Pilot Program for Basic Education Act Waiver Petitions for the Purposes of Economy and Efficiency
The 2009 Legislature created a new law that established a pilot program in which SBE was given authority to grant waivers from the requirement for a one hundred eighty-day school year to school districts that propose to operate one or more schools on a flexible calendar for purposes of economy and efficiency (Substitute House Bill 1292). Only five school districts are eligible for these waivers, two of which have student populations under 150 and three of which have student populations between 150 and 500. The requirement that school districts offer an annual average instructional hour offering of at least one thousand hours cannot be waived.
The new legislation is a pilot program. SBE will monitor and provide recommendations to the Legislature by December 15, 2013, regarding whether the waiver program should be continued, modified, or allowed to terminate. The monitoring of the waivers will include annual analysis of empirical data from school districts to determine whether the waiver is affecting student learning. If SBE determines that student learning is adversely affected, it will notify the school district to discontinue the flexible calendar as soon as possible but not later than the beginning of the next school year. The pilot program ends August 31, 2014.
Procedure and Application Information
At its September 2009 Regular Board Meeting, SBE approved procedure and an application for the acceptance and approval of waiver requiests under the the Pilot Program for Waivers from the 180 school-day requirement of the Basic Education Act for the purposes of economy and efficiency.
Procedure
School districts applying for pilot program waivers will need to meet the requirements of the legislation (SHB 1292) and the requirements of the State Board of Educaiton, which include:
- Conduct one or more public hearings on the proposal.
- Provide a proposed calendar.
- Provide a resolution signed by the district board of directors with the number of days and the school years for the requested waiver and have assurances that the district will:
- Meet the annual average 1,000 hours of instructional hour offerings.
- Discontinue the flexible calendar as soon as possible if the State Board of Education determines that student learning is adversely affected.
- Collect and provide at the end of each year data on:
Attendance rates of students and teachers; and
satisfaction surveys of parents, students, staff, and teachers with a target of 60% or greater participation rate for each group.
- Complete the application.
The application, resolution, proposed calendar, and all supporting documentation must be received by the State Board of Education at least thirty days prior to the state board of education meeting where consideration of the waiver shall occur. The state board of education shall review all applications and supporting documentation to insure the accuracy of the information. In the event that deficiencies are noted in the application or documentation, districts will have the opportunity to make corrections and to seek state board approval at a subsequent meeting.
Application Form
- Application Form
Contact Information
Brad Burnham
Policy and Legislative Specialist
360-725-6029
brad.burnham@k12.wa.us
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