Chronically absent students

AN ACT Relating to supporting students who are chronically absent 1
and at risk for not graduating high school; amending RCW 28A.175.025, 2
28A.175.035, and 28A.175.105; and adding a new section to chapter 3
28A.310 RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.310 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 8
specific purpose, each educational service district must work in 9
collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public 10
instruction to develop and maintain the capacity to offer training 11
and coaching for educators and other school district staff, including 12
those designated under RCW 28A.225.026 to address excessive 13
absenteeism and truancy, on the development of robust early warning 14
systems to identify and locate students who are chronically absent 15
and connect them with the necessary supports to reengage them in 16
academic learning. The training and coaching must include collecting, 17
analyzing, and reporting relevant data, including attendance and 18
early warning signs. 19
(2) For the purposes of this section: 20
S-0050.1
SENATE BILL 5007
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Braun, Wellman, Cortes, Dhingra, Dozier, Harris, King,
Nobles, Riccelli, Trudeau, Wagoner, Warnick, C. Wilson, and J. Wilson
Prefiled 12/03/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
p. 1 SB 5007
(a) "Necessary supports" may include engagement with families; 1
academic, systemic, and economic supports; adequate and appropriate 2
clothing; food and nutrition; transportation; connecting students to 3
behavioral and physical health supports; and incentives and 4
celebrations of students' attendance and engagement in the classroom.5
(b) "Students who are chronically absent" means students who miss 6
10 percent or more of their school days for any reason including 7
excused and unexcused absences and suspensions. 8
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.175.025 and 2007 c 408 s 2 are each amended to 9
read as follows: 10
(1) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this 11
specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public 12
instruction shall create a grant program and award grants to local 13
partnerships of schools, families, and communities ((to begin the 14
phase in of )) for a statewide comprehensive dropout prevention, 15
intervention, and retrieval system including supports for students 16
who are chronically absent . This program shall be known as the 17
building bridges program. 18
(((1))) (2) For purposes of RCW 28A.175.025 through 28A.175.075, 19
a "building bridges program" means a local partnership of schools, 20
families, and communities that either provides the supports under 21
subsection (3) of this section or provides all of the following 22
programs or activities under this subsection, or both:23
(a) A system that identifies individual students at risk of 24
dropping out from middle through high school based on local 25
predictive data, including state assessment data starting in the 26
fourth grade, and provides timely interventions for such students and 27
for dropouts ((, including a plan for educational success as already 28
required by the student learning plan as defined under RCW 29
28A.655.061)). Students identified shall include foster care youth, 30
youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and students receiving 31
special education services under chapter 28A.155 RCW;32
(b) Coaches or mentors for students as necessary;33
(c) Staff responsible for coordination of community partners that 34
provide a seamless continuum of academic and nonacademic support in 35
schools and communities; 36
(d) Retrieval or reentry activities; and 37
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(e) Alternative educational programming, including, but not 1
limited to, career and technical education exploratory and 2
preparatory programs and online learning opportunities.3
(((2) One of the grants awarded under this section shall be for a 4
two-year demonstration project focusing on providing fifth through 5
twelfth grade students with a program that utilizes technology and is 6
integrated with state standards, basic academics, cross-cultural 7
exposures, and age-appropriate preemployment training. The project 8
shall:9
(a) Establish programs in two western Washington and one eastern 10
Washington urban areas;11
(b) Identify at-risk students in each of the distinct communities 12
and populations and implement strategies to close the achievement 13
gap;14
(c) Collect and report data on participant characteristics and 15
outcomes of the project, including the characteristics and outcomes 16
specified under RCW 28A.175.035(1)(e); and17
(d) Submit a report to the legislature by December 1, 2009))18
(3) When community-based organizations, tribes, and community and 19
technical colleges are awarded grants to support students who are 20
chronically absent under this section, grant funds may also be used 21
for the following strategies and supports:22
(a) Proactive engagement with all families about the impact of 23
attendance on student outcomes;24
(b) Clear, supportive, and solution-oriented communication with 25
families and caregivers of students who are chronically absent;26
(c) Visits to families of students who are chronically absent;27
(d) Academic, systemic, and economic supports for the families of 28
students who are chronically absent, including removing barriers to 29
students attending school as well as tutoring and mentoring students 30
who are reengaging in the classroom;31
(e) Connecting students to behavioral and physical health 32
supports; and33
(f) Incentives and celebrations of students' improved attendance 34
and engagement in the classroom.35
(4) For the purposes of this section, "students who are 36
chronically absent" has the same meaning as in section 1 of this act.37
Sec. 3. RCW 28A.175.035 and 2011 c 288 s 9 are each amended to 38
read as follows: 39
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(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall:1
(a) Identify criteria for grants and evaluate proposals for 2
funding in consultation with the workforce training and education 3
coordinating board; 4
(b) Develop and monitor requirements for grant recipients to:5
(i) Identify students who ((both fail the Washington assessment 6
of student learning )) score below basic on the statewide student 7
assessment as defined in RCW 28A.655.230 and drop out of school;8
(ii) Identify their own strengths and gaps in services provided 9
to youth; 10
(iii) Set their own local goals for program outcomes;11
(iv) Use research-based and emerging best practices that lead to 12
positive outcomes in implementing the building bridges program; and13
(v) Coordinate an outreach campaign to bring public and private 14
organizations together and to provide information about the building 15
bridges program to the local community; 16
(c) In setting the requirements under (b) of this subsection, 17
encourage creativity and provide for flexibility in implementing the 18
local building bridges program; 19
(d) Identify and disseminate successful practices; and20
(e) Develop requirements for grant recipients to collect and 21
report data, including, but not limited to: 22
(i) The number of and demographics of students served including, 23
but not limited to, information regarding a student's race and 24
ethnicity, a student's household income, a student's housing status, 25
whether a student is a foster youth or youth involved in the juvenile 26
justice system, whether a student is disabled, and the primary 27
language spoken at a student's home; 28
(ii) ((Washington assessment of student learning )) Statewide 29
student assessment scores; 30
(iii) Dropout rates; 31
(iv) On-time graduation rates; 32
(v) Extended graduation rates; 33
(vi) Credentials obtained; 34
(vii) Absenteeism rates; 35
(viii) Truancy rates; and 36
(ix) Credit retrieval((;37
(f) Contract with a third party to evaluate the infrastructure 38
and implementation of the partnership including the leveraging of 39
outside resources that relate to the goal of the partnership. The 40
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third-party contractor shall also evaluate the performance and 1
effectiveness of the partnerships relative to the type of entity, as 2
identified in RCW 28A.175.045, serving as the lead agency for the 3
partnership; and 4
(g) Report to the legislature by December 1, 2008)).5
(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may 6
require the recipient of grant funding under RCW 28A.175.025 to 7
report the impacts of the recipient's efforts in alignment with the 8
measures of the Washington school improvement framework.9
(3) In performing its duties under this section, the office of 10
the superintendent of public instruction is encouraged to consult 11
with the ((work group identified )) graduation: a team effort 12
partnership advisory committee established in RCW 28A.175.075.13
(((3))) (4) In selecting recipients for grant funds appropriated 14
under RCW 28A.175.135, the office of the superintendent of public 15
instruction shall use a streamlined and expedited application and 16
review process for those programs that have already proven to be 17
successful in dropout prevention. 18
Sec. 4. RCW 28A.175.105 and 2021 c 164 s 7 are each amended to 19
read as follows: 20
The definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 28A.175.100 21
through 28A.175.110 unless the context clearly requires otherwise:22
(1) "Dropout reengagement program" means an educational program 23
that offers at least the following instruction and services:24
(a) Academic instruction, including but not limited to 25
preparation to earn a high school equivalency certificate as provided 26
in RCW 28B.50.536 in accordance with rules adopted under RCW 27
28A.305.190, academic skills instruction, and college and work 28
readiness preparation, that generates credits that can be applied to 29
a high school diploma from the student's school district or from a 30
community or technical college under RCW 28B.50.535 and has the goal 31
of enabling the student to obtain the academic and work readiness 32
skills necessary for employment or postsecondary study. A dropout 33
reengagement program is not required to offer instruction in only 34
those subject areas where a student is deficient in accumulated 35
credits. Academic instruction must be provided by teachers certified 36
by the Washington professional educator standards board or by 37
instructors employed by a community or technical college whose 38
required credentials are established by the college;39
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(b) Case management, academic and career counseling, and 1
assistance with accessing services and resources that support at-risk 2
youth and reduce barriers to educational success, such as:3
(i) Academic related supports, such as covering test fees, 4
calculators, and laboratory and other school supplies;5
(ii) Nonacademic supports, such as adequate and appropriate 6
clothing; adequate and reliable access to food and nutrition; and 7
transportation, including bus passes, gas vouchers, and subsidized 8
parking; and9
(iii) Connecting students to behavioral and physical health 10
supports; and 11
(c) If the program provider is a community or technical college, 12
the opportunity for qualified students to enroll in college courses 13
that lead to a postsecondary degree or certificate. The college may 14
not charge an eligible student tuition for such enrollment.15
(2) "Eligible student" means a student who: 16
(a) Is at least sixteen but less than twenty-one years of age at 17
the beginning of the school year; 18
(b) Is not accumulating sufficient credits toward a high school 19
diploma to reasonably complete a high school diploma from a public 20
school before the age of twenty-one or is recommended for the program 21
by case managers from the department of social and health services or 22
the juvenile justice system; and 23
(c) Is enrolled or enrolls in the school district in which the 24
student resides, or is enrolled or enrolls in an institutional 25
education program as defined in RCW 28A.190.005 or a nonresident 26
school district under RCW 28A.225.220 through 28A.225.230.27
(3) "Full-time equivalent eligible student" means an eligible 28
student whose enrollment and attendance meet criteria adopted by the 29
office of the superintendent of public instruction specifically for 30
dropout reengagement programs. The criteria shall be:31
(a) Based on the community or technical college credits generated 32
by the student if the program provider is a community or technical 33
college; and 34
(b) Based on a minimum amount of planned programming or 35
instruction and minimum attendance by the student rather than hours 36
of seat time if the program provider is a community-based 37
organization. 38
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