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In Friday’s Update (Feb. 12), we neglected to report
on an important work session in the House Education
Committee regarding “school district organization”
(read: consolidation). We reported early in the session
about the introduction of
HB 2616. In short, HB 2616 would require the
establishment of a commission to recommend how to
reorganize the state into no more than 150 school
districts. The number and a reorganization of the
state’s Educational Service Districts would have also
been apart of the commission’s recommendation duties.
Early in the session, the bill was scheduled for a
public hearing in the House Education Committee.
Following conversations with Rep. Dave Quall, Chair of
the Committee, the bill was pulled from the agenda, with
no intention of adding the bill back at a later date. In
pulling the bill, however, Rep. Quall made it clear that
he was interested in further exploring the consolidation
issue. That discussion was the focus of Friday’s work
session.
The work session started with a general history of
school district organization, with Committee staff
noting that there were almost 3,000 school districts in
the state in the early 1900’s. Following massive school
district consolidation in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the
number of districts dwindled to 591 in 1950. Still more
consolidation occurred over the next 20-30 years,
leaving 322 school districts in 1970 and 300 school
districts in 1980. Since that time only five school
districts have been consolidated, bringing us to the
current level of 295 school districts. Committee staff
also reviewed the size of school districts — over 60
percent (184) of Washington school districts enroll
fewer than 2,000 students, while more than half of the
state’s students attend a school district with more than
10,000 students. Interestingly, staff made the point
that Washington is very similar to the nation as a whole
in its distribution of students across school districts
of various sizes. (To see this presentation, go to the
Legislature’s
Electronic Bill Book; click on 2/12/2010; Work
Session; School District Organization; Staff Overview.)
Following the staff overview, representatives of the
Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee gave a brief
update on the study they are currently conducting,
regarding
School District Cost and Size. Their presentation
included the study’s scope and objectives. This study is
scheduled to be completed in June 2010.
Committee staff had earlier invited school directors
and the ESDs to present to the Committee and close the
work session. Representing school directors were
Kathleen Anderson, school director from Coupeville and a
member of WSSDA’s Small Schools Task Force, and Kevin
Laverty, school director from Mukilteo and WSSDA’s
current president. Both did an excellent job (in the
short time they were provided) in reminding Committee
members that forced school district consolidation can
have long-lasting negative impacts on the communities
involved. Additionally, they noted the positive research
on graduation rates and other student achievement data
in our small school districts. Both Anderson and
Laverty, along with Dr. Bill Keim, Superintendent ESD
113 (Olympia), drove home the point that before that
state forces consolidation on any district, there should
be a clear and compelling state interest and there
should be strong evidence that the consolidation
“solution” offers real and measurable improvement in the
lives of the students and communities affected. Audio of
the work session is archived on
TVW Web site; the discussion of school district
organization begins at 1 hour and 22 minutes into the
hearing.
It is clear that HB 2616 will not move this year;
however, the issue of school district consolidation will
continue to be a hot issue. It is likely that
legislation similar to HB 2616 will be introduced next
year.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, both the House and Senate held
lengthy floor sessions and both bodies took action on
important education-related legislation. The House
adopted the following bills: HB 2776, HB 2893, HB 2670,
HB 2913, HB 1162, HB 3026, HB 1757, HB 1697 and HB 2580.
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HB 2776 would adopt new funding distribution
formulas for K-12 education. This QEC-related bill
would begin the implementation of last year’s HB
2261 (Basic Education finance reform) by attaching
numerical values to allocations in the prototypical
school funding formula. The bill was adopted with a
vote of 73-23 and moves to the Senate for action.
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HB 2893 would increase school district levy lids
by four percent, increase Local Effort Assistance by
two percent, and restore school district levy bases.
Prior to being adopted by the House Education
Appropriations Committee, the bill was amended.
There were technical amendments and also a major
policy decision. A “reverse severability” clause was
added to the bill, which declares that each section
of the bill represents a comprehensive plan for
addressing school levy laws such that if any section
passed by the Legislature is invalidated or not
signed into law, or if OSPI does not certify that
full funding has been appropriated for the LEA rates
in the bill, the entire act is null and void. Given
this strong amendment and the discussion on the
floor, it is clear that there is no intention (at
least in the House) of increasing the levy lid
without also increasing LEA. Continuing to be
controversial, the bill was adopted by the House
with a 55-41 vote and moves to the Senate for
action. HB 2893 has already been scheduled for a
public hearing in the Senate Early Learning & K-12
Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
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HB 2670 would enhance school district levy bases
by assuming Initiative 728 (Student Achievement) and
Initiative 732 (educator COLAs) were fully
implemented by the Legislature. The I-728/I-732 levy
base enhancement currently in law is set to expire
at the end of calendar year 2011; HB 2670 would
extend this sunset to December 2017. The bill would
also allow K-4 class size enhancement funding to
continue to be counted in calculation of school
district levy bases if the funding is eliminated.
The previous bill, HB 2893, includes the same
language regarding levy bases. Both bills continue
to move to help ensure that legislation can be
adopted to restore levy bases, even if “the wheels
fall off” and a levy lid/LEA increase cannot be
adopted. The bill was adopted with a vote of 93-3.
It has been scheduled for a public hearing in the
Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee on Wednesday,
Feb. 17.
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HB 2913 would authorize innovative interdistrict
cooperative high school programs. Sponsored by Rep.
Kathy Haigh, the bill would allow nonhigh districts
to establish “Innovation Academies” to provide local
options to their high school age students. The bill
passed the House with no dissenting votes and awaits
action by the Senate.
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HB 1162, a returning bill from last year, would
create a Social Emotional Learning Public-Private
Partnership Account to promote and encourage
incorporation of Social Emotional Learning into
basic education instruction in public schools. The
bill was passed with a vote of 59-35. It has been
scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Early
Learning & K-12 Committee on Thursday, Feb. 18.
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HB 3026 would add a new chapter to the school
code paralleling the current Sexual Equality chapter
and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race,
creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation,
religious affiliation, veteran or military status,
disability, or the use of a trained guide or service
animal by a person with a disability. Additionally,
OSPI would be: charged with developing rules and
guidelines to eliminate such discrimination; and
authorized to enforce compliance. The bill was
adopted with a vote of 59-35. HB 3026 has been
scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Early
Learning & K-12 Committee on Thursday, Feb. 18.
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HB 1757 would create a Small School District
Contingency Fund to provide three-year loans to
small school districts in financial distress. The
bill was adopted with no dissenting votes. It has
been scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate
Early Learning & K-12 Committee on Wednesday, Feb.
17.
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HB 1697 would provide clarifications regarding
what career and technical student organizations must
do in order to be eligible for staff support and
assistance from OSPI. The bill passed the House
with no dissenting votes and awaits action by the
Senate.
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HB 2580 would allow a high school skills center
to request assistance from the State Board for
Community and Technical Colleges if it believes a
college is not following the law which requires
colleges to recognize dual credit agreements for
secondary career and technical education courses.
The bill was adopted by the House with no dissenting
votes and awaits action by the Senate.
On Saturday, the Senate adopted one education-related
bill:
SB 6702. SB 6702 would provide for a program of
education for juveniles confined in adult jail
facilities. It was adopted by the Senate with a vote of
38-8 and has been scheduled for a public hearing in the
House Education Committee on Friday, Feb. 19.
Both the House and Senate took a break on Sunday, but
had full agendas again on Monday. At the time this
Update was being prepared, the Senate had adopted three
bills of interest to school directors: SB 6759, SB 6367
and SB 6778.
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SB 6759 would require a plan for a voluntary
program of early learning as a part of basic
education. The Senate adopted the bill with no
dissenting votes and awaits action in the House.
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SB 6367 would allow public agencies (including
school districts) to respond to public records
requests by providing an internet address where the
responsive records can be found on the agency’s Web
site. There remains an allowance for requestors to
ask for and receive hard copies of documents from
the agency if the requestor cannot access records
through the internet. The bill passed the Senate
with no dissenting votes and awaits action in the
House.
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SB 6778 would allow an alternative route to a
high school diploma. If a student completed the
minimum course requirements for admission to a
public four-year higher education institution,
attained at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point
average in those courses and completed a culminating
project and a high school and beyond plan, they
would be awarded a high school diploma. A floor
amendment added a requirement that students must
also successfully complete one occupational credit.
These students would not be required to earn a
Certificate of Academic Achievement or a Certificate
of Individual Achievement in order to graduate. The
bill was adopted by the Senate with a vote of 35-12
and has been scheduled for a public hearing in the
House Education Committee on Friday, Feb. 19.
Today the House had taken action on one
education-related bill at the time this Update was
prepared. With no dissenting votes, the House adopted
HB 2759. HB 2759 would exclude from school
districts' levy bases state or federal allocations that
are based on non-resident students enrolled in an online
school program. This bill is intended to keep school
districts from starting online school programs for
financial motives, rather than for academic purposes.
Both the House and Senate are expected to work late
tonight in an effort to adopt priority legislation prior
to Tuesday’s 5:00 pm “house of origin” cut-off deadline.
We will report on any additional education-related
action in tomorrow’s Update.
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