WAC 180-16-195   Annual reporting and review process.  (1) Annual school district reports. A review of each school district's kindergarten through twelfth grade program shall be conducted annually for the purpose of determining compliance or noncompliance with basic education program approval requirements. On or before September 15th of each school year, each school district superintendent shall complete and return the program assurance form (OSPI Form 1497) distributed by the state board of education as a part of an electronic submission to OSPI. The form shall be designed to elicit data necessary to a determination of a school district's compliance or noncompliance with basic education program approval requirements. The form shall be submitted electronically and signed by:

     (a) The school board president or chairperson, and

     (b) The superintendent of the school district.

     (2) State board staff review.

     (a) State board of education staff shall review each school district's program assurance form, conduct on-site monitoring visits of randomly selected school districts, as needed and subject to funding support, and prepare recommendations and reports for presentation to the state board of education: Provided, That, if a school district's initial program assurance form does not establish compliance with the basic education program approval requirements, the district shall be provided the opportunity to explain the deficiency or deficiencies. School districts which foresee that they will not be able to comply with the program approval requirements, or that are deemed by the state board to be in noncompliance, may petition for a waiver on the basis of substantial lack of classroom space as set forth in WAC 180-16-225 and instructional hours offering requirements under WAC 180-18-030.

     (b) School districts may use the personnel and services of the educational service district to assist the district and schools in the district that are out of compliance with basic education program approval requirements.

     (3) Annual certification of compliance or noncompliance -- Withholding of funds for noncompliance.

     (a) At the November meeting of the state board of education, or at such other meeting as the board shall designate, the board shall certify by motion each school district as being in compliance or noncompliance with the basic education program approval requirements.

     (b) A certification of compliance shall be effective for the then current school year subject to any subsequent ad hoc review and determination of noncompliance as may be deemed necessary by the state board of education or advisable by the superintendent of public instruction. In addition, a certification of compliance shall be effective tentatively for the succeeding school year until such time as the state board takes its annual action certifying compliance or noncompliance with the program approval requirements.

     (c) A certification of noncompliance shall be effective until program compliance is assured by the school district to the satisfaction of state board of education staff, subject to review by the state board. Basic education allocation funds shall be deducted from the basic education allocation of a school district that has been certified as being in noncompliance unless such district has received a waiver from the state board for such noncompliance, pursuant to WAC 180-16-225 or 180-18-030, or assurance of program compliance is subsequently provided for the school year previously certified as in noncompliance and is accepted by the state board.

     (d) The withholding of basic education allocation funding from a school district shall not occur for a noncompliance if the school district has remediated the noncompliance situation within sixty school business days from the time the district receives notice of the noncompliance from the state board of education. The state board of education may extend the sixty days timeline only if the district demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that sixty days is not reasonable to make the necessary corrections. For the purposes of this section, a school business day shall mean any calendar day, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and any federal and school holidays upon which the office of the superintendent of the school district is open to the public for the conduct of business. A school business day shall be concluded or terminated upon the closure of said office for the calendar day.

     (e) The superintendent of public instruction, or his/her designee, after notification by the state board of education to a school district regarding an existing noncompliance, shall enter into a compliance agreement with the school district that shall include, but not be limited to, the following criteria:

     (i) A deadline for school district remediation of the noncompliance(s), not to exceed sixty school business days per noncompliance as specified in (d) of this subsection.

     (ii) A listing of all the noncompliance areas and the necessary terms that must be satisfied in each area in order for the school district to gain compliance status. This listing also shall specify additional deadlines for the accomplishment of the stated terms if different from the final deadline as specified in subsection (1) of this section.

     (iii) A closing statement specifying that a school district's failure to remediate a noncompliance by the determined deadline shall result in the immediate withholding of the district's basic education allocation funding by the superintendent of public instruction.

     (iv) The date and the signatures of the superintendent of the school district, the chair of the district's board of directors, and the superintendent of public instruction, or his/her designee, to the agreement. A copy of the completed compliance agreement shall be sent to the chairperson of the school district's board of directors and the school district superintendent.

     (f) In the event a school district fails to sign the compliance agreement within five school business days from the date of issuance or does not satisfy the terms of the signed compliance agreement within the designated amount of time, the superintendent of public instruction shall withhold state funds for the basic education allocation until program compliance is assured based on the following procedure:

     (i) For the first month that a noncompliance exists following the conditions as specified in (f) of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall withhold twenty-five percent of the state funds for the basic education allocation to a school district.

     (ii) For the second month that a noncompliance exists following the conditions as specified in (f) of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall withhold fifty percent of the state funds for the basic education allocation to a school district.

     (iii) For the third month that a noncompliance exists following the conditions as specified in (f) of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall withhold seventy-five percent of the state funds for the basic education allocation to a school district.

     (iv) For the fourth month, and every month thereafter, that a noncompliance exists following the conditions as specified in (f) of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall withhold one hundred percent of the state funds for the basic education allocation to a school district until compliance is assured.

     (g) Any school district may appeal to the state board of education the decision of noncompliance by the state board of education. Such appeal shall be limited to the interpretation and application of these rules by the state board of education. Such appeal shall not stay the withholding of any state funds pursuant to this section. The state board of education may not waive any of the basic education entitlement requirements as set forth in this chapter, except as provided in WAC 180-16-225 or 180-18-030.

     (4) The provisions of subsection (3)(f) of this section shall not apply if the noncompliance is related to the district's fiscal condition and results in the implementation of a financial plan under RCW 28A.505.140(3).



[Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.150.220, 28A.150.250, and 28A.150.260. 11-17-044, § 180-16-195, filed 8/11/11, effective 9/11/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.150.220(4), 28A.305.140,28A.305.130 (6). 02-18-056, § 180-16-195, filed 8/28/02, effective 9/28/02. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.150.250, 28A.150.260 and 28A.15.220 [28A.150.220]. 99-10-091, § 180-16-195, filed 5/4/99, effective 6/4/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.58.754(6). 84-11-043 (Order 2-84), § 180-16-195, filed 5/17/84. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.04.120. 83-13-002 (Order 3-83), § 180-16-195, filed 6/2/83. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.01.010, 28A.04.120, 28A.41.130, 28A.41.140, 28A.58.754, 28A.58.758, and 1979 ex.s. c 250. 79-10-033 (Order 10-79), § 180-16-195, filed 9/12/79. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.41.130 and 28A.58.754. 78-06-097 (Order 3-78), § 180-16-195, filed 6/5/78.]