Running Start.  Running Start allows 11th- and 12th-grade high school students to take courses at community colleges, technical colleges, and various four-year institutions of higher education.  Upon completion of a course, students earn both high school and college credit.
 
Running Start students and their families do not pay tuition, but students must pay college fees, purchase textbooks and other materials, and provide their own transportation to and from the institution.  Since 2011 higher education institutions that are not community or technical colleges may charge up to 10 percent of tuition costs to students.
 
Institutions are reimbursed by local schools districts for costs of Running Start students.  Current law requires districts to reimburse the institutions at a per student rate allotted for basic education funding, with the districts retaining 7 percent of these funds.  Vocational students are funded at an additional rate.

A pupil who enrolls in Running Start courses in grade 11 may not enroll for high school credit and postsecondary credit for more than the equivalent of the coursework for two academic years.  A pupil who enrolls in Running Start courses in grade 12 may not enroll for high school credit and postsecondary credit for more than the equivalent of the coursework for one academic year.

School districts must provide general information about the Running Start program to all pupils in grades 10, 11, and 12 and the parents and guardians of those pupils, including information about the opportunity to enroll in the program through online courses.

Rising 11th grade students may enroll in Running Start for up to ten quarter credits, or the semester equivalent, during the summer academic term.  Rising 11th grade students are defined as students who have completed their tenth grade year and not yet begun their 11th grade year.

In addition to current requirements on providing information on Running Start, school districts must provide information about Running Start enrollment opportunities during the summer academic term.

The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard.  PRO: This would be an excellent opportunity for tenth graders who want to be academically challenged, to participate in Running Start if the majority of the workload is online.  Taking only online courses will alleviate some of the concerns around having tenth graders in a college environment, as well as transportation concerns.

CON: This bill may impact student development at a critical point in their education.  Few students in this age bracket are successful with online courses.  Pulling more students out of schools may limit their ability to run comprehensive programs.  This would cut families and counselors out of the ability to provide support to tenth grade students.

OTHER: Dual credit programs can positively impact student success.  Ensuring equitable access to dual credit programs is a priority; this bill may further add to existing equity issues as some students do not have access to Internet or computers.  This will create challenges for master scheduling and budgeting for smaller school districts.

The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard.  OTHER: This bill will require colleges to designate whether a course is eligible for tenth grade running start students, or only for 11th and 12th grade running start students, which creates an estimated cost of $459,000 dollars annually for Washington?s 34 community and technical colleges. There are also concerns that this will divert younger students out of the high school environment to take challenging course work online.