(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall establish the language access advisory committee to guide and monitor the implementation of chapter 107, Laws of 2022 and to recommend changes to requirements, policies, and procedures related to language access and language access services for students' families, students, and communities in educational settings outside the classroom.
(2) At a minimum, the advisory committee must guide, monitor, and make recommendations on the following topics:
(a) The effectiveness of language access policies, procedures, and programs;
(b) Family and community engagement, with a focus on multicultural families, families whose students have multiple barriers to student achievement, and families least engaged with their schools;
(c) The definition of "qualified interpreter";
(d) Supply of and demand for interpreters;
(e) Training for interpreters;
(f) Credentialing requirements for interpreters, including a code of professional conduct;
(g) Grants to cover nonstate controlled interpreter credentialing requirement costs;
(h) Language access and language access service data collection and analysis; and
(i) Evidence-based practices regarding language access, including best practice for using state and federal funding to provide language access services.
(3)(a) The members of the advisory committee must include representatives from spoken and sign language services users, community organizations that provide direct services to non-English-speaking families, interpreters for students' families, interpreter preparation programs, advocacy organizations, schools, and school districts.
(b) Members of the advisory committee must be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW
43.03.050 and
43.03.060. Subject to available funding and as determined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, members of the advisory committee who do not receive compensation from their employer or contractor for attendance, either in person or virtually, at a meeting of the advisory committee are eligible for a stipend.
(4) Staff support for the advisory committee must be provided by the language access technical assistance program described in RCW
28A.183.030, except with respect to credentialing requirements for interpreters, for which staff support must also be provided by the Washington professional educator standards board.
(5) The advisory committee must collaborate with the Washington professional educator standards board, the Washington state office of equity established in RCW
43.06D.020, the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee created in RCW
28A.300.136, and other office of the superintendent of public instruction committees that focus on ensuring equity in access to opportunities for all students.
(6) By November 1, 2024, and periodically thereafter, the advisory committee must submit, in compliance with RCW
43.01.036, a report on implementation of this chapter to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the Washington professional educator standards board, the governor, and the appropriate committees of the legislature.
