Special Education Funding Multipliers. The state allocates funding for a program of special education for students with disabilities. Special education is funded on an excess cost formula for up to 16 percent of a district's students. This formula multiplies the district's base allocation for students enrolled in K-12 special education by an excess cost multiplier of either:

• 1.12 for students receiving special education and reported to be in the general education setting for 80 percent or more of the school day; or

• 1.06 for students receiving special education and reported to be in the general education setting for less than 80 percent of the school day.

Pre-K students receiving special education services, including three-, four-, and five-year-olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten, are funded based on a multiplier of 1.2. These students are excluded from the 16 percent enrollment funding cap.

Safety Net Funding. Beyond these allocations, the Safety Net Oversight Committee (Committee), appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may award safety net funding if a district can convincingly demonstrate that all legitimate expenditures for special education exceed all available revenues from state funding formulas, and it is maximizing its eligibility for all related state and federal revenues. The Committee may award safety net funding to applicants for high-need individuals and for community characteristics that draw a large number of students eligible for special education. A high-need individual is eligible for a safety net award if the student's individualized education program costs exceed 2.2 times the average per-pupil expenditure. If the school district has fewer than 1000 students this threshold is reduced to two times the average per-pupil expenditure.

Early Support for Infants and Toddlers. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families administers the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) Program to provide early intervention services to all eligible children with disabilities from zero to three years of age. Funding for ESIT is appropriated based on the annual average headcount of children ages zero to three who are eligible for and receiving early intervention services, multiplied by the statewide basic education allocation, multiplied by 1.15.

Special Education Funding Multipliers.  The special education multiplier set in statute for K-12 students receiving special education is increased to 1.16 and the tiered structure based on education setting is removed.

The ESIT funding multiplier is changed to align with the multiplier for Pre-K students, increasing from 1.15 to 1.2.

The 16 percent enrollment funding cap is removed.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) may reserve up to 0.006 of the excess cost allocations to use for statewide special education activities.

Safety Net Funding. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the safety net eligibility threshold is reduced to 1.8 times the average per-pupil expenditure for the following school districts:

• school districts that have fewer than 1000 full-time equivalent students;
• school districts that have at least 60 percent of students directly certified or categorically eligible for free school meals; and
• school districts that have at least 60 percent of students enrolled in the transitional bilingual instruction program.

The safety net eligibility threshold is reduced to 2 times the average per-pupil expenditure for all other school districts.

The Committee may no longer award safety net funding to applicant districts for community characteristics that draw a large number of students eligible for special education.

Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, OSPI must distribute safety net awards to school districts on a quarterly basis if the school district is a second-class school district or if the following criteria are met:

• the safety net award is provided for a high-cost student that receives special education services from an authorized entity located outside of Washington;
• the school district successfully applied for and received a safety net award for the high-cost student in a prior school year, and the student's placement has not changed since that safety net award was granted; and
• the school district meets all other safety net award eligibility requirements as determined by the Committee.

Statewide Special Education Activities. The Superintendent of Public Instruction must engage in the following statewide special education activities:

• annually review data from local education agencies, including the percentage of students receiving special education services, to ensure there is not a disproportionate identification of students;
• provide technical assistance to school districts with disproportionate data;
• require districts with disproportionate data to complete and submit, to OSPI, a self-assessment that includes an audit of student evaluations and individualized education programs (IEPs);
• implement follow-up actions based on the results of the self-assessment; and
• develop and maintain a statewide online system for IEPs.

The statewide special education activities may include:

• providing professional development in inclusionary practices to local education agencies, schools, and community partners in promoting inclusionary teaching practices within a multi-tiered system of supports framework to help safeguard against over-identification and other issues related to disproportionality; and
• providing a funding match to local education agencies that opt to allocate federal funding for coordinated, early intervening services.

By December 1st of each year the Superintendent of Public Instruction must report to the education committees of the Legislature on the statewide special education activities. The 2025 and 2026 reports must include an update on the impact of removing the cap on the special education enrollment percentage, including the impact on safety net needs.

Statewide Online System for Individualized Education Programs. OSPI must develop and maintain a statewide online system for individualized education programs, in collaboration with educational service districts or an information processing cooperative, and ensure statewide professional development opportunities are available to support its use.

The purposes of the online system are to:

• provide a uniform, centralized platform for creating and managing individualized education programs;
• ensure compliance with federal and state special education requirements;
• improve the efficiency and effectiveness of individualized education program development and oversight; and
• improve educator collaboration and serve as an instructional tool to improve educational outcomes.

The online system must be a statewide model that is made available at no cost to school districts and public schools, and meet the following requirements:

• incorporate safeguards to protect confidential student information;
• allow for role-based access so only authorized users may view or modify IEPs;
• be able to integrate emerging technologies to continually enhance its functionality and effectiveness;
• ensure IEPs can show evidence of access to grade level standards, reasonable progress, improved student outcomes, and students' strengths and needs;
• include integrated language support and translation services;
• allow for robust family engagement, including access to information about student progress and how IEP goals connect to grade level standards; and
• comply with state and federal accessibility standards.

General Apportionment Proration.  OSPI must develop an allocation and cost accounting methodology to account for school district expenditures beyond those provided through the special education funding formula. This method must shift 25 percent of a district's base allocation for students in special education to the special education program. If the special education program's expenditures exceed state funding from the special education funding formula, safety net, and 25 percent base allocation, then the district must use the remaining 75 percent of the base allocation for students in special education to cover those expenditures before using other funding sources.

School-Wide Centers of Excellence for Inclusionary Practices. OSPI must award grants to up to 20 pilot schools to support school-wide centers of excellence for inclusionary practices, subject to appropriations. The selected schools will receive a grant amount equivalent to having a special education multiplier of 1.5 for all students eligible for and receiving special education services in the school over a four-year period. Grant amounts must be spent on qualifying expenses for special education programs.

OSPI must select grant recipients from schools with diverse geographic locations and enrollment sizes. Successful applicants must:

• demonstrate engaged and committed school leadership and faculty in support of inclusionary practices;
• demonstrate that all school staff are appropriately trained in inclusionary practices or submit a plan for all staff to obtain training by the end of the following school year;
• provide data demonstrating the school's existing success or improvements in inclusionary practices; and
• describe how staff training and support in inclusionary practices will be sustained.

Beginning December 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, OSPI must submit a report to the Legislature on the grant program with data on grant recipients, the amount of funding provided to each recipient, and the effectiveness of the grant funds in increasing staff training.