Highly capable student alloc

AN ACT Relating to ensuring equal opportunities for each highly 1
capable student; and amending RCW 28A.150.260. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.150.260 and 2025 c 334 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
The purpose of this section is to provide for the allocation of 6
state funding that the legislature deems necessary to support school 7
districts in offering the minimum instructional program of basic 8
education under RCW 28A.150.220. The allocation shall be determined 9
as follows: 10
(1) The governor shall and the superintendent of public 11
instruction may recommend to the legislature a formula for the 12
distribution of a basic education instructional allocation for each 13
common school district. 14
(2)(a) The distribution formula under this section shall be for 15
allocation purposes only. Except as may be required under subsections 16
(4)(b) and (c), (5)(b) and (c), (8), and (9) of this section, chapter 17
28A.155, 28A.165, 28A.180, or 28A.185 RCW, or federal laws and 18
regulations, nothing in this section requires school districts to use 19
basic education instructional funds to implement a particular 20
instructional approach or service. Nothing in this section requires 21
H-3150.2
HOUSE BILL 2717
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Volz and Stuebe
Read first time 02/03/26. Referred to Committee on Appropriations.
p. 1 HB 2717
school districts to maintain a particular classroom teacher-to-1
student ratio or other staff-to-student ratio or to use allocated 2
funds to pay for particular types or classifications of staff. 3
Nothing in this section entitles an individual teacher to a 4
particular teacher planning period. 5
(b) To promote transparency in state funding allocations, the 6
superintendent of public instruction must report state per-pupil 7
allocations for each school district for the general apportionment, 8
special education, learning assistance, transitional bilingual, 9
highly capable, and career and technical education programs. The 10
superintendent must report this information in a user-friendly format 11
on the main page of the office's website. School districts must 12
include a link to the superintendent's per-pupil allocations report 13
on the main page of the school district's website. In addition, the 14
budget documents published by the legislature for the enacted omnibus 15
operating appropriations act must report statewide average per-pupil 16
allocations for general apportionment and the categorical programs 17
listed in this subsection. 18
(3)(a) To the extent the technical details of the formula have 19
been adopted by the legislature and except when specifically provided 20
as a school district allocation, the distribution formula for the 21
basic education instructional allocation shall be based on minimum 22
staffing and nonstaff costs the legislature deems necessary to 23
support instruction and operations in prototypical schools serving 24
high, middle, and elementary school students as provided in this 25
section. The use of prototypical schools for the distribution formula 26
does not constitute legislative intent that schools should be 27
operated or structured in a similar fashion as the prototypes. 28
Prototypical schools illustrate the level of resources needed to 29
operate a school of a particular size with particular types and grade 30
levels of students using commonly understood terms and inputs, such 31
as class size, hours of instruction, and various categories of school 32
staff. It is the intent that the funding allocations to school 33
districts be adjusted from the school prototypes based on the actual 34
number of annual average full-time equivalent students in each grade 35
level at each school in the district and not based on the grade-level 36
configuration of the school to the extent that data is available. The 37
allocations shall be further adjusted from the school prototypes with 38
minimum allocations for small schools and to reflect other factors 39
identified in the omnibus appropriations act. 40
p. 2 HB 2717
(b) For the purposes of this section, prototypical schools are 1
defined as follows: 2
(i) A prototypical high school has 600 average annual full-time 3
equivalent students in grades nine through 12; 4
(ii) A prototypical middle school has 432 average annual full-5
time equivalent students in grades seven and eight; and6
(iii) A prototypical elementary school has 400 average annual 7
full-time equivalent students in grades kindergarten through six.8
(4)(a)(i) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical 9
school shall be based on the number of full-time equivalent classroom 10
teachers needed to provide instruction over the minimum required 11
annual instructional hours under RCW 28A.150.220 and provide at least 12
one teacher planning period per school day, and based on the 13
following general education average class size of full-time 14
equivalent students per teacher: 15
General education16
average class size17
Grades K-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0018
Grade 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0019
Grades 5-6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0020
Grades 7-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.5321
Grades 9-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.7422
(ii) The minimum class size allocation for each prototypical high 23
school shall also provide for enhanced funding for class size 24
reduction for two laboratory science classes within grades nine 25
through 12 per full-time equivalent high school student multiplied by 26
a laboratory science course factor of 0.0833, based on the number of 27
full-time equivalent classroom teachers needed to provide instruction 28
over the minimum required annual instructional hours in RCW 29
28A.150.220, and providing at least one teacher planning period per 30
school day: 31
Laboratory science32
average class size33
Grades 9-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.9834
(b)(i) Beginning September 1, 2019, funding for average K-3 class 35
sizes in this subsection (4) may be provided only to the extent of, 36
and proportionate to, the school district's demonstrated actual class 37
size in grades K-3, up to the funded class sizes. 38
p. 3 HB 2717
(ii) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall 1
develop rules to implement this subsection (4)(b). 2
(c)(i) The minimum allocation for each prototypical middle and 3
high school shall also provide for full-time equivalent classroom 4
teachers based on the following number of full-time equivalent 5
students per teacher in career and technical education:6
Career and technical7
education average8
class size9
Approved career and technical education offered at10
the middle school and high school level. . . . . . . . . . . . 23.0011
Skill center programs meeting the standards established12
by the office of the superintendent of public 13
instruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0014
(ii) Funding allocated under this subsection (4)(c) is subject to 15
RCW 28A.150.265. 16
(d) In addition, the omnibus appropriations act shall at a 17
minimum specify: 18
(i) A high-poverty average class size in schools where more than 19
50 percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price 20
meals; and 21
(ii) A specialty average class size for advanced placement and 22
international baccalaureate courses. 23
(5)(a) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical 24
school shall include allocations for the following types of staff in 25
addition to classroom teachers: 26
27
28
Elementary
School
Middle
School
High
School
29
30
Principals, assistant principals, and other certificated building-level
administrators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.253

1.353

1.880
31
32
Teacher-librarians, a function that includes information literacy, technology,
and media to support school library media programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0.663

0.519

0.523
33
34
Paraeducators, including any aspect of educational instructional services
provided by classified employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.012

0.776

0.728
35 Office support and other noninstructional aides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.088 2.401 3.345
36 Custodians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.657 1.942 2.965
37 Nurses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.585 0.888 0.824
p. 4 HB 2717
1 Social workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.311 0.088 0.127
2 Psychologists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.104 0.024 0.049
3 Counselors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.993 1.716 3.039
4 Classified staff providing student and staff safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.079 0.092 0.141
5 Parent involvement coordinators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0825 0.00 0.00
(b)(i) The superintendent may only allocate funding, up to the 6
combined minimum allocations, for nurses, social workers, 7
psychologists, counselors, classified staff providing student and 8
staff safety, and parent involvement coordinators under (a) of this 9
subsection to the extent of and proportionate to a school district's 10
demonstrated actual ratios of: Full-time equivalent physical, social, 11
and emotional support staff to full-time equivalent students.12
(ii) The superintendent must adopt rules to implement this 13
subsection (5)(b) and the rules must require school districts to 14
prioritize funding allocated as required by (b)(i) of this subsection 15
for physical, social, and emotional support staff who hold a valid 16
educational staff associate certificate appropriate for the staff's 17
role. 18
(iii) For the purposes of this subsection (5)(b), "physical, 19
social, and emotional support staff" include nurses, social workers, 20
psychologists, counselors, classified staff providing student and 21
staff safety, parent involvement coordinators, and other school 22
district employees and contractors who provide physical, social, and 23
emotional support to students as defined by the superintendent.24
(c) The superintendent shall develop rules that require school 25
districts to use the additional funding provided under (a) of this 26
subsection to support increased staffing, prevent layoffs, or 27
increase salaries for the following staff types in the 2024-25 school 28
year: Paraeducators, office support, and noninstructional aides. The 29
superintendent shall collect data from school districts on how the 30
increased allocations are used. 31
(6)(a) The minimum staffing allocation for each school district 32
to provide district -wide support services shall be allocated per one 33
thousand annual average full -time equivalent students in grades K -12 34
as follows: 35
Staff per 1,00036
K-12 students37
Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.62838
p. 5 HB 2717
Facilities, maintenance, and grounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8131
Warehouse, laborers, and mechanics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3322
(b) The minimum allocation of staff units for each school 3
district to support certificated and classified staffing of central 4
administration shall be 5.30 percent of the staff units generated 5
under subsections (4)(a) and (5) of this section and (a) of this 6
subsection. 7
(7) The distribution formula shall include staffing allocations 8
to school districts for career and technical education and skill 9
center administrative and other school-level certificated staff, as 10
specified in the omnibus appropriations act. 11
(8)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, the minimum 12
allocation for each school district shall be $1,614.28 per full-time 13
equivalent student for materials, supplies, and operating costs to be 14
adjusted annually for inflation beginning in the 2026-27 school year. 15
For purposes of this subsection, "inflation" means the implicit price 16
deflator for the previous calendar year as of the beginning of the 17
school year, using the official current base, compiled by the bureau 18
of economic analysis, United States department of commerce.19
(b) In addition to the amount provided in (a) of this subsection, 20
each school district shall receive a minimum allocation of $214.84 21
for each full-time equivalent student in grades nine through 12 for 22
materials, supplies, and operating costs, to be adjusted annually for 23
inflation beginning in the 2026-27 school year. For purposes of this 24
subsection, "inflation" means the implicit price deflator for the 25
previous calendar year as of the beginning of the school year, using 26
the official current base, compiled by the bureau of economic 27
analysis, United States department of commerce. 28
(c) The increased allocation amounts of $35.27 per full-time 29
equivalent student provided under (a) of this subsection and $4.69 30
per full-time equivalent student in grades nine through 12 provided 31
under (b) of this subsection are intended to address growing 32
materials, supplies, and operating costs and may not be expended for 33
any other purpose. 34
(d)(i) Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, each school district 35
shall annually report all expenditures for materials, supplies, and 36
operating costs including, but not limited to, expenditures in the 37
following disaggregated categories, to the office of the 38
superintendent of public instruction: 39
p. 6 HB 2717
(A) Technology, including further disaggregation within this 1
category for technology devices, technology support staff, software 2
licensing, and technology or software maintenance and repair;3
(B) Election fees associated with school district board of 4
directors elections; 5
(C) Utilities; 6
(D) Insurance; 7
(E) Curriculum and textbooks not included under the technology 8
category; 9
(F) Library materials not included under the technology category;10
(G) Other supplies not included under other categories;11
(H) Nontechnology-related contracted instructional professional 12
development for certificated and classified staff;13
(I) Facilities maintenance materials, supplies, and operating 14
costs not funded by transfers from other funds; 15
(J) Security and central office administration;16
(K) Dues and fees; and 17
(L) Property and equipment not funded by transfers from other 18
funds. 19
(ii) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall 20
report additional categories as determined necessary to meet other 21
state and federal reporting requirements. 22
(9) In addition to the amounts provided in subsection (8) of this 23
section and subject to RCW 28A.150.265, the omnibus appropriations 24
act shall provide an amount based on full-time equivalent student 25
enrollment in each of the following: 26
(a) Exploratory career and technical education courses for 27
students in grades seven through 12; 28
(b) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 29
students in grades nine through 12 offered in a high school; and30
(c) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 31
students in grades 11 and 12 offered through a skill center.32
(10) In addition to the allocations otherwise provided under this 33
section, amounts shall be provided to support the following programs 34
and services: 35
(a)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 36
students who are not meeting academic standards through the learning 37
assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065, 38
allocations shall be based on the greater of either: The district 39
percentage of students in kindergarten through grade 12 who were 40
p. 7 HB 2717
eligible for free or reduced-price meals for the school year 1
immediately preceding the district's participation, in whole or part, 2
in the United States department of agriculture's community 3
eligibility provision, or the district percentage of students in 4
grades K-12 who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the 5
prior school year. The minimum allocation for the program shall, 6
except as provided in (a)(iii) of this subsection, provide for each 7
level of prototypical school resources to provide, on a statewide 8
average, 2.3975 hours per week in extra instruction with a class size 9
of 15 learning assistance program students per teacher.10
(ii) In addition to funding allocated under (a)(i) of this 11
subsection, to provide supplemental instruction and services for 12
students who are not meeting academic standards in qualifying 13
schools. A qualifying school, except as provided in (a)(iv) of this 14
subsection, means a school in which the three-year rolling average of 15
the prior year total annual average enrollment that qualifies for 16
free or reduced-price meals equals or exceeds 50 percent or more of 17
its total annual average enrollment. A school continues to meet the 18
definition of a qualifying school if the school: Participates in the 19
United States department of agriculture's community eligibility 20
provision; and met the definition of a qualifying school in the year 21
immediately preceding their participation. The minimum allocation for 22
this additional high poverty-based allocation must provide for each 23
level of prototypical school resources to provide, on a statewide 24
average, 1.1 hours per week in extra instruction with a class size of 25
15 learning assistance program students per teacher, under RCW 26
28A.165.055, school districts must distribute the high poverty-based 27
allocation to the schools that generated the funding allocation.28
(iii) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, allocations under 29
(a)(i) of this subsection for school districts providing meals at no 30
charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 that are not participating, 31
in whole or in part, in the United States department of agriculture's 32
community eligibility provision shall be based on the school district 33
percentage of students in grades K-12 who were eligible for free or 34
reduced-price meals in school years 2019-20 through 2022-23 or the 35
prior school year, whichever is greatest. 36
(iv) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, a school providing 37
meals at no charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 that is not 38
participating in the department of agriculture's community 39
eligibility provision continues to meet the definition of a 40
p. 8 HB 2717
qualifying school under (a)(ii) of this subsection if the school met 1
the definition during one year of the 2019-20 through 2022-23 school 2
years, or in the prior school year. 3
(b)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 4
students whose primary language is other than English, allocations 5
shall be based on the head count number of students in each school 6
who are eligible for and enrolled in the transitional bilingual 7
instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080. The 8
minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall 9
provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 4.7780 hours 10
per week in extra instruction for students in grades kindergarten 11
through six and 6.7780 hours per week in extra instruction for 12
students in grades seven through 12, with 15 transitional bilingual 13
instruction program students per teacher. Notwithstanding other 14
provisions of this subsection (10), the actual per-student allocation 15
may be scaled to provide a larger allocation for students needing 16
more intensive intervention and a commensurate reduced allocation for 17
students needing less intensive intervention, as detailed in the 18
omnibus appropriations act. 19
(ii) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 20
students who have exited the transitional bilingual program, 21
allocations shall be based on the head count number of students in 22
each school who have exited the transitional bilingual program within 23
the previous two years based on their performance on the English 24
proficiency assessment and are eligible for and enrolled in the 25
transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 26
28A.180.040(1)(g). The minimum allocation for each prototypical 27
school shall provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 28
3.0 hours per week in extra instruction with 15 exited students per 29
teacher. 30
(c) To provide additional allocations to support programs for 31
highly capable students ((under RCW 28A.185.010 through 32
28A.185.030)), allocations shall be based on ((5.0 percent of each 33
school district's full-time equivalent basic education enrollment. 34
The minimum allocation for the programs shall provide resources to 35
provide, on a statewide average, 2.1590 hours per week in extra 36
instruction with fifteen highly capable program students per 37
teacher)) the head count number of students in each school who are 38
eligible for and enrolled in the highly capable program under RCW 39
28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030, multiplied by the district's 40
p. 9 HB 2717
allocations under subsections (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) of this 1
section per full-time equivalent student, multiplied by 0.0383.2
(11) The allocations under subsections (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) 3
of this section shall be enhanced as provided under RCW 28A.150.390 4
on an excess cost basis to provide supplemental instructional 5
resources for students with disabilities. 6
(12)(a) For the purposes of allocations for prototypical high 7
schools and middle schools under subsections (4) and (10) of this 8
section that are based on the percent of students in the school who 9
are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the actual percent of 10
such students in a school shall be adjusted by a factor identified in 11
the omnibus appropriations act to reflect underreporting of free and 12
reduced-price meal eligibility among middle and high school students.13
(b) Allocations or enhancements provided under subsections (4), 14
(7), and (9) of this section for exploratory and preparatory career 15
and technical education courses shall be provided only for courses 16
approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction 17
under chapter 28A.700 RCW. 18
(13)(a) This formula for distribution of basic education funds 19
shall be reviewed biennially by the superintendent and governor. The 20
recommended formula shall be subject to approval, amendment or 21
rejection by the legislature. 22
(b) In the event the legislature rejects the distribution formula 23
recommended by the governor, without adopting a new distribution 24
formula, the distribution formula for the previous school year shall 25
remain in effect. 26
(c) The enrollment of any district shall be the annual average 27
number of full-time equivalent students and part-time students as 28
provided in RCW 28A.150.350, enrolled on the first school day of each 29
month, including students who are in attendance pursuant to RCW 30
28A.335.160 and 28A.225.250 who do not reside within the servicing 31
school district. The definition of full-time equivalent student shall 32
be determined by rules of the superintendent of public instruction 33
and shall be included as part of the superintendent's biennial budget 34
request. The definition shall be based on the minimum instructional 35
hour offerings required under RCW 28A.150.220. Any revision of the 36
present definition shall not take effect until approved by the house 37
ways and means committee and the senate ways and means committee.38
p. 10 HB 2717
(d) The office of financial management shall make a monthly 1
review of the superintendent's reported full-time equivalent students 2
in the common schools in conjunction with RCW 43.62.050.3
--- END ---
p. 11 HB 2717