant applications that include local matching funds.

(2) By December 1st of each year the program is funded, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs must submit an annual report to the governor and appropriate committees of the legislature on the program. The report must include information on grant recipients, use of grant funds, and feedback from grant recipients.

(3) Nothing in this section prohibits the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs from soliciting or accepting private funds to support the purposes of the program created in this section.