[Filed July 19, 2018, 1:39 p.m., effective July 19, 2018, 1:39 p.m.]

Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.

Purpose: The purpose of this emergency rule is to allow schools that participate in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) meal service option and have historically been challenging high-poverty schools (challenging schools) for purposes of the National Board Certified Teaches [Teachers] (NBCT) bonus to continue to qualify as challenging schools for the 2017-2018 school year.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 392-140-973.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 28A.150.290(1) and 28A.405.415.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: CEP is a federal nonpricing meal service option for schools in low-income areas that allows high poverty schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all of their enrolled students. CEP schools do not need to collect household applications to determine students' school meal program eligibility. Instead, the schools are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs.

WAC 392-140-973 provides that NBCT certificated instructional staff who work in challenging schools are eligible for a salary bonus. Before this emergency rule change, challenging schools were defined as schools that meet a minimum threshold based on prior year headcount enrollment of students eligible for free of [or] reduced price meals (FRPL). Because CEP schools are not required to collect household applications, the office of supterintendent of public instruction (OSPI) has not been able to consistently determine under the former rule whether high-poverty schools that were historically classified as challenging schools meet the FRPL headcount enrollment threshold for purposes of NBCT bonus eligibility. Requiring the use of prior year data to determine FRPL headcount enrollment eligibility will cause individual teachers in some historically challenging CEP schools to lose the challenging schools bonus in the 2017-18 school year. To avoid this, the emergency rule bases the FRPL student headcount enrollment eligibility threshold for CEP schools on two school years immediately prior to the school's participation in CEP.

This amendment to WAC 392-140-973 will ensure that teachers receive the NBTC challenging schools bonus for their work in some of the most challenging schools in Washington for the 2017-18 school year. Because OSPI pays NBCT bonuses to districts in the July apportionment of each given year, it is necessary to immediately adopt this rule.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: July 19, 2018.

State Superintendent

of Public Instruction

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-14-103, filed 7/3/18, effective 8/3/18)

WAC 392-140-973Salary bonus for teachers and other certificated instructional staff who hold current certification by the national board—Eligibility.

Staff that are eligible for the bonus shall be limited to those meeting the following requirements:

(1) Hold current certification by the national board for professional teaching standards during the entire school year, unless otherwise specified in the state Biennial Operating Appropriations Act; and

(2) Who are:

(a) Teachers and other certificated instructional staff employed full time or part time under written contract by Washington public school districts or educational service districts pursuant to RCW 28A.405.210;

(b) Teachers and other certificated instructional staff employed full time or part time by a contractor pursuant to WAC 392-121-188 and 392-121-206 (2)(a);

(c) Teachers and other certificated instructional staff employed full time or part time by the Washington school for the deaf or Washington school for the blind; or

(d) Teachers and other certificated instructional staff employed full time or part time by a charter school.

(3) In addition to bonuses provided by subsection (2) of this section, teachers and other certificated instructional staff shall be eligible for additional bonuses if in an instructional assignment in challenging, high poverty schools, subject to the following conditions and limitations:

(a) Challenging, high poverty schools are schools where, for the prior year, the student headcount enrollment eligible for the federal free or reduced price lunch program was at least:

(i) 70 percent for elementary schools;

(ii) 60 percent for middle schools; or

(iii) 50 percent for high schools; as determined by the October 1st count of the comprehensive education data and research system (CEDARS) or successor data collection and reporting systems, of the office of superintendent of public instruction, on March 31st of that prior year: Provided, That schools operating during the current school year as their first year may qualify as challenging, high poverty schools based upon current year data, as determined by the October 1st count on March 31st of the current year.

(b) For purposes of the national board challenging, high poverty schools bonus, a school shall be categorized based upon the highest grade served as follows:

(i) A school whose highest grade served is 6th grade or lower shall be considered an elementary school;

(ii) A school whose highest grade served is either 7th, 8th, or 9th grade shall be considered a middle school;

(iii) A school whose highest grade served is either 10th, 11th, or 12th grade shall be considered a high school.

(c) A school shall be considered only if it serves thirty or more students, or is the largest school in the district serving its designated category.

(d) Schools that provide institutional education programs pursuant to WAC 392-122-205 shall be designated as challenging, high poverty schools with the student headcount enrollment eligible for the federal free or reduced price lunch program at one hundred percent and shall not be subject to the requirement in this subsection of serving thirty or more students.

(e) The student enrollment data used shall include the state-funded students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, plus prekindergarten students in special education.

(f) Teachers and other certificated instructional staff that meet the qualifications for the challenging, high poverty schools bonus under this subsection who are assigned for less than one full school year or less than full time for the school year shall receive the challenging, high poverty schools bonus in a prorated manner, subject to the following conditions and limitations:

(i) The portion of the employee's assignment to challenging, high poverty schools shall be determined as of June 15th of the school year.

(ii) If the employee's assignment to challenging, high poverty schools is less than 1.0 full-time equivalent, the proration shall use the methodology in WAC 392-121-212 and shall be rounded to three decimal places.

(g) A school participating in the community eligibility provision as authorized by section 11 (a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act may be designated as a challenging, high poverty school if the school was a challenging, high poverty school based on the student headcount enrollment eligible for the federal free or re-duced price lunch program in either of the two school years immediate-ly prior to the school's participation in the community eligibility provision.