Public education funding

AN ACT Relating to efficiencies and programming changes in public 1
education; amending RCW 28A.160.200, 28A.230.215, and 28A.600.402; 2
and declaring an emergency. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.160.200 and 1995 1st sp.s. c 10 s 2 are each 5
amended to read as follows: 6
(1) The superintendent shall develop a reimbursement schedule to 7
pay districts for the cost of student transportation vehicles 8
purchased after September 1, 1982. While it is the responsibility of 9
each district to select and pay for each student transportation 10
vehicle purchased by the district, each district shall be paid a sum 11
based on the category of vehicle, anticipated lifetime of vehicles of 12
this category, and state reimbursement rate for the category plus 13
inflation as recognized by the reimbursement schedule established in 14
this section as set by the superintendent. Categories and 15
reimbursement rates of vehicles shall be those established under RCW 16
28A.160.195. The accumulated value of the payments and the potential 17
investment return thereon shall be designed to be equal to the 18
replacement cost of the vehicle less its salvage value at the end of 19
its anticipated lifetime. Beginning with buses that are scheduled for 20
depreciation payments as of September 2025 and those qualifying for 21
Z-0614.1
HOUSE BILL 2676
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Gregerson, Ormsby, and Macri; by request of Office
of Financial Management
Read first time 01/27/26. Referred to Committee on Appropriations.
p. 1 HB 2676
payments after that date, the superintendent shall use a minimum 1
anticipated lifetime of 180 months. The superintendent shall revise 2
at least annually the reimbursement payments based on the current and 3
anticipated future cost of comparable categories of transportation 4
equipment. Reimbursements to school districts for approved 5
transportation equipment shall be placed in a separate transportation 6
vehicle fund established for each school district under RCW 7
28A.160.130. However, educational service districts providing student 8
transportation services pursuant to RCW 28A.310.180(4) and receiving 9
moneys generated pursuant to this section shall establish and 10
maintain a separate transportation vehicle account in the educational 11
service district's general expense fund for the purposes and subject 12
to the conditions under RCW 28A.160.130 and 28A.320.300.13
(2) To the extent possible, districts shall operate vehicles 14
acquired under this section not less than the number of years or 15
useful lifetime now, or hereafter, assigned to the category of 16
vehicles by the superintendent. School districts shall properly 17
maintain the transportation equipment acquired under the provisions 18
of this section, in accordance with rules established by the office 19
of the superintendent of public instruction. If a district fails to 20
follow generally accepted standards of maintenance and operation, the 21
superintendent of public instruction shall penalize the district by 22
deducting from future reimbursements under this section an amount 23
equal to the original cost of the vehicle multiplied by the fraction 24
of the useful lifetime or miles the vehicle failed to operate.25
(3) The superintendent shall annually develop a depreciation 26
schedule to recognize the cost of depreciation to districts 27
contracting with private carriers for student transportation. 28
Payments on this schedule shall be a straight line depreciation based 29
on the original cost of the appropriate category of vehicle.30
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.230.215 and 2023 c 271 s 4 are each amended to 31
read as follows: 32
(1) The legislature finds that fully realizing the potential of 33
high school and beyond plans as meaningful tools for articulating and 34
revising pathways for graduation will require additional school 35
counselors and family coordinators. The legislature further finds 36
that the development and implementation of an online electronic 37
platform for high school and beyond plans will be an appropriate and 38
supportive action that will assist students, parents and guardians, 39
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educators, school counselors, and other staff who support students' 1
career and college preparation as the legislature explores options 2
for funding additional school counselors. 3
(2) Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, each school district 4
must ensure that an electronic high school and beyond plan platform 5
is available to all students who are required to have a high school 6
and beyond plan. 7
(3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall 8
facilitate the transition to a universal online high school and 9
beyond plan platform that will ensure consistent and equitable access 10
to the needed information and support to guide students' educational 11
experience and ensure preparation for their postsecondary plans.12
(a) By January 1, 2024, the office of the superintendent of 13
public instruction must develop a preliminary list of existing 14
vendors who can provide or build a platform that meets the criteria 15
outlined in subsection (4) of this section and that supports the high 16
school and beyond plan elements identified in RCW 28A.230.212 and has 17
the capabilities to support the new elements identified in section 5, 18
chapter 271, Laws of 2023. The office of the superintendent of public 19
instruction must submit the list of existing vendors and estimated 20
costs associated with statewide implementation of the universal 21
platform to the governor and the education policy and fiscal 22
committees of the legislature. 23
(b) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 24
specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public 25
instruction must select the vendor that will be responsible for 26
developing the universal platform by June 1, 2024.27
(c) By October 1, 2024, the office of the superintendent of 28
public instruction must develop an implementation plan including both 29
an estimated timeline and updated cost estimates, including the 30
technical assistance, technology updates, ongoing maintenance 31
requirements, and adjustments to the technology funding formula, and 32
statewide professional development that may be needed, for completing 33
full statewide implementation of the universal platform in all school 34
districts. In the implementation plan, the office of the 35
superintendent of public instruction may include a cost alternative 36
for educational service districts to host the universal platform for 37
school districts of the second class when such a district does not 38
have sufficient technology resources to implement and maintain the 39
universal platform. 40
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(4)(a) In addition to the requirements outlined in RCW 1
28A.230.212, the universal platform must have the capability to be 2
routinely updated and modified in order to include the following 3
elements and capabilities to ensure equity in high school and beyond 4
plans implementation and engagement across the state that:5
(i) Enable students to create, personalize, and revise their high 6
school and beyond plan; 7
(ii) Comply with all necessary state and federal requirements for 8
student privacy and allow for students to opt in or opt out of 9
portions of the universal platform related to third-party information 10
sharing; 11
(iii) Use technology that can quickly be adapted to include 12
future statutory changes, administrative changes, or both, as well as 13
integrate enhancements to improve the features and functionality;14
(iv) Facilitate the automatic import of academic course, credit, 15
and grade data at a regular interval from the most commonly used 16
district student information system platforms and manual import from 17
less commonly used systems so that students' progress towards 18
graduation in the high school (([and])) and beyond plan is accurately 19
reflected at any given time; 20
(v) Allow for translation into the most common non-English 21
languages across the state in accordance with the model language 22
access policy and procedures as required under chapter 28A.183 RCW;23
(vi) Include multiple and varied in-platform assessments with 24
viewable results that can inform career and postsecondary goals 25
including, but not limited to, personality, learning styles, 26
interests, aptitudes, and skills assessments; 27
(vii) Include a catalog containing meaningful, high quality 28
career exploration opportunities and resources beyond the traditional 29
college, career, and aptitude assessments that are submitted by 30
approved entities (community organizations, institutions of higher 31
education that are authorized to participate in state financial aid 32
programs under chapter 28B.92 RCW, and employers) and vetted by 33
state-selected approvers that allow students to register for or apply 34
to participate in the opportunities (programs, classes, internships, 35
preapprenticeships, online courses, etc.) or access the resources. 36
The universal platform should use completion data from these 37
opportunities to make recommendations to students to include in their 38
high school (([and])) and beyond plans; 39
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(viii) A dedicated space in which to build a direct connection to 1
potential employers, including industry associations, trade 2
associations, labor unions, service branches of the military, 3
nonprofit organizations, and other state and local community 4
organizations so students can learn from experts in different 5
occupational fields about career opportunities and any necessary 6
education and training requirements; 7
(ix) A secure space for staff, parents or guardians, and approved 8
community partners who support students' academic progress and career 9
and college preparation, to make notes that can inform staff efforts 10
to connect students to academic and career connected learning 11
opportunities and develop support and credit recovery plans for 12
students, as needed; 13
(x) Accessibility options for students needing accommodations 14
including, but not limited to, visual aids and voice dictation for 15
students with limited literacy skills; 16
(xi) Indefinite access for students to their high school 17
(([and])) and beyond plan, regardless of current school affiliation 18
or lack thereof, in both mobile and desktop applications, that 19
includes the capability to download and print their plan in one 20
document, without requiring students to access multiple screens;21
(xii) Inclusion of in-state labor market, apprenticeship, and 22
postsecondary education performance data, including employment and 23
earning outcomes, certificate and degree completion outcomes, and 24
demographics of enrolled students or employees, to inform students' 25
exploration and consideration of postsecondary options;26
(xiii) A dedicated space where students can store additional 27
evidence of their learning and postsecondary preparation, such as 28
videos, essays, art, awards and recognitions, screencasts, letters of 29
recommendation, industry certifications, microcredentials or other 30
mastery-based learning recognitions, and work-integrated learning 31
experiences. The universal platform should include the ability for 32
students and staff to provide access to this portfolio in its 33
entirety or in selected parts to relevant third parties, including 34
institutions of higher education that are authorized to participate 35
in state financial aid programs under chapter 28B.92 RCW, branches of 36
the military, potential employers, or preapprenticeship 37
opportunities; 38
(xiv) Access to data reporting features that allow schools, 39
districts, and state agencies to review data stored within the 40
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universal platform, and allow data to be broken down by demographic, 1
socioeconomic, and other identified characteristics, for the purposes 2
of analyzing student use of the universal platform, improving student 3
access to the information, guidance, and opportunities that can help 4
them maximize their secondary education experience and postsecondary 5
preparation, and informing state-level support for high school and 6
beyond plan implementation; 7
(xv) A space for the student to indicate the graduation pathway 8
option or options the student has selected to complete and how the 9
selected option or options align with the student's career and 10
postsecondary education goals; and 11
(xvi) The ability for school districts to customize or add 12
features unique to local needs and local graduation requirements, 13
including the capability to auto-align data with the local school 14
districts' graduation requirements or the ability to enter those 15
requirements manually. 16
(b) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must 17
also ensure that the universal platform will permit transition plans 18
required by RCW 28A.155.220 to be incorporated into the universal 19
platform in a manner that eliminates the need to create duplicate or 20
substantially similar transition plans in other electronic or 21
nonelectronic formats. 22
(5)(a) Within two years of completing the universal platform 23
development and alignment with the requirements in this section and 24
RCW 28A.230.212, school districts must provide students with access 25
to the adopted universal platform. 26
(b) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must 27
develop guidance and provide technical assistance and support for the 28
facilitation of statewide professional development for school 29
districts and partner organizations in using the universal platform.30
(c) The superintendent shall withhold up to 1.9 percent of school 31
district allocations generated under RCW 28A.150.260(8)(b) solely for 32
the central provision of licenses to the universal platform required 33
under this section. The withheld funds may not be used for salaries 34
or benefits for employees of the office of the superintendent of 35
public instruction.36
(6) In carrying out subsections (3)(b) and (4) of this section, 37
the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall seek 38
input from the state board of education, educators, school and 39
district administrators, school counselors, career counseling 40
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specialists, families, students, the Washington student achievement 1
council, institutions of higher education that are authorized to 2
participate in state financial aid programs under chapter 28B.92 RCW, 3
and community partners who support students' career and college 4
preparation. The office of the superintendent of public instruction 5
may partner with existing community and regional networks and 6
organizations who support students' career and college preparation in 7
the analysis, selection, and implementation of the universal 8
platform. 9
(7) As used in this section "universal platform" means the 10
universal online high school and beyond plan platform.11
(8) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may 12
adopt and revise rules as necessary to implement this section.13
Sec. 3. RCW 28A.600.402 and 2023 c 350 s 1 are each amended to 14
read as follows: 15
(1) Students participating in running start programs may be 16
funded up to a combined maximum enrollment of 1.4 full-time 17
equivalents in the 2025-26 school year and 1.2 full-time equivalents 18
in subsequent years , including school district and institution of 19
higher education enrollment. 20
(2) In calculating the combined full-time equivalents, the office 21
of the superintendent of public instruction: 22
(a) Must adopt rules to fund the participating student's 23
enrollment in running start courses provided by the institution of 24
higher education during the summer academic term, up to a maximum of 25
10 college credits per student per summer academic term; and26
(b) May average the participating student's September through 27
June enrollment to account for differences in the start and end dates 28
for courses provided by the high school and the institution of higher 29
education. 30
(3) Running start programs as a service delivery model and 31
associated funding levels beyond 1.0 full-time equivalent per student 32
are not part of the state's statutory program of basic education 33
under chapter 28A.150 RCW. 34
(4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in 35
consultation with the state board for community and technical 36
colleges, the participating institutions of higher education, the 37
student achievement council, and the education data center, must 38
annually track, and report to the fiscal committees of the 39
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legislature, the combined full-time equivalent experience of students 1
participating in running start programs, including course load 2
analyses and enrollments by high school and participating 3
institutions of higher education. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act is necessary for the immediate 5
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 6
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 7
effect immediately.8
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