In the 2019-21 biennial budget the Legislature appropriated $125,000 a year to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to administer a pilot program to identify and support incoming high school students who were at risk of not graduating. Five school districts were selected to participate in the pilot program based on their Ninth Grade On-Track scores in the Washington School Improvement Framework and their higher than average enrollment of students classified as low-income or English language learners. Those districts were Ellensburg, Wahluke, Moses Lake, Grandview, and Toppenish.

Pilot districts created success teams of educators composed of administrators, counselors, student support staff, and ninth grade teachers. Success teams regularly reviewed attendance, behavior, and grade data to deploy strategic supports to students showing early signs of falling behind. Each pilot district received $21,000 in pilot program funds to pay for data systems, travel related to professional development, release time for educators to staff the success teams, and student supports.

In 2021, OSPI expanded the pilot project to 30 schools using $3 million of funding provided by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

OSPI must establish and administer the Ninth Grade Success Grant Program (grant program), subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for that purpose. The purpose of the grant program is to fund the creation of ninth grade success teams that can identify and support incoming high school students who are at risk of not graduating.

Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, OSPI must award grants to eligible public schools. When awarding grants, OSPI must prioritize schools with low ninth grade on-track scores identified through the Washington School Improvement Framework and schools that have graduation rates below the statewide average. OSPI must attempt to award grants to public schools in different geographic regions of the state.

Grant recipients may use grant funds for costs associated with establishing and operating a Ninth Grade Success Team Program, including but not limited to:

• providing additional compensation or stipends for success team members;
• providing related professional development and training for success team members;
• hiring substitute teachers during periods when success team members are performing program duties and training; and
• providing student supports needed to help ninth grade students thrive.

OSPI may contract with a qualified nonprofit organization that has experience coaching school success teams to provide individualized coaching to grant recipients.

By June 30, 2024, and annually thereafter until 2029, OSPI must report to the Governor and the education committees of the Legislature on the implementation of the grant program. The report must include:

• the number of grants awarded and which schools received an award, organized by geographic location;
• the demographics of the students served by recipient schools' ninth grade success teams, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, students receiving free or reduced price lunch, students receiving special education services, students receiving transitional bilingual instruction, students in foster care, and students experiencing homelessness;
• data comparing each recipient school's ninth grade on-track scores before and after implementing ninth grade success teams;
• longitudinal data on graduation rates for recipient schools, if available; and
• recommendations for statutory improvements, resource needs, or opportunities for scalability.