Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall create a grant program and award grants to local partnerships of schools, families, and communities to begin the phase in of a statewide comprehensive dropout prevention, intervention, and retrieval system. This program shall be known as the building bridges program.

     (1) For purposes of RCW 28A.175.025 through 28A.175.075, a "building bridges program" means a local partnership of schools, families, and communities that provides all of the following programs or activities:

     (a) A system that identifies individual students at risk of dropping out from middle through high school based on local predictive data, including state assessment data starting in the fourth grade, and provides timely interventions for such students and for dropouts, including a plan for educational success as already required by the student learning plan as defined under RCW 28A.655.061. Students identified shall include foster care youth, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and students receiving special education services under chapter 28A.155 RCW;

     (b) Coaches or mentors for students as necessary;

     (c) Staff responsible for coordination of community partners that provide a seamless continuum of academic and nonacademic support in schools and communities;

     (d) Retrieval or reentry activities; and

     (e) Alternative educational programming, including, but not limited to, career and technical education exploratory and preparatory programs and online learning opportunities.

     (2) One of the grants awarded under this section shall be for a two-year demonstration project focusing on providing fifth through twelfth grade students with a program that utilizes technology and is integrated with state standards, basic academics, cross-cultural exposures, and age-appropriate preemployment training. The project shall:

     (a) Establish programs in two western Washington and one eastern Washington urban areas;

     (b) Identify at-risk students in each of the distinct communities and populations and implement strategies to close the achievement gap;

     (c) Collect and report data on participant characteristics and outcomes of the project, including the characteristics and outcomes specified under RCW 28A.175.035(1)(e); and

     (d) Submit a report to the legislature by December 1, 2009.

[2007 c 408 § 2.]

NOTES:

     Intent -- Findings -- 2007 c 408: "It is the intent of the legislature that increasing academic success and increasing graduation rates be dual goals for the K-12 system. The legislature finds that only seventy-four percent of the class of 2005 graduated on time. Students of color, students living in poverty, students in foster care, students in the juvenile justice system, students who are homeless, students for whom English is not their primary language, and students with disabilities have lower graduation rates than the average. The legislature further finds that students who drop out experience more frequent occurrences of early pregnancy, delinquency, substance abuse, and mental health issues, and have greater need of publicly funded health and social services. The legislature further finds that helping all students be successful in school requires active participation in coordinating services from schools, parents, and other stakeholders and agencies in the local community. The legislature finds that existing resources to vulnerable youth are used more efficiently and effectively when there is significant coordination across local and state entities. The legislature further finds that efficiency and accountability of the K-12 system would be improved by creating a dropout prevention and intervention grant program that implements research-based and emerging best practices and evaluates results." [2007 c 408 § 1.]