(1) Every school district board of directors shall:

     (a) Make available to each eligible pupil transitional bilingual instruction to achieve competency in English, in accord with rules of the superintendent of public instruction;

     (b) Wherever feasible, ensure that communications to parents emanating from the schools shall be appropriately bilingual for those parents of pupils in the bilingual instruction program;

     (c) Determine, by administration of an English test approved by the superintendent of public instruction the number of eligible pupils enrolled in the school district at the beginning of a school year and thereafter during the year as necessary in individual cases;

     (d) Ensure that a student who is a child of a military family in transition and who has been assessed as in need of, or enrolled in, a bilingual instruction program, the receiving school shall initially honor placement of the student into a like program.

     (i) The receiving school shall determine whether the district's program is a like program when compared to the sending school's program; and

     (ii) The receiving school may conduct subsequent assessments pursuant to RCW 28A.180.090 to determine appropriate placement and continued enrollment in the program;

     (e) Before the conclusion of each school year, measure each eligible pupil's improvement in learning the English language by means of a test approved by the superintendent of public instruction; and

     (f) Provide in-service training for teachers, counselors, and other staff, who are involved in the district's transitional bilingual program. Such training shall include appropriate instructional strategies for children of culturally different backgrounds, use of curriculum materials, and program models.

     (2) The definitions in Article II of RCW 28A.705.010 apply to subsection (1)(d) of this section.

[2009 c 380 § 5; 2001 1st sp.s. c 6 § 4; 1984 c 124 § 3; 1979 c 95 § 3. Formerly RCW 28A.58.804.]

NOTES:

     Effective date -- 1979 c 95 § 3: "Section 3 of this act shall take effect September 1, 1980." [1979 c 95 § 7.]

     Severability -- 1979 c 95: See note following RCW 28A.180.010.