Washington § 28A.300.476 - Physical, social, and emotional support staff — Report. (Expires June 30, 2030.)

(1) By February 1, 2023, and by February 1st every odd-numbered year thereafter, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall submit, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, to the appropriate committees of the legislature a report analyzing the implementation of RCW 28A.150.260(5)(b), related to physical, social, and emotional support staff.

(2) For the analysis, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must use personnel data reported on or around October 1st of the report year and the prior year, and any other relevant data.

(3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the report must:

(a) Compare the staffing units provided for nurses, social workers, psychologists, counselors, classified staff providing student and staff safety, and parent involvement coordinators under RCW 28A.150.260(5) to the actual school district staffing levels for physical, social, and emotional support staff, disaggregate by school district; and

(b) Analyze trends with respect to: (i) Employed staff and contract staff; and (ii) the percentage of staff with a valid educational staff associate certificate. These trends must be disaggregated by assignment duty code, as well as analyzed year over year and by school district size and geography.

(4) For the report due February 1, 2023, the office of the superintendent of public instruction is required to complete the analysis described in subsection (3) of this section only to the extent that relevant data are available.

(5) For the purposes of this section, "physical, social, and emotional support staff" or "staff" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.150.260(5)(b).

(6) This section expires June 30, 2030.

Intent—2022 c 109: "The legislature recognizes that school nurses, social workers, psychologists, and school counselors are uniquely qualified to provide essential supports that address the physical, social, and emotional needs of students. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the health and well-being of students, the need for comprehensive student supports has grown beyond what is currently funded in the prototypical school model. Therefore, the legislature intends to provide increased allocations to school districts that demonstrate they have hired staff for these roles. The legislature hopes that this enhanced state funding will allow school districts to redirect local levy dollars previously spent on these positions to address learning loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic or to hire additional physical, social, and emotional support staff." [ 2022 c 109 s 1.]