That’s a Wrap

The House and Senate pounded their gavels one last time on Sunday, April 23, as they declared “Sine Die” for the 2023 Legislative session. This Latin term means “without a day,” and it is used to describe an adjournment when the
date to reconvene is not specified and when the Legislature intends to leave town for the last time. However, there is a bit of a caveat to that statement since the Legislature may come back for a special session to address the Blake Decision. More
on that later.

Budget

The Saturday before “Sine Die,” the budget conference committee released its agreed-upon final operating budget (SB 5187)
of $69.3 billion for the next two years. According to Senate Ways and Means Chair Christine Rolfes, “This budget reflects the collaboration of many Washingtonians. It is the biggest investment in public education since McCleary.” The
Senate Democrats further explained that “the budget includes $2.9 billion in total new spending for K-12 education. This includes the continued rollout of the past biennium’s investment in nurses, counselors, and social workers in
schools, lowering the financial burden on school districts. Special education will receive a significant new investment of $417 million. An additional $91 million will create more slots for children eligible for Early Childhood Education and Assistance
Program.”

Representative Steve Bergquist, Vice Chair for the House Appropriations Committee, agreed and said that the budget makes “historic investments” for K-12, early learning, and higher education.

The Senate Republican perspective from leader John Braun is that “the high level of learning loss suffered by Washington’s
school children is the equity issue of our time because it has increased the learning gap, leaving children of color and those in lower-income families further behind. I’m very disappointed that the $70 million allocated in the Senate budget
proposal to close that gap was absent from the final budget. That’s a huge disservice to our kids. I am glad, however, that the budget includes $800 million over four years to enhance special education programs. Republicans have fought for five
years for more special education funding because the kids receiving those services deserve better than they’ve been getting.” Republicans in both the House and the Senate were disappointed that funding was not included for family advocate
positions related to special education students.

We thank the Legislature for investing in K-12 education, early learning, and higher education.

Key budget items include increases in a variety of programs based on the budget summary document linked here.

K‐12 Salaries and Health Benefits ($544.3 million in 2023‐25; $1.56 billion 5‐year total)

Budgeted inflation for salaries is 3.7% in the 2023‐24 school year and 3.9% in the 2024‐25 SY. SEBB health benefit rates are increased to $1,100 per employee per month in the 2023‐24 SY and $1,157 per employee per month in the 2024‐25 SY. These amounts
are in addition to $734 million in 2023‐25 and $2.3 billion over five years for salary inflation at the maintenance level.

Special Education Enhancements ($371 million in 2023‐25; $817.3 million 5‐year total)

Funding is provided to increase excess cost multipliers, raise the funded enrollment limit, support inclusionary practices, and lower the safety net threshold as required under HB 1436.

Free School Meal Expansion ($46.5 million in 2023‐25; $83 million Federal FY2023 and 2023‐25; $144.6 million 5‐year total)

Funding is provided to support expanded access to free meals through the federal Community Eligibility Provision pursuant to HB 1878 from 2022 and HB 1238 from 2023.

Special Passenger Transportation Reimbursement ($26.0 million for 2023‐25)

Funding for special passenger excess cost reimbursement is provided for school districts with a demonstrated need for funding beyond the amounts provided through STARS for special passengers. SB 5174 did not pass this year, but this additional funding is provided.

Dual Credit Enrollment Enhancements ($9.7 million in 2023‐25; $21.3 million 5‐year total)

Funding is provided to increase the Running Start combined maximum enrollment cap from 1.2 FTE to 1.4 FTE.

College in the High School Fees ($23.8 million in 2023‐25; $47.9 million 5‐year total)

Funding is provided for a new funding structure for College in the High School courses as provided in SB 5048. Beginning September
1, 2023, institutions of higher education must provide enrollment and registration in College in the High School courses at no cost for students in grades 9–12 at public high schools.

Transition to Kindergarten ($48.6 million savings 2023‐25; $41.8 million Federal 2023‐25; $56.4 million 5‐year total savings, $114.0 million is appropriated in a new program)

Funding for TtK enrollments previously included in General Apportionment are transferred to the new TtK budget program. Funding is sufficient to support the projected caseloads for participating school districts, charter schools based on the February
2023 caseload forecast.

Federal Reappropriations for Schools ($1.1 billion Federal 2023‐25)

Remaining funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESEER) fund, the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund, and other emergency federal funding for schools appropriated in the 2021‐23 biennium are reappropriated in
the 2023‐25 biennium. Reappropriations include remaining ESSER subgrants to districts, non‐subgrant ESSER and GEER funding for learning recovery, free school meal programs, Transition to Kindergarten, community‐based organizations, mastery‐based learning,
and other items. I am waiting for more information on what the impact of this is on ESSER projects that were already in the works through OSPI.

Capital Budget

A big thank you to Dan Steele, Assistant Executive Director for WASA, for details on the Capital Budget. Dan writes, “For K–12 education, the final Capital Budget provides $871.5 million. The majority of this appropriation is for the School
Construction Assistance Program (SCAP). SCAP receives $588.2 million in the new two-year budget.” For Dan’s complete “Sine Die” update, read his latest This Week in Olympia – Sine Die Edition.
There is much more information there related to capital projects for small schools, skill centers, distressed schools, safety upgrades, and more.

Additional funding for education programs such as science, dual language, financial literacy, plant-based school meals, homeless student stability, and other areas are listed beginning on page 545 of this agency-level detail report.

Our team was thrilled to see that the Outdoor School for All program received $20 million each for the next two years. Many more students will get to experience overnight camp, which is fantastic. For more information, check out Outdoor Schools WA.

Bills that Passed

Staff

SB 5175 | School Principal Contracts

This bill extends the maximum term of a written contract between a school district board of directors and a principal from one to three years. A contract for a duration of more than one year may be offered if the principal has:

• been employed as a principal for three or more consecutive years;
• been recommended by the superintendent as a candidate for a two or three-year contract because the principal has demonstrated the ability to stabilize instructional practices,
• received a comprehensive performance rating of level 3 or above in their most recent