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 the first Monday in November 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. 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. Data reported by a
school district shall accurately represent the actual status
of the school district's program as of the first school day in
October and as thus far provided and scheduled for the entire
current school year. The form shall be 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 annual spring 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(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.]