H-1504.1
SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1305
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Pollet, Stonier, Ortiz-Self, Alvarado, Orwall, Leavitt, Senn,
Bergquist, Bateman, Taylor, Reeves, Davis, Doglio, Santos, Reed,
Kloba, and Fosse)
READ FIRST TIME 02/24/23.
1 AN ACT Relating to improving access to and provision of a free
2 appropriate public education for students with disabilities; amending
3 RCW 28A.225.330, 28A.155.010, 28A.155.020, 28A.155.040, 28A.155.060,
4 28A.155.090, and 28A.155.100; adding new sections to chapter 28A.155
5 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and
6 providing an expiration date.
7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
8 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) If the parent of a student makes a
9 request for the student to be evaluated for a disability or for
10 eligibility for special education services, a school district must
11 provide the parent with a document describing the referral request
12 and initial special education evaluation processes, including
13 relevant deadlines and parental consent requirements. The document
14 must be based on the template created as required under section 2 of
15 this act.
16 (2) Within 22 calendar days after receipt of a referral request
17 for special education services, a school district must: (a) Decide
18 whether to conduct an initial evaluation to determine whether the
19 student is eligible for special education services; and (b) notify
20 the parent of the referred student of the district's decision, using
21 multiple communication channels.
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 1 (3) If a school district has decided to evaluate the student for
2 special education services, the school district must comply with the
3 following procedures and deadlines for obtaining parental consent to
4 evaluate, for evaluating the student, and for the eligibility
5 determination:
6 (a) At the same time as it makes the notification under
7 subsection (2) of this section, the school district must provide the
8 student's parent with a document that informs the parent about the
9 evaluation activities it plans to conduct, and that includes
10 instructions for how and when to provide parental consent to
11 evaluate. The document must be based on the template created as
12 required under section 2 of this act.
13 (b)(i) Except as provided in (b)(ii) of this subsection (3), or
14 as provided in rule, the school district must, within 60 calendar
15 days of receiving a parent's consent to evaluate the student, conduct
16 an evaluation and determine whether the student is eligible for
17 special education services.
18 (ii) When the evaluation activities include student observations
19 in the classroom or school setting, the 60 calendar days for
20 conducting the evaluation following receipt of a parent's consent to
21 evaluate may be suspended during school holidays of a week or longer.
22 (c) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall
23 adopt a rule permitting a school district to exceed the time limits
24 under (b) of this subsection (3) when conducting a quality evaluation
25 warrants additional time, for example: Due to the complexity of the
26 student's diagnoses; the availability of specialists; barriers to
27 coordination of multiple specialists; or barriers to scheduling in-
28 person observations when these observations are an agreed-to
29 evaluation activity.
30 (4) When enrolling a student who has attended school in another
31 school district and who was referred for an initial evaluation for
32 special education services but who does not have an individualized
33 education program, the receiving school district must continue the
34 process of determining the student's eligibility for special
35 education services where the transferring school district stopped.
36 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The office of the superintendent of
37 public instruction shall collaborate with the office of the education
38 ombuds to create a template for school districts to use to meet the
39 requirement in section 1 (1) and (3) of this act related to providing
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1 to parents: (a) Information about the initial special education
2 evaluation process; and (b) instructions for how and when to provide
3 parental consent to evaluate.
4 (2) The template must be translated as for limited English
5 proficient parent groups described in section 4(2) of this act. The
6 template and its translations must be made publicly available on the
7 website of the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
8 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) With regard to parent participation in
9 individualized education program team meetings, a school district
10 must provide prior notification to parents about the accommodations
11 available for persons with disabilities who are in need of
12 communication assistance or accommodations to fully participate in
13 the meeting, including the option to record audio under certain
14 circumstances. Examples of "persons with disabilities who are in need
15 of communication assistance or accommodations" are persons with
16 hearing or speech disabilities and persons with limited English
17 proficiency.
18 (2) School district staff, including related services staff, may
19 participate in an individualized education program team meeting if
20 they have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student,
21 including knowledge of resources or services available to the
22 student.
23 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) School districts may use oral
24 interpreter services, written translation services, and other
25 language access services available for contract through the
26 department of enterprise services to comply with Title II of the
27 Americans with disabilities act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et
28 seq., and Title IV of the civil rights act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec.
29 2000d, et seq.
30 (2) School districts shall provide written translation of
31 documents for each limited English proficient parent group that
32 constitutes at least five percent of the school's total parent
33 population or 1,000 persons, whichever is less.
34 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) As needed to inform the activities
35 described in subsection (2) of this section, the office of the
36 superintendent of public instruction may collect and analyze
37 information about the implementation of the processes for predue
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 1 process hearing resolution and mediation that have been adopted in
2 rule by the office of the superintendent of public instruction. At a
3 minimum, the information must include: Reasons why disputes are not
4 resolved through these processes; and incentives that could be
5 provided or process improvements that could be made to ensure that
6 the parties comply with required elements of the processes and engage
7 in the processes in good faith.
8 (2) Based on the information collected and analyzed under
9 subsection (1) of this section, the office of the superintendent of
10 public instruction may develop, or revise, and publish guidance on
11 best practices for resolving disputes through the predue process
12 hearing resolution process and the mediation process.
13 (3) As used in this section, "due process hearing" means a due
14 process hearing held in accordance with the federal individuals with
15 disabilities education act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.
16 NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Any public entity in Washington
17 responsible for providing special education, related services, or
18 both to students with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the
19 federal individuals with disabilities education act, 20 U.S.C. Sec.
20 1400 et seq., must comply with the provisions of this chapter to the
21 same extent as school districts.
22 (2) Any in-state private entity, in which a Washington student is
23 placed or referred by a public entity in Washington responsible for
24 providing special education, related services, or both to students
25 with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the federal
26 individuals with disabilities education act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et
27 seq., must comply with the provisions of this chapter to the same
28 extent as school districts.
29 (3) Any out-of-state private entity, in which a Washington
30 student is placed or referred by a public entity in Washington
31 responsible for providing special education, related services, or
32 both to students with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the
33 federal individuals with disabilities education act, Title 20 U.S.C.
34 Sec. 1400 et seq., must comply with the provisions of Part B of the
35 federal individuals with disabilities education act, 20 U.S.C. Sec.
36 1400 et seq.
37 NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) Subject to the availability of amounts
38 appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the
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 1 superintendent of public instruction shall distribute funding to
2 educational service districts for the purpose of making school
3 psychologists and other providers with expertise in each category of
4 disability under Part B of the federal individuals with disabilities
5 education act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq., available to conduct
6 initial special education evaluations and reevaluations for special
7 education.
8 (2) Each educational service district must determine its regional
9 need for special education evaluators as described in subsection (1)
10 of this section. At the time and in the manner required by the office
11 of the superintendent of public instruction, each educational service
12 district shall submit a proposal describing its regional need and
13 requesting funding to address that need.
14 (3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must
15 prioritize proposals submitted as required under subsection (2) of
16 this section and may fund all or part of each proposal, subject to
17 availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose.
18 (4) This section expires August 1, 2029.
19 Sec. 8. RCW 28A.225.330 and 2022 c 78 s 3 are each amended to
20 read as follows:
21 (1) When enrolling a student who has attended school in another
22 school district, the school enrolling the student may request the
23 parent and the student to briefly indicate in writing whether or not
24 the student has:
25 (a) Any history of placement in special educational programs;
26 (b) Any past, current, or pending disciplinary action;
27 (c) Any history of violent behavior, or behavior listed in RCW
28 13.04.155;
29 (d) Any unpaid fines or fees imposed by other schools; and
30 (e) Any health conditions affecting the student's educational
31 needs.
32 (2) The school enrolling the student shall request the student's
33 permanent record including records of disciplinary action, history of
34 violent behavior or behavior listed in RCW 13.04.155, attendance,
35 immunization records, ((and)) academic performance from the school
36 the student previously attended, and special education referral
37 requests, documentation of whether a special education eligibility
38 decision is pending and the deadline for making the decision, special
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 1 education evaluation decisions, special education evaluations, and
2 individualized education programs.
3 (3) Upon request, school districts shall furnish a set of
4 unofficial educational records to a parent or guardian of a student
5 who is transferring out of state and who meets the definition of a
6 child of a military family in transition under Article II of RCW
7 28A.705.010. School districts may charge the parent or guardian the
8 actual cost of providing the copies of the records.
9 (4) If information is requested under subsection (2) of this
10 section, the information shall be transmitted within two school days
11 after receiving the request and the records shall be sent as soon as
12 possible. The records of a student who meets the definition of a
13 child of a military family in transition under Article II of RCW
14 28A.705.010 shall be sent within 10 days after receiving the request.
15 Any school district or district employee who releases the information
16 in compliance with this section is immune from civil liability for
17 damages unless it is shown that the school district employee acted
18 with gross negligence or in bad faith. The professional educator
19 standards board shall provide by rule for the discipline under
20 chapter 28A.410 RCW of a school principal or other chief
21 administrator of a public school building who fails to make a good
22 faith effort to assure compliance with this subsection.
23 (5) Any school district or district employee who releases the
24 information in compliance with federal and state law is immune from
25 civil liability for damages unless it is shown that the school
26 district or district employee acted with gross negligence or in bad
27 faith.
28 (6)(a) A school may not prevent students who are the subject of a
29 dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW from enrolling if
30 there is incomplete information as enumerated in subsection (1) of
31 this section during the 10 business days that the department of
32 children, youth, and families has to obtain that information under
33 RCW 74.13.631.
34 (b) If the student who is the subject of a dependency proceeding
35 is subject to an order in a federally recognized tribal court that is
36 the equivalent of a shelter care or dependency order pursuant to
37 chapter 13.34 RCW, or the student is eligible for benefits under the
38 federal foster care system as defined in RCW 28B.117.020, the school
39 may not prevent the student from enrolling if there is incomplete
40 information as enumerated in subsection (1) of this section during
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 1 the 10 business days from the date the equivalent order is entered or
2 from a date determined by the state agency responsible for
3 implementing the unaccompanied refugee minors program.
4 (c) Upon enrollment of a student who is the subject of a
5 dependency proceeding, the school district must make reasonable
6 efforts to obtain and assess that child's educational history in
7 order to meet the child's unique needs within two business days.
8 (7) For the purposes of this section, "students who are the
9 subject of a dependency proceeding" has the same meaning as in RCW
10 28A.150.510.
11 Sec. 9. RCW 28A.155.010 and 2007 c 115 s 1 are each amended to
12 read as follows:
13 It is the purpose of RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.160,
14 sections 1 through 7 of this act, 28A.160.030, and 28A.150.390 to
15 ensure that all children with disabilities as defined in RCW
16 28A.155.020 shall have the opportunity for an appropriate education
17 at public expense as guaranteed to them by the Constitution of this
18 state and applicable federal laws.
19 Sec. 10. RCW 28A.155.020 and 2015 c 206 s 2 are each amended to
20 read as follows:
21 There is established in the office of the superintendent of
22 public instruction an administrative section or unit for the
23 education of children with disabilities who require special
24 education.
25 Students with disabilities are those children whether enrolled in
26 school or not who through an evaluation process are determined
27 eligible for special education due to a disability.
28 In accordance with part B of the federal individuals with
29 disabilities education improvement act and any other federal or state
30 laws relating to the provision of special education services, the
31 superintendent of public instruction shall require each school
32 district in the state to insure an appropriate educational
33 opportunity for all children with disabilities between the ages of
34 three and twenty-one, but when the twenty-first birthday occurs
35 during the school year, the educational program may be continued
36 until the end of that school year. The superintendent of public
37 instruction, by rule, shall establish for the purpose of excess cost
38 funding, as provided in RCW 28A.150.390, 28A.160.030, ((and))
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 1 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.160, and sections 1 through 7 of this
2 act, functional definitions of special education, the various types
3 of disabling conditions, and eligibility criteria for special
4 education programs for children with disabilities, including referral
5 procedures, use of positive behavior interventions, the education
6 curriculum and statewide or district-wide assessments, parent and
7 district requests for special education due process hearings, and
8 procedural safeguards. For the purposes of RCW 28A.155.010 through
9 28A.155.160 and sections 1 through 7 of this act, an appropriate
10 education is defined as an education directed to the unique needs,
11 abilities, and limitations of the children with disabilities who are
12 enrolled either full time or part time in a school district. School
13 districts are strongly encouraged to provide parental