Bill Priority List – Updated 2/8/2019 – Full Detail HIGH PRIORITY Recruitment and Retention SB 5315 Increasing student support staff in the prototypical school funding model Requires additional allocations to be provided for school nurses, social workers, psychologists, and guidance counselors, beginning in the 2019-2021 biennium and beginning with school districts with the highest percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals in the prior school year. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO SB 5821 / HB 2012 Providing equitable bonuses to K-12 instructional staff who attain national certification through professional organizations. Bill Digest not yet available. Providing equitable bonuses to K-12 instructional staff who attain national certification through professional organizations. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO Social Emotional Learning SB5082 S Creating a committee to promote and expand social emotional learning. Creates the social emotional learning committee to: (1) Promote and expand social emotional learning; and (2) Help students build awareness and skills in managing emotions, setting goals, establishing relationships, and making responsible decisions that support success in school and life. Encourages the governor and the tribes to jointly designate two members who have experience working in and with schools to serve on the committee. Requires the committee to have a joint meeting once a year with the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee. Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to: (1) Adopt the standards and benchmarks recommended by the social emotional learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report; and (2) Align the programs it oversees with the standards for social emotional learning and integrate the standards where appropriate. Requires the professional educator standards board to incorporate the standards for social emotional learning along the entire career continuum. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO SB 5689 Concerning harassment, intimidation, bullying, and discrimination in public schools. Bill digest not yet available. Summery provided by the GPR Committee: Requires every district to have written policy and procedure regarding transgender students. The Washington School Directors Association already has a model school board policy (3211 and 3211P), but only a handful of districts have adopted it. Secondly, the bill explicitly adds gender identity/gender expression to Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying rules. Third, it says there must be a designated contact person who is responsible for implementing the policy and procedure and responsible for receiving complaints about noncompliance, and those contact persons are also required by this bill to have training. Fourth - it does require training of all staff, which appears to be an online course. Fifth, it requires reporting to OSPI and the legislature of incidents of HIB, including incidents against trans students. Sixth, it requires districts to "review and align the questions in the healthy youth survey with the model transgender student policy and procedure developed under section 2 of this act". The Centers for Disease Control over the last 10 years has had optional questions addressing sexual orientation and gender identity in the annual Healthy Youth Survey, these would have to be used and the data reported. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO Current Status: 1/28: Referred to the Senate Education Committee MEDIUM PRIORITY Delinking test scores from graduation HB 1089 Concerning certificates of academic and individual achievement. Discontinues certificates of academic achievement and certificates of individual achievement as graduation requirements. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO SB 5014 Reducing state assessment requirements to only those required for federal purposes in order to facilitate removal of inequitable barriers to students. Changes high school graduation requirements by reducing state assessment requirements to only those required for federal purposes. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO School Safety Issues HB 1264 Concerning secondary traumatic stress in public school staff. Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to identify or develop online training modules to support teachers affected by secondary traumatic stress. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO SB 5317/ HB 1216 Concerning non-firearm measures to increase school safety and student well-being. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to establish a school safety center. Requires each educational service district to establish a regional school safety center. Provides that the regional school safety centers, working in collaboration with one another and the state school safety center, form a statewide network for school safety for the purpose of providing coordination of school safety efforts throughout the state and school safety resources to the school districts in each educational service district region. Creates the school safety and student well-being advisory committee, within the office of the superintendent of public instruction, to advise the superintendent, the office of the superintendent of public instruction's school safety center, the regional school safety centers, school districts, and public and private schools on comprehensive school safety and student well-being. Requires each school district to adopt a policy and procedure to establish a school-based threat assessment program. Requires the Washington state school directors' association, in collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, to develop a model policy and procedure to establish a school-based threat assessment program. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to monitor public schools and school districts, at least once every five years, to ensure they are meeting the following requirements relating to: Comprehensive safe school plans; plans for recognition, initial screening, and response to emotional or behavioral distress in students; and school-based threat assessment programs. Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to conduct a study of school districts' use of the first responder mapping information system. Changes the composition of the emergency management council by including the office of the superintendent of public instruction. Repeals RCW 28A.310.505 (regional school safety and security programs). WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO WSASP ACTION TAKEN: Written testimony provided to the Senate Education Committee for the 1/30/2019 Public Hearing. See this testimony here. SB 5216 Developing multistage threat assessments to increase safety in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. Requires school districts and institutions of higher education to develop and implement a multistage threat assessment process that meets local safety needs and aligns with an evidence-based model. Defines a threat assessment as a multistage structured team process used to evaluate the risk posed by a student, individuals, or groups typically as a response to an actual or perceived threat or concerning behavior. Requires educational service districts to develop and maintain the capacity to offer training, coordination, and evaluation on the multistage threat assessment process. Requires the reengagement plan to be communicated with law enforcement and service providers as appropriate. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO Recruitment and Retention Issues HB 1139 Expanding the current and future educator workforce supply. Improves and incentivizes the recruitment and retention of highly effective educators (language that is inclusive of school psychologists and other ESA’s), especially in high-need subject, grade-level, and geographic areas, by expanding the current and future educator workforce supply through evidence-based strategies. Establishes a cohesive continuum of high-quality professional learning from preparation programs to job embedded induction, mentoring, collaboration, and other professional development opportunities. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO Professional Practices SB 5532 Concerning special education. Addresses the education of students with disabilities. Requires each school district to: (1) Provide professional development regarding special education; and (2) Convene an ongoing special education advisory committee to increase parental and family involvement and be a partner with the school district to provide effective special education programming. Requires the superintendent of public instruction to adopt rules for required reporting of the school district that align with the federal individuals with disabilities education act reporting requirements. Provides a recognition award for a school district that meets or exceeds system-wide performance goals or measurements. Requires the state board of education, in collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, to decide on the details of the recognition award. Requires a representative from the division of vocational rehabilitation (DVR) to attend each individualized education program meeting to assist certain students with transition planning. Requires each school district and teacher preparation program to include mandatory coursework on special education and related services that includes: (1) Why some students with disabilities need special education or related services; and (2) How to recognize students with disabilities who may qualify for special education or related services. WSASP – PRO WEA – Other LOW PRIORITY Gun Issues HB 1763 Preparing for and responding to active shooter events and other acts of mass violence at schools. Bill digest not yet available. Preparing for and responding to active shooter events and other acts of mass violence at schools. WSASP – CON WEA – CON HB 1038 Allowing public school districts and private schools to adopt a policy authorizing permanent employees to possess firearms on school grounds under certain conditions. Authorizes private schools and the board of directors of a school district to adopt a written policy authorizing permanent employees of the private school or a school located within the school district to possess firearms on school grounds. WSASP – CON WEA – CON Social Emotional Learning and Mental Health SB 5685 Requiring a primary contact in schools to recognize, screen, and respond to emotional or behavioral distress in students. Requiring a primary contact in schools to recognize, screen, and respond to emotional or behavioral distress in students. This bill does not provide new funding for these positions, only requires additional responsibilities for existing staff. WSASP – CON WEA – CON HB 1221 Improving crisis planning in schools to prevent youth suicide. Finds that: (1) Youth suicide is an urgent public health problem in the country; (2) Mental health issues are one of the strongest predictors among adolescents for engaging in self-harm and suicidal behavior; and (3) Reliance on traditional models of mental health service delivery will not ameliorate the problem of youth suicide, pointing to the need for school-based approaches. Imposes requirements on the following to improve crisis planning to prevent youth suicide: School district staff including school nurses, counselors, social workers, psychologists, parents, and guardians; educational service districts; public schools; regional and local systems of behavioral health care services and supports; forefront suicide prevention at the University of Washington; the office of the superintendent of public instruction; the mental health promotion and suicide prevention program; mental health referral networks; the state institute for public policy; and the professional educator standards board's training program on youth suicide screening and referral. WSASP – PRO WEA – PRO |
