Washington HB 1357: Providing special education funding and support for inclusionary practices.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to special education funding and support for 1
inclusionary practices; amending RCW 28A.150.390, 43.216.580, 2
28A.150.392, and 28A.150.560; adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 3
RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.150 RCW; creating new 4
sections; and providing expiration dates.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.150.390 and 2024 c 229 s 1 are each amended to 7
read as follows:8
(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit to each 9
regular session of the legislature during an odd-numbered year a 10
programmed budget request for special education programs for students 11
with disabilities. Funding for programs operated by local school 12
districts shall be on an excess cost basis from appropriations 13
provided by the legislature for special education programs for 14
students with disabilities and shall take account of state funds 15
accruing through RCW 28A.150.260 (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) and 16
28A.150.415.17
(2) The excess cost allocation to school districts shall be based 18
on the following:19
(a) A district's annual average head count enrollment of students 20
ages three and four and those five year olds not yet enrolled in 21
H-1806.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1357
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Stonier, Santos, Obras, Timmons, Scott, Ortiz-Self, Nance, Fosse,
Salahuddin, Wylie, Macri, and Hill)
READ FIRST TIME 02/28/25.
p. 1 SHB 1357

kindergarten who are eligible for and receiving special education, 1
multiplied by the district's base allocation per full-time equivalent 2
student, multiplied by 1.2;3
(b)(i) Subject to the limitation in (b)(ii) of this subsection 4
(2), a district's annual average enrollment of resident students who 5
are eligible for and receiving special education, excluding students 6
ages three and four and those five year olds not yet enrolled in 7
kindergarten, multiplied by the district's base allocation per full-8
time equivalent student, multiplied by the special education cost 9
multiplier rate of:10
(A) ((Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, either:11
(I) 1.0075 for students eligible for and receiving special 12
education and reported to be in the general education setting for 80 13
percent or more of the school day; or14
(II) 0.995 for students eligible for and receiving special 15
education and reported to be in the general education setting for 16
less than 80 percent of the school day;17
(B) Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, either:18
(I) 1.12)) 1.18 for students eligible for and receiving special 19
education and reported to be in the general education setting for 80 20
percent or more of the school day; or21
(((II) 1.06)) (B) 1.09 for students eligible for and receiving 22
special education and reported to be in the general education setting 23
for less than 80 percent of the school day.24
(ii) If the enrollment percent exceeds 16 percent, the excess 25
cost allocation calculated under (b)(i) of this subsection must be 26
adjusted by multiplying the allocation by 16 percent divided by the 27
enrollment percent.28
(3) The superintendent of public instruction may reserve amounts 29
up to .005 of the funding generated under subsection (2) of this 30
section for statewide special education activities under section 2 of 31
this act.32
(4) As used in this section:33
(a) "Base allocation" means the total state allocation to all 34
schools in the district generated by the distribution formula under 35
RCW 28A.150.260 (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) and the allocation under 36
RCW 28A.150.415, to be divided by the district's full-time equivalent 37
enrollment.38
(b) "Basic education enrollment" means enrollment of resident 39
students including nonresident students enrolled under RCW 40
p. 2 SHB 1357

28A.225.225 and students from nonhigh districts enrolled under RCW 1
28A.225.210 and excluding students residing in another district 2
enrolled as part of an interdistrict cooperative program under RCW 3
28A.225.250.4
(c) "Enrollment percent" means the district's resident annual 5
average enrollment of students who are eligible for and receiving 6
special education, excluding students ages three and four and those 7
five year olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten and students enrolled 8
in institutional education programs, as a percent of the district's 9
annual average full-time equivalent basic education enrollment.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 11
RCW to read as follows:12
(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall engage in 13
statewide special education activities to support students receiving 14
special education services.15
(a) The statewide activities must include:16
(i) Annually reviewing data from school districts and public 17
schools, including the percentage of students receiving special 18
education services, to ensure there is not a disproportionate 19