IEP transition plans

AN ACT Relating to fulfilling high school and beyond plan 1
requirements with individualized education program transition plans; 2
and amending RCW 28A.230.212 and 28A.155.220. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.230.212 and 2024 c 66 s 7 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1)(a) Each student must have a high school and beyond plan to 7
guide the student's high school experience and inform course taking 8
that is aligned with the student's goals for education or training 9
and career after high school. 10
(b) Students with a required transition plan under RCW 11
28A.155.220(2) may elect for their transition plan to fulfill the 12
requirements of this section.13
(2)(a) By grade seven, each student must be administered a career 14
interest and skills inventory which is intended to be used to inform 15
grade eight course taking and development of an initial high school 16
and beyond plan. No later than grade eight, each student must have 17
begun development of a high school and beyond plan that includes a 18
proposed plan for first-year high school courses aligned with 19
graduation requirements and secondary and postsecondary goals.20
S-3717.1
SENATE BILL 5969
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Cortes, Hasegawa, Nobles, Shewmake, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 01/05/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
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(b) For each student who has not earned a score of level 3 or 4 1
on the middle school mathematics assessment identified in RCW 2
28A.655.070 by grade nine, the high school and beyond plan must be 3
updated to ensure that the student takes a mathematics course in both 4
grades nine and 10. These courses may include career and technical 5
education equivalencies in mathematics adopted pursuant to RCW 6
28A.230.097. 7
(3) With staff support, students must update their high school 8
and beyond plan annually, at a minimum, to review academic progress 9
and inform future course taking. 10
(a) The high school and beyond plan must be updated in grade 10 11
to reflect high school assessment results ((in RCW 28A.655.061)) 12
under RCW 28A.655.070(3), ensure student access to advanced course 13
options per the district's academic acceleration policy in RCW 14
28A.320.195, assess progress toward identified goals, and ((revised)) 15
revise as necessary for changing interests, goals, and needs.16
(b) Each school district shall provide students who have not met 17
the standard on state assessments or who are behind in completion of 18
credits or graduation pathway options with the opportunity to access 19
interventions and academic supports, courses, or both, designed to 20
enable students to meet all high school graduation requirements. The 21
parents or legal guardians shall be notified about these 22
opportunities as included in the student's high school and beyond 23
plan, preferably through a student-led conference, including the 24
parents or legal guardians, and at least annually until the student 25
is on track to graduate. 26
(c) For students with an individualized education program, the 27
high school and beyond plan must be developed and updated in 28
alignment with their school to postschool transition plan. The high 29
school and beyond plan must be developed and updated in a similar 30
manner and with similar school personnel as for all other students.31
(4) School districts shall involve parents and legal guardians to 32
the greatest extent feasible in the process of developing and 33
updating the high school and beyond plan. 34
(a) High school and beyond plans must be provided to students and 35
their parents or legal guardians in a language the students and 36
parents or legal guardians understand and in accordance with the 37
school district's language access policy and procedures as required 38
under chapter 28A.183 RCW, which may require language assistance for 39
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students and parents or legal guardians with limited English 1
proficiency. 2
(b) School districts must annually provide students in grades 3
eight through 12, and their parents or legal guardians, with 4
comprehensive information about the graduation pathway options 5
offered by the district and are strongly encouraged to begin 6
providing this information to students in grade six. School districts 7
must provide this information in a manner that conforms with the 8
school district's language access policy and procedures as required 9
under chapter 28A.183 RCW. 10
(5) School districts are strongly encouraged to partner with 11
student serving, community-based organizations that support career 12
and college exploration and preparation for postsecondary and career 13
pathways. Partnerships may include high school and beyond plan 14
coordination and planning, data-sharing agreements, and safe and 15
secure access to individual student's high school and beyond plans.16
(6) All high school and beyond plans must, at a minimum, include 17
the following elements: 18
(a) Identification of career goals and interests, aided by a 19
skills and interest assessment; 20
(b) Identification of secondary and postsecondary education and 21
training goals; 22
(c) An academic plan for course taking that: 23
(i) Informs students about course options for satisfying state 24
and local graduation requirements; 25
(ii) Satisfies state and local graduation requirements;26
(iii) Aligns with the student's secondary and postsecondary 27
goals, which can include education, training, and career preparation;28
(iv) Identifies available advanced course sequences per the 29
school district's academic acceleration policy, as described in RCW 30
28A.320.195, that include dual credit courses or other programs and 31
are aligned with the student's postsecondary goals;32
(v) Informs students about the potential impacts of their course 33
selections on postsecondary opportunities; 34
(vi) Identifies available career and technical education 35
equivalency courses that can satisfy core subject area graduation 36
requirements under RCW 28A.230.097; 37
(vii) If applicable, identifies career and technical education 38
and work-based learning opportunities that can lead to technical 39
college certifications and apprenticeships; and 40
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(viii) If applicable, identifies opportunities for credit 1
recovery and acceleration, including partial and mastery-based credit 2
accrual to eliminate barriers for on-time grade level progression and 3
graduation per RCW 28A.320.192; 4
(d) Evidence that the student has received the following 5
information on federal and state financial aid programs that help pay 6
for the costs of a postsecondary program: 7
(i) The college bound scholarship program established in chapter 8
28B.118 RCW, the Washington college grant created in RCW 28B.92.200, 9
and other scholarship opportunities; 10
(ii) The documentation necessary for completing state and federal 11
financial aid applications; application timeliness and submission 12
deadlines; and the importance of submitting applications early;13
(iii) Information specific to students who are or have been the 14
subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, who 15
are or are at risk of being homeless, and whose family member or 16
legal guardian will be required to provide financial and tax 17
information necessary to complete applications; 18
(iv) Opportunities to participate in advising days and seminars 19
that assist students and, when necessary, their parents or legal 20
guardians, with filling out financial aid applications in accordance 21
with RCW 28A.300.815; and 22
(v) A sample financial aid letter and a link to the financial aid 23
calculator created in RCW 28B.77.280; and 24
(e) By the end of grade 12, a current resume or activity log that 25
provides a written compilation of the student's education, any work 26
experience, extracurricular activities, and any community service 27
including how the school district has recognized the community 28
service pursuant to RCW 28A.320.193. 29
(7) Any decision on whether a student has met the state board of 30
education's requirements for a high school and beyond plan shall 31
remain at the local level, and a school district may establish 32
additional, local requirements for a high school and beyond plan to 33
serve the needs and interests of its students and the purposes of 34
this section. 35
(8) The state board of education shall adopt rules to implement 36
this section. 37
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.155.220 and 2025 c 256 s 6 are each amended to 38
read as follows: 39
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(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must 1
establish interagency agreements with the department of social and 2
health services, the department of services for the blind, and any 3
other state agency that provides high school transition services for 4
special education students. Such interagency agreements shall not 5
interfere with existing individualized education programs, nor 6
override any individualized education program team's decision-making 7
power. The purpose of the interagency agreements is to foster 8
effective collaboration among the multiple agencies providing 9
transition services for individualized education program-eligible 10
special education students from the beginning of transition planning, 11
as soon as educationally and developmentally appropriate, through the 12
end of the school year in which the student turns 22 years of age, or 13
through high school graduation, whichever occurs first. Interagency 14
agreements are also intended to streamline services and programs, 15
promote efficiencies, and establish a uniform focus on improved 16
outcomes related to self-sufficiency. 17
(2)(a) When educationally and developmentally appropriate, the 18
interagency responsibilities and linkages with transition services 19
under subsection (1) of this section must be addressed in a 20
transition plan to a postsecondary setting in the individualized 21
education program of a student with disabilities. 22
(b) Transition planning shall be based upon educationally and 23
developmentally appropriate transition assessments that outline the 24
student's individual needs, strengths, preferences, and interests. 25
Transition assessments may include observations, interviews, 26
inventories, situational assessments, formal and informal 27
assessments, as well as academic assessments. 28
(c) The transition services that the transition plan must address 29
include activities needed to assist the student in reaching 30
postsecondary goals and courses of study to support postsecondary 31
goals. 32
(d) Transition activities that the transition plan may address 33
include instruction, related services, community experience, 34
employment and other adult living objectives, daily living skills, 35
and functional vocational evaluation. 36
(e) When educationally and developmentally appropriate, a 37
discussion must take place with the student and parents, and others 38
as needed, to determine the postsecondary goals or postschool vision 39
for the student. This discussion may be included as part of an annual 40
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individualized education program review, high school and beyond plan 1
meeting, or any other meeting that includes parents, students, and 2
educators. The postsecondary goals included in the transition plan 3
shall be goals that are measurable and must be based on appropriate 4
transition assessments related to training, education, employment, 5
and independent living skills, when necessary. The goals must also be 6
based on the student's needs, while considering the strengths, 7
preferences, and interests of the student. 8
(f) As the student gets older, changes in the transition plan may 9
be noted in the annual update of the student's individualized 10
education program. 11
(g) ((A transition plan required )) When a student with a required 12
transition plan under this subsection (2) elects to have both a 13
transition plan and a high school and beyond plan under RCW 14
28A.230.212, the transition plan must be aligned with ((a)) the 15
student's high school and beyond plan. 16
(3) To the extent that data is available through data-sharing 17
agreements established by the education data center under RCW 18
43.41.400, the education data center must monitor the following 19
outcomes for individualized education program-eligible special 20
education students after high school graduation: 21
(a) The number of students who, within one year of high school 22
graduation: 23
(i) Enter integrated employment paid at the greater of minimum 24
wage or competitive wage for the type of employment, with access to 25
related employment and health benefits; or 26
(ii) Enter a postsecondary education or training program focused 27
on leading to integrated employment; 28
(b) The wages and number of hours worked per pay period;29
(c) The impact of employment on any state and federal benefits 30
for individuals with disabilities; 31
(d) Indicators of the types of settings in which students who 32
previously received transition services primarily reside;33
(e) Indicators of improved economic status and self-sufficiency;34
(f) Data on those students for whom a postsecondary or integrated 35
employment outcome does not occur within one year of high school 36
graduation, including: 37
(i) Information on the reasons that the desired outcome has not 38
occurred; 39
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(ii) The number of months the student has not achieved the 1
desired outcome; and 2
(iii) The efforts made to ensure the student achieves the desired 3
outcome. 4
(4) To the extent that the data elements in subsection (3) of 5
this section are available to the education data center through data-6
sharing agreements, the office of the superintendent of public 7
instruction must prepare an annual report using existing resources 8
and submit the report to the legislature. 9
(5) To minimize gaps in services through the transition process, 10
no later than three years before students receiving special education 11
services leave the school system, the office of the superintendent of 12
public instruction shall transmit a list of potentially eligible 13
students to the department of social and health services, the 14
counties, the department of services for the blind, and any other 15
state agency working with individuals with intellectual and 16
developmental disabilities. The office of the superintendent of 17
public instruction shall ensure that consent be obtained prior to the 18
release of this information as required in accordance with state and 19
federal requirements. 20
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