Learning assistance program

AN ACT Relating to expanding the learning assistance program; and 1
reenacting 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 2024 c 262 s 2 and 2024 c 191 s 2 4
are each reenacted and amended to 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
Z-0252.2
SENATE BILL 5120
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Nobles, Riccelli, Hasegawa, Lovelett, Salomon, and C.
Wilson; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Prefiled 12/27/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
p. 1 SB 5120
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 SB 5120
(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 SB 5120
(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 SB 5120
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 SB 5120
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 include allocations per 13
annual average full-time equivalent student for the following 14
materials, supplies, and operating costs as provided in the 2023-24 15
school year, after which the allocations shall be adjusted annually 16
for inflation as specified in the omnibus appropriations act:17
Per annual average18
full-time equivalent student19
in grades K-1220
Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $178.9821
Utilities and insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $430.2622
Curriculum and textbooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $164.4823
Other supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $326.5424
Library materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22.6525
Instructional professional development for certificated and26
classified staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $28.9427
Facilities maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $206.2228
Security and central office administration. . . . . . . . . $146.3729
(b) In addition to the amounts provided in (a) of this 30
subsection, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, the omnibus 31
appropriations act shall provide the following minimum allocation for 32
each annual average full-time equivalent student in grades nine 33
through 12 for the following materials, supplies, and operating 34
costs, to be adjusted annually for inflation: 35
Per annual average36
full-time equivalent student37
in grades 9-1238
p. 6 SB 5120
Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $44.051
Curriculum and textbooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $48.062
Other supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $94.073
Library materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6.054
Instructional professional development for certificated and5
classified staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8.016
(c) The increased allocation amount of $21 per annual average 7
full-time equivalent student for materials, supplies, and operating 8
costs provided under (a) of this subsection is intended to address 9
growing costs in the enumerated categories and may not be expended 10
for any other purpose. 11
(9) In addition to the amounts provided in subsection (8) of this 12
section and subject to RCW 28A.150.265, the omnibus appropriations 13
act shall provide an amount based on full-time equivalent student 14
enrollment in each of the following: 15
(a) Exploratory career and technical education courses for 16
students in grades seven through 12; 17
(b) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 18
students in grades nine through 12 offered in a high school; and19
(c) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 20
students in grades 11 and 12 offered through a skill center.21
(10) In addition to the allocations otherwise provided under this 22
section, amounts shall be provided to support the following programs 23
and services: 24
(a)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 25
students who are not meeting academic standards through the learning 26
assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065, 27
allocations shall be based on the greater of either: The district 28
percentage of students in kindergarten through grade 12 who were 29
eligible for free or reduced-price meals for the school year 30
immediately preceding the district's participation, in whole or part, 31
in the United States department of agriculture's community 32
eligibility provision, or the district percentage of students in 33
grades K-12 who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the 34
prior school year. The minimum allocation for the program shall, 35
except as provided in (a)(iii) of this subsection, provide for each 36
level of prototypical school resources to provide, on a statewide 37
average, 2.3975 hours per week in extra instruction with a class size 38
of 15 learning assistance program students per teacher.39
p. 7 SB 5120
(ii) In addition to funding allocated under (a)(i) of this 1
subsection, to provide supplemental instruction and services for 2
students who are not meeting academic standards in qualifying 3
schools. ((A))4
(A) Until the 2026-27 school year, a qualifying school, except as 5
provided in (a)(iv) of this subsection, means a school in which the 6
three-year rolling average of the prior year total annual average 7
enrollment that qualifies for free or reduced-price meals equals or 8
exceeds 50 percent or more of its total annual average enrollment. 9
((A school continues to meet the definition of a qualifying school if 10
the school: Participates in the United States department of 11
agriculture's community eligibility provision; and met the definition 12
of a qualifying school in the year immediately preceding their 13
participation.))14
(B) Except as provided in (a)(iv) of this subsection, beginning 15
with the 2026-27 school year, a qualifying school means a school that 16
meets the criteria of one of the following tiers:17
(I) Tier 1: A school in which the three-year rolling average of 18
the prior year total annual average enrollment that qualifies for 19
free or reduced-price meals is equal to or exceeds 70 percent of its 20
total annual average enrollment;21
(II) Tier 2: A school in which the three-year rolling average of 22
the prior year total annual average enrollment that qualifies for 23
free or reduced-price meals is between 50 and 69.9 percent of its 24
total annual average enrollment; and25
(III) Tier 3: A school in which the three-year rolling average of 26
the prior year total annual average enrollment that qualifies for 27
free or reduced-price meals is between 30 and 49.9 percent of its 28
total annual average enrollment.29
(C)(I) The minimum allocation for this additional high poverty-30
based allocation must provide for each level of prototypical school 31
resources to provide, on a statewide average, ((1.1)) 1.6 hours per 32
week in extra instruction with a class size of 15 learning assistance 33
program students per teacher, under RCW 28A.165.055, school districts 34
must distribute the high poverty-based allocation to the schools that 35
generated the funding allocation. 36
(II) Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, the allocations 37
outlined in this subsection (10)(a)(ii)(C) shall be based on the 38
eligibility tiers in (a)(ii)(B) of this subsection as follows:39
(1) Tier 1 schools shall be allocated 2.2 hours per week;40
p. 8 SB 5120
(2) Tier 2 schools shall be allocated 1.6 hours per week; and1
(3) Tier 3 schools shall be allocated 0.4 hours per week.2
(iii) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, allocations under 3
(a)(i) of this subsection for school districts providing meals at no 4
charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 that are not participating, 5
in whole or in part, in the United States department of agriculture's 6
community eligibility provision shall be based on the school district 7
percentage of students in grades K-12 who were eligible for free or 8
reduced-price meals in school years 2019-20 through 2022-23 or the 9
prior school year, whichever is greatest. 10
(iv) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, a school providing 11
meals at no charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 ((that is not 12
participating in )) or through the department of agriculture's 13
community eligibility provision continues to meet the definition of a 14
qualifying school under (a)(ii) of this subsection if the school met 15
the definition during one year of the 2019-20 through 2022-23 school 16
years, ((or)) in the prior school year , or if participating in the 17
department of agriculture's community eligibility provision, in the 18
year immediately preceding participation in the community eligibility 19
provision. 20
(b)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 21
students whose primary language is other than English, allocations 22
shall be based on the head count number of students in each school 23
who are eligible for and enrolled in the transitional bilingual 24
instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080. The 25
minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall 26
provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 4.7780 hours 27
per week in extra instruction for students in grades kindergarten 28
through six and 6.7780 hours per week in extra instruction for 29
students in grades seven through 12, with 15 transitional bilingual 30
instruction program students per teacher. Notwithstanding other 31
provisions of this subsection (10), the actual per-student allocation 32
may be scaled to provide a larger allocation for students needing 33
more intensive intervention and a commensurate reduced allocation for 34
students needing less intensive intervention, as detailed in the 35
omnibus appropriations act. 36
(ii) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 37
students who have exited the transitional bilingual program, 38
allocations shall be based on the head count number of students in 39
each school who have exited the transitional bilingual program within 40
p. 9 SB 5120
the previous two years based on their performance on the English 1
proficiency assessment and are eligible for and enrolled in the 2
transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 3
28A.180.040(1)(g). The minimum allocation for each prototypical 4
school shall provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 5
3.0 hours per week in extra instruction with 15 exited students per 6
teacher. 7
(c) To provide additional allocations to support programs for 8
highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030, 9
allocations shall be based on 5.0 percent of each school district's 10
full-time equivalent basic education enrollment. The minimum 11
allocation for the programs shall provide resources to provide, on a 12
statewide average, 2.1590 hours per week in extra instruction with 13
fifteen highly capable program students per teacher.14
(11) The allocations under subsections (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) 15
of this section shall be enhanced as provided under RCW 28A.150.390 16
on an excess cost basis to provide supplemental instructional 17
resources for students with disabilities. 18
(12)(a) For the purposes of allocations for prototypical high 19
schools and middle schools under subsections (4) and (10) of this 20
section that are based on the percent of students in the school who 21
are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the actual percent of 22
such students in a school shall be adjusted by a factor identified in 23
the omnibus appropriations act to reflect underreporting of free and 24
reduced-price meal eligibility among middle and high school students.25
(b) Allocations or enhancements provided under subsections (4), 26
(7), and (9) of this section for exploratory and preparatory career 27
and technical education courses shall be provided only for courses 28
approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction 29
under chapter 28A.700 RCW. 30
(13)(a) This formula for distribution of basic education funds 31
shall be reviewed biennially by the superintendent and governor. The 32
recommended formula shall be subject to approval, amendment or 33
rejection by the legislature. 34
(b) In the event the legislature rejects the distribution formula 35
recommended by the governor, without adopting a new distribution 36
formula, the distribution formula for the previous school year shall 37
remain in effect. 38
(c) The enrollment of any district shall be the annual average 39
number of full-time equivalent students and part-time students as 40
p. 10 SB 5120
provided in RCW 28A.150.350, enrolled on the first school day of each 1
month, including students who are in attendance pursuant to RCW 2
28A.335.160 and 28A.225.250 who do not reside within the servicing 3
school district. The definition of full-time equivalent student shall 4
be determined by rules of the superintendent of public instruction 5
and shall be included as part of the superintendent's biennial budget 6
request. The definition shall be based on the minimum instructional 7
hour offerings required under RCW 28A.150.220. Any revision of the 8
present definition shall not take effect until approved by the house 9
ways and means committee and the senate ways and means committee.10
(d) The office of financial management shall make a monthly 11
review of the superintendent's reported full-time equivalent students 12
in the common schools in conjunction with RCW 43.62.050.13
--- END ---
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