WSCA Legislative Update - Week 2, 2018 Legislative Session
WSCA Legislative Update - Week 2, 2018 Legislative Session
With just 60 days to complete its work on time this year, the 2018 Regular Session of the 65th Washington State Legislature has set a quick pace with the hope of avoiding another all-too-familiar special session.
The Governor delivered his “state of the state” speech to lawmakers on Tuesday in a joint session of the Legislature. His climate change/carbon tax proposal was a primary focus of his remarks, but he also emphasized the need to accelerate the McCleary school funding proposal adopted by the 2017 Legislature to fully comply with the State Supreme Court’s ruling.
As we reported last week, Governor Inslee included funding for additional middle school counselors in his proposed supplemental budget. This week, WSCA Advocacy Committee Chair Nita Hill had the opportunity to personally thank the Governor for his support when she was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with other K-12 education stakeholders about 2018 priorities. WSCA is grateful to the Governor and Superintendent Chris Reykdal for their support for school counselors.
WSCA is already tracking more than 40 bills that may impact members, with several still to come. Some bills that technically died at the end of last year’s session were resurrected for public hearing, or sent directly to a fiscal or rules committee for consideration without debate, indicating that majority Democrats in both chambers intend to move a large number of bills very quickly.
One of these bills, which has been a priority for WSCA for the past several years, is “Breakfast After the Bell,” which was voted out of the House last week with strong bipartisan support. The Senate K-12 Committee had a hearing on its version of the bill as well, and this year – it is expected to pass!
WSCA testified in favor of Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self’s legislation (HB 1377) which specifies the roles and duties of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists and requires certain school districts to provide a minimum of six hours of professional collaboration time per year for school counselors, social workers, and psychologists that focuses on recognizing signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students beginning in the 2019-20 school year. The bill, which was voted out of the House last year (57-40) passed out of committee with bipartisan support.
Next week, the House Education Committee has scheduled a public hearing on HB 2496, legislation to strengthen school district plans for recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students. This bill is proposed at the request of Superintendent Reykdal. WSCA will support this legislation, and would welcome the testimony of any school counselors available to testify at the hearing Tuesday at 1:30.
Below is a summary of other hearings next week, along with a list of bills WSCA is tracking so far.
Upcoming Events
Early Learning & K-12 Education (Senate) - SHR 1, - 1/15 @ 1:30pm
- SB 6003 - Exec Session - Concerning breakfast after the bell programs in certain public schools.
Early Learning & Human Services (House) - HHR C, JLOB - 1/16 @ 8:00am
- HB 2779 - Public Hearing - Improving access to mental health services for children and youth.
Early Learning & K-12 Education (Senate) - SHR 1, - 1/16 @ 1:30pm
- SB 6133 - Public Hearing - Expanding statewide career and technical education course equivalency options.
- SB 6141 - Public Hearing - Strengthening school district plans for recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students.
Education (House) - HHR A, JLOB - 1/16 @ 1:30pm
- HB 2496 - Public Hearing - Strengthening school district plans for recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students.
Early Learning & Human Services (House) - HHR C, JLOB - 1/17 @ 1:30pm
- HB 2779 - Exec Session - Improving access to mental health services for children and youth.
Education (House) - HHR A, JLOB - 1/18 @ 8:00am
- ESHB 1600 - Exec Session - Increasing the career and college readiness of public school students.
Bill Details / Status / Sponsor
HB 1282 / Career & technical education / H Approps / Tarleton
Concerning career and technical education funding.
Ties the career and technical funding for materials, supplies, and operating costs to the general education funding for materials, supplies, and operating costs by setting a rate for career and technical education that is equal to a specified multiplier of the general education funding.
2SHB 1293 / College bound sch./approval / H 2nd Reading / Ortiz-Self
Eliminating the parent or guardian approval requirement for the college bound scholarship pledge.
ESHB 1319 / Educators evaluation freq. / H Education / McCaslin
Concerning the frequency of evaluations for certain educators.
HB 1319-S - DIGEST Requires certain classroom teachers and principals to receive an annual comprehensive summative evaluation every six years.
ESHB 1333 / AP exam credit / H Hi Ed / Stambaugh
Requiring establishment of a systemwide policy for granting credit for AP exams.
HB 1333-S - DIGEST Requires institutions of higher education, in collaboration with the student achievement council, to establish a policy for granting undergraduate course credits, that fulfill certain requirements, to students who have earned minimum scores of three on AP exams.
HB 1374 / Ed. staff assocs/service yrs / H Approps / Dolan
Concerning the calculation of years of service for educational staff associate positions for salary allocation purposes.
Addresses educational staff associate positions for salary allocation purposes with regard to the calculation of years of service in a nonschool position.
2SHB 1377 / Student mental health / H EDDP2S / Ortiz-Self
Improving students' mental health by enhancing nonacademic professional services.
HB 1509 / Credits for HS graduation / H Approps / Stonier
Concerning credit requirements for high school graduation.
Provides an opportunity for students to complete all credits required for high school graduation.
SHB 1518 / Social emotional learning / H Approps / Senn
Improving student achievement by promoting social emotional learning throughout the calendar year.
Establishes the summer step up act. Requires the department of early learning to contract for up to an additional six hundred slots in summer early childhood education and assistance programs at K-12 school building sites giving priority to programs operated in K-12 school buildings that: (1) Plan to include four-year old and five-year old children; (2) Are in low-income areas or areas underserved by the programs; and (3) Plan to fund meal programs during the summer using reimbursements from the United States department of agriculture or other nonstate sources. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to convene a work group to build upon the social emotional learning work group established in 2016. Creates the summer step-up grant program to increase the number of programs that combine academics and social emotional learning.
EHB 1551 / Student nutrition/grants / H Rules 3C / Riccelli
Creating a competitive equipment assistance grant program to enhance student nutrition in public schools.
HB 1551 - DIGEST Establishes the apple a day act of 2017. Creates a competitive equipment assistance grant program, to be known as the apple a day program, to enhance overall student nutrition in public schools. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to establish a competitive process to prioritize applications for state assistance. Provides that this act is null and void if appropriations are not approved.
ESHB 1600 / Career and college readiness / H Education / Santos
Increasing the career and college readiness of public school students.
Creates the work-integrated learning demonstration pilot project to promote work-integrated learning experiences for students. Requires the workforce training and education coordinating board to convene a work-integrated learning advisory committee to provide advice to the legislature and the education and workforce sectors on creating opportunities for students. Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the advisory committee to jointly select three or four high schools to develop work-integrated learning project programs. Requires the workforce training and education coordinating board and the office of the superintendent of public instruction to jointly review and analyze reports and data submitted to evaluate the work-integrated learning project programs. Provides that this act is null and void if appropriations are not approved.
SHB 1618 / Engagement coordinators / H Rules 3C / Ortiz-Self
Concerning family and community engagement coordinators.
Changes the following terms to family and community engagement coordinator: Family engagement coordinator, parent and family engagement coordinator, and parent involvement coordinator. Requires a family and community engagement coordinator, within a school building or school district, to: (1) Identify and bridge barriers to students' and families' access to needed services; (2) Consult with an advisory group of students' families who reflect the demographic diversity within the school building or school district; and (3) Partner with community-based organizations to increase resources for family and community engagement.
HB 1621 / Social-emotional learning / H Approps / Senn
Providing funding allocations to promote children's health and social-emotional learning.
Promotes children's health and social-emotional learning by providing funding to school districts to employ additional staff who are dedicated to supporting children's health and social-emotional learning.
ESHB 1753 / Mental health professionals / H Judiciary / Cody
Concerning professionals qualified to examine individuals in the mental health and substance use disorder treatment systems.
Corrects a technical oversight by recognizing a designated chemical dependency specialist as one of the qualified examining professionals authorized to sign an initial fourteen-day substance use disorder detention petition during the interim period between June 28, 2016, and April 1, 2018. Allows a physician assistant working with a supervising psychiatrist to qualify as a designated crisis responder.
ESHB 1843 / Basic education program / H Approps / Sullivan
Fulfilling the state's paramount duty for all children through equitable and responsible investments in the state's basic education program and reductions to local effort contributions.
HB 1843-S - DIGEST Addresses equitable and responsible investments in the state's basic education program and reductions to local effort contributions to fulfill the state's paramount duty for all children. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to: (1) Convene a technical working group to provide recommendations for revising school district accounting practices for the purpose of improving fiscal transparency by establishing methods for separate accounting of school district expenditures made to support the state's program of basic education and those made as locally determined enrichments with local or other funding sources; and (2) Convene a work group to determine whether the funded enrollment percent for special education programs of twelve and seven-tenths should be adjusted. Establishes an accountability monitoring and reporting system as part of a continuing effort to make meaningful and substantial progress toward meeting long-term performance goals in K-12 education.
EHB 2008 / State services for children / H Rules 3C / Kagi
Addressing the budgeting process for core state services for children.
HB 2008 - DIGEST Requires the state institute for public policy, in consultation with the department of social and health services, to develop a single validated tool to assess the care needs of foster children. Requires the department of social and health services, once the validated tool is available for use on a statewide basis, to: (1) Use the tool for assessing the care needs of foster children, including whether the department should provide foster children with behavioral rehabilitation services; and (2) Notify the caseload forecast council, the office of financial management, and the appropriate fiscal committees of the legislature when it begins statewide use of the validated tool. Requires foster care, adoption support and related services, and child protective services to: (1) Be included in the forecast of the caseload forecast council; and (2) Be forecasted and budgeted as maintenance level costs.
HB 2075 / College and career readiness / H Approps / Pettigrew
Increasing college and career readiness and graduation rates in public schools.
Creates the high school graduation and college and career readiness account. Requires the legislature, at each regular session in an odd-numbered year, to appropriate from the account amounts equaling not less than four hundred dollars per full-time equivalent student enrolled in a public middle school and high school per school year, for state support of the requirements of this act during the ensuing biennium. Requires the amounts distributed to school districts to be used to establish or expand: (1) Career and technical education programs in middle schools, high schools, or skill centers; (2) College-level courses in high schools; (3) Drop-out prevention strategies in middle schools and high schools; and (4) Courses, counseling, and coaching in middle school and high school to provide early exposure for students to employment opportunities and requirements and options for postsecondary education. Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to review and report on the performance of school districts receiving certain funds under this act. Requires the state auditor to conduct financial, program, and performance audits of the uses and effectiveness of certain appropriated funds under this act.
HB 2496 (SB 6141) / Student distress response / H Education / Santos
Strengthening school district plans for recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students.
Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to develop and make available an online one-hour training module for school staff on recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students. States that the online suicide prevention training module for school staff does not replace the training requirement for school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses to complete an approved three-hour suicide prevention training. Authorizes school staff to complete the three-hour suicide prevention training in lieu of the one-hour online suicide prevention training. Requires each educational service district to identify a regional mental health coordinator.
HB 2685 / High sch. preapprenticeships / H Education / Ortiz-Self
Promoting preapprenticeship opportunities for high school students.
HB 2686 / High school and beyond plans / H Education / Ortiz-Self
Concerning high school and beyond plans.
HB 2767 / Student suspens. & expulsion / Ortiz-Self
Concerning suspension and expulsion of students including kindergarten and early elementary school students.
HB 2779 / Children mental health serv. / Senn
Improving access to mental health services for children and youth.
SB 5448 / Psychotropic med./students / S Rules 3 / Rivers
Concerning no required psychotropic medication use for students.
Requires each school district board of directors to adopt a policy that prohibits school staff from denying a student access to programs or services because the parent or guardian of the student has refused to place the student on psychotropic medication. Prohibits school staff from requiring a student to undergo psychological screening unless the parent or guardian gives prior written consent. Prohibits a child from being taken into custody solely on the grounds that the child's parent or guardian refuses to consent to the administration of a psychotropic medication to the child.
SB 5639 / Alt. student assessments / S Rules 3 / Conway
Concerning alternative student assessments.
Allows a student to use an alternative assessment without taking the statewide student assessment at least once if the student: (1) Is enrolled in a school district with which a technical college has a signed interlocal agreement on file with the superintendent of public instruction; (2) Was under twenty-one years of age at the beginning of the school year; (3) Is enrolled tuition-free; (4) Is enrolled in the school district for the purpose of earning a high school diploma or certificate; and (5) Has participated in instructional activity at the technical college during the current school year.
SSB 5853 / Career & technical education / S Rules X / Walsh
Concerning career and technical education funding.
Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to: (1) Create methodologies for implementing equivalency crediting on a broader scale across the state and facilitate its implementation; and (2) Establish a competitive grant process for school districts to apply for grants for the purpose of purchasing career and technical education equipment. Requires school districts to annually report certain information to the office of the superintendent of public instruction. Provides a list of the allowable uses of funding provided for career and technical education. Prohibits the maximum allowable indirect cost for school districts for career and technical education programs funded through state and federal funds from exceeding the limitations provided under federal law for federal career and technical education funding provided to districts, or five percent, whichever is lower.
SB 6003 / Breakfast after the bell / S EL/K-12 / Wellman
Concerning breakfast after the bell programs in certain public schools.
Establishes the Washington kids ready to learn act. Requires each high-needs school to offer breakfast after the bell to each student and provide adequate time for students to consume the offered food. Requires those breakfasts served in the program to comply with federal meal patterns and nutrition standards for school breakfast programs under the federal healthy, hunger-free kids act of 2010. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to administer one-time start-up allocation grants to each high-needs school implementing a breakfast after the bell program. Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to conduct an analysis of the programs established in schools. Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the education data center to assist in providing data required to conduct the analysis. Provides that this act is null and void if appropriations are not approved.
SB 6133 / CTE course equivalency opts / S EL/K-12 / Zeiger
Expanding statewide career and technical education course equivalency options.
Expands equivalency options for statewide career and technical education courses.
SB 6141 / Student distress response / S EL/K-12 / McCoy
Strengthening school district plans for recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students.
Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to develop and make available an online one-hour training module for school staff on recognition, screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students. States that the online suicide prevention training module for school staff does not replace the training requirement for school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses to complete an approved three-hour suicide prevention training. Authorizes school staff to complete the three-hour suicide prevention training in lieu of the one-hour online suicide prevention training. Requires each educational service district to identify a regional mental health coordinator.
SB 6148 / Homeless education equity / S EL/K-12 / Palumbo
Creating a work group on educational equity for homeless children and youth.
Requires the department of children, youth, and families, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the department of commerce office of homeless youth prevention and protection programs, and the student achievement council to convene a work group with aligned nongovernmental agencies to collaborate on creating a plan for children and youth experiencing homelessness to achieve educational equity with their general student population peers and close the disparities between racial and ethnic groups. Expires December 31, 2018.
SB 6153 / Online credit search tool / S EL/K-12 / Ranker
Informing high school students enrolled in dual credit courses about the online credit search tool.
Requires public high schools to inform students, enrolled in an advanced course that has an accompanying proficiency exam, about the credit search tool provided online by the student achievement council.
SB 6209 / High school success / S EL/K-12 / Mullet
Facilitating high school success.
Requires, rather than encourages, each school district board of directors to adopt an academic acceleration policy for high school students. Requires each school district to enroll a student in a dual credit course or program if he or she wants to enroll in the course or program. Modifies the following areas of education statutes to include all eligible high school students rather than only certain grades: (1) College in the high school program and the running start program; (2) The requirement to provide general information to students about the running start program; and (3) Cooperative agreements between the state's school districts and the community colleges in Oregon and Idaho that allow a student to earn high school and college credit concurrently. Allows a school district to expend a portion of its learning assistance program allocation: (1) To develop a dropout early warning and intervention data system; and (2) On interventions for students identified as at risk of not graduating using the dropout early warning and intervention data system. Includes migrant students and English language learners in the definition of "vulnerable student."
SB 6389 / CTE/alt. learning exp. prgs. / Zeiger
Regarding career and technical education in alternative learning experience programs.
SB 6397 (HB 2717) / Public schools / Hunt
Concerning public schools.
SB 6398 (HB 2656) / College prep. programs / Palumbo
Concerning concurrent enrollment programs and college preparatory with examination programs.
January 13, 2018
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