AN ACT Relating to updating the 2015 report and recommendations for supporting student success through measuring and mitigating community risk and protective predictors since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic; adding a new section to chapter 28A.630 RCW; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature acknowledges that it directed Washington State University to conduct a geographic analysis to identify areas where the cumulative effect of family and community risk and protective predictors correlated with academic and behavioral indicators of student success. The resulting report, entitled "No School Alone: How community risks and assets contribute to school and youth success," was published in 2015. The report included recommendations to: (a) Reinvigorate and make targeted empirically supported investments in building local community capacity to support state educational and service investments; (b) invest in expanding public awareness of the scope and consequences of adverse childhood experiences and trauma in communities; (c) sustain efforts to address the impact of poverty on communities and schools; and (d) invest in schools adopting social-emotional practices and responses to the trauma children bring to schools.

(2) The legislature finds that educational policies and practices have changed since 2015. For example, legislation enacted in 2017: (a) Prohibits school districts from suspending the provision of educational services to students as a disciplinary action; (b) limits student suspension or expulsion to the length of an academic term and requires a reengagement meeting that includes the student's family; and (c) prohibits long-term suspension or expulsion as a form of discretionary discipline. The same legislation required collection and publication of student data disaggregated by subracial and subethnic categories. In addition, legislation enacted in 2019 resulted in the adoption of state social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks for students that were also incorporated into standards for the preparation and licensure of principals, teachers, and paraeducators.

(3) The legislature recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted learning and well-being for many elementary and secondary students. Standardized test results indicate that preexisting disproportionalities were widened during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, the governor issued an emergency order proclaiming a crisis in the mental and behavioral health of many children and youth.

(4) The legislature acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic further strained households experiencing food hardships. The July 2021 Washington food security survey found that one-third of households with children were food insecure. Not having consistent access to enough food, let alone healthy food, can affect children's physical and mental health, including their attention span and cognitive abilities.

(5) Therefore, the legislature intends to direct Washington State University to update its 2015 report and recommendations for supporting student success through measuring and mitigating community risk and protective predictors to determine the effects of policies and practices implemented since 2015 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide recommendations for best practices yet to be implemented in Washington.

(1) The education data center, established in RCW 43.41.400, shall contract with the child and family research unit at the Washington State University extension to produce the reports described in this section.

(2) By December 1, 2022, a report must be completed that: (a) Summarizes new educational services and related academic and nonacademic supports offered by public schools and accessed by elementary and secondary students and their families since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) describes where and how social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks are being implemented in public schools; and (c) recommends educational programs, services, and related academic and nonacademic supports that are shown through evidence to increase student educational outcomes, including changes to state laws to make use of best practices more consistent across the state.

(3)(a) By December 1, 2023, a report must update the data analysis required by chapter 196, Laws of 2014. As required in 2014, the geographic analysis must be conducted using existing data to identify areas where the cumulative effect of family factors, such as employment, health status, safety, and stability, correlate with academic and behavioral indicators of student success. This report must include maps that illustrate community variation in family factors as they relate to kindergarten through 12th grade and postsecondary education outcomes and keeping all children on track for success. To the extent possible, the school districts highlighted in the earlier report must be highlighted in the new report.