Text of WA SB 5441 (2024)

AN ACT Relating to promoting and supporting the development and 1 adoption of school district curricula that is diverse, equitable, and 2 inclusive; amending RCW 28A.320.230; adding a new section to chapter 3 28A.320 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.310 RCW; adding a 4 new section to chapter 43.06D RCW; and creating a new section. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: 6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes public 7 school instruction should include the study of the role and 8 contributions of men, women, indigenous peoples, Black Americans, 9 Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European 10 Americans, LGBTQIA2S+ Americans, persons with disabilities, and 11 members of other ethnic and cultural groups. This study is especially 12 important in the social sciences, which should seek to understand the 13 economic, political, and social development of Washington state and 14 the United States and should emphasize portraying the role of these 15 groups in contemporary society. 16 (2) The legislature believes that an inclusive education helps 17 students of all backgrounds, cultures, and identities connect with 18 the instructional materials and helps all students feel a sense of 19 belonging at school. Further, the legislature has confidence that 20 students who do not share these backgrounds, cultures, and identities 21 S-0684.1 SENATE BILL 5441 State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session By Senators C. Wilson and Liias p. 1 SB 5441 get a more complete and well-rounded education of history and society 1 when it is inclusive. 2 (3) The legislature recognizes that inclusive curricula have been 3 shown to often improve the mental health, academic performance, 4 attendance rates, and graduation rates of marginalized communities. 5 For example, a 2017 study showed a 38 percent to 306 percent increase 6 in the fluency rates of African American second grade children when 7 they read culturally relevant stories. Children felt more motivated 8 and interested when reading stories that reflected them. 9 Additionally, students in schools with inclusive curricula have also 10 reported hearing fewer homophobic remarks and in schools with 11 inclusive curricula, less than half of students felt unsafe at school 12 due to their sexual orientation compared to the two-thirds of 13 students who attended schools without inclusive curricula. 14 (4) The legislature intends to promote and support the 15 development and adoption of curricula that is diverse, equitable, and 16 inclusive through inclusive curricula coordinators, youth advisory 17 councils, and an open educational resource database. 18 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 19 RCW to read as follows: 20 (1)(a) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for 21 this specific purpose, first-class districts must designate an 22 inclusive curricula coordinator to promote, advise, and support the 23 development and adoption of curricula that is diverse, equitable, and 24 inclusive. The goal of this curricula is to minimize students' fear 25 and anxiety and help facilitate a sense of safety, belonging, 26 inclusion, and engagement among students. 27 (b) The inclusive curricula coordinator may be a current employee 28 with the additional duties described in subsection (2) of this 29 section or a new employee with these duties. 30 (2) Inclusive curricula coordinators have the following duties: 31 (a) Help ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are 32 interwoven throughout curricula and not treated as stand-alone 33 topics; 34 (b) Facilitate the use of a bias screening tool to review 35 instructional materials; 36 (c) Serve on the instructional materials committee established 37 under RCW 28A.320.230; 38 p. 2 SB 5441 (d) Work with the regional youth advisory council for inclusive 1 curricula and equity established by section 3 of this act and other 2 students to address issues related to diversity, equity, and 3 inclusion; 4 (e) Coordinate with any school district employee leading efforts 5 on diversity, equity, or inclusion, the office of the superintendent 6 of public instruction, and the Washington state office of equity 7 established by RCW 43.06D.020; 8 (f) Support professional development efforts regarding diversity, 9 equity, and inclusion including the professional learning days 10 required by RCW 28A.415.445; and 11 (g) Help improve school and classroom culture and climate. 12 (3) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 13 specific purpose, second-class districts must work with a regional 14 inclusive curricula coordinator required under section 3 of this act. 15 (4) For the purposes of this section: 16 (a) "Diverse," "equitable," and "inclusive" have the same 17 meanings as in RCW 28A.415.443. 18 (b) "First-class school district" and "second-class school 19 district" have the same meanings as in RCW 28A.300.065. 20 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.310 21 RCW to read as follows: 22 (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 23 specific purpose, each educational service district must designate a 24 regional inclusive curricula coordinator with the relevant duties 25 described in section 2 of this act. 26 (2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 27 specific purpose, each educational service district must establish a 28 regional youth advisory council for inclusive curricula and equity. 29 (a)(i) The purpose of the council is to advise and inform the 30 work of school districts and inclusive curricula coordinators 31 described in section 2 of this act. 32 (ii) The council must distribute an annual survey to students to 33 assess the effectiveness of inclusive curricula coordinators. 34 (iii) The council must coordinate with the legislative youth 35 advisory council established under RCW 43.15.095, the Washington 36 state leadership board established under RCW 43.388.010, student 37 representatives on school boards, and any other relevant student or 38 youth councils or groups that include student representation. 39 p. 3 SB 5441 (b)(i) The council must consist of at least one student 1 representative from each school district within the educational 2 service district. 3 (ii) Students may be selected to serve on the council by staff 4 recommendation, application, or interview. 5 (iii) The council must consist of students with diverse 6 backgrounds including backgrounds that include diversity as it 7 relates to sex, race, religion, national origin, connection with the 8 military, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, 9 disability, socioeconomic status, and involvement in the community. 10 (3) Nothing in this section prevents any school district from 11 establishing its own youth advisory council for inclusive curricula 12 and equity. 13 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.06D 14 RCW to read as follows: 15 (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 16 specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public 17 instruction, in collaboration with the statewide association of 18 educational service districts and the Washington state school 19 directors' association, must create an open educational resource 20 database for developing inclusive curricula. The office of the 21 superintendent of public instruction must consult with the Washington 22 state office of equity established by RCW 43.06D.020 and any other 23 relevant state agencies when creating the database. 24 (2) The open educational resource database must include resources 25 that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of 26 historically marginalized and underrepresented groups. 27 (3) The open educational resource database must facilitate the 28 free use, adaptation, and sharing of these resources among school 29 districts and certificated staff. 30 Sec. 5. RCW 28A.320.230 and 1989 c 371 s 1 are each amended to 31 read as follows: 32 Every board of directors, unless otherwise specifically provided 33 by law, shall: 34 (1) Prepare, negotiate, set forth in writing and adopt, policy 35 relative to the selection or deletion of instructional materials. 36 Such policy shall: 37 p. 4 SB 5441 (a) State the school district's goals and principles relative to 1 instructional materials; 2 (b) Delegate responsibility for the preparation and 3 recommendation of teachers' reading lists and specify the procedures 4 to be followed in the selection of all instructional materials 5 including text books; 6 (c) Establish an instructional materials committee to be 7 appointed, with the approval of the school board, by the school 8 district's chief administrative officer. This committee shall consist 9 of representative members of the district's professional staff, 10 including representation from the district's curriculum development 11 committees, and the inclusive curricula coordinator established under 12 section 2 of this act or the regional inclusive curricula coordinator 13 established under section 3 of this act, and, in the case of 14 districts which operate elementary school(s) only, the educational 15 service district superintendent, one of whose responsibilities shall 16 be to assure the correlation of those elementary district adoptions 17 with those of the high school district(s) which serve their children. 18 The committee may include parents at the school board's discretion: 19 PROVIDED, That parent members shall make up less than one-half of the 20 total membership of the committee; 21 (d) Provide for reasonable notice to parents of the opportunity 22 to serve on the committee and for terms of office for members of the 23 instructional materials committee; 24 (e) Provide a system for receiving, considering and acting upon 25 written complaints regarding instructional materials used by the 26 school district; 27 (f) Provide free text books, supplies and other instructional 28 materials to be loaned to the pupils of the school, when, in its 29 judgment, the best interests of the district will be subserved 30 thereby and prescribe rules and regulations to preserve such books, 31 supplies and other instructional materials from unnecessary damage. 32 Recommendation of instructional materials shall be by the 33 district's instructional materials committee in accordance with 34 district policy. Approval or disapproval shall be by the local school 35 district's board of directors. 36 Districts may pay the necessary travel and subsistence expenses 37 for expert counsel from outside the district. In addition, the 38 committee's expenses incidental to visits to observe other districts' 39 selection procedures may be reimbursed by the school district. 40 p. 5 SB 5441 Districts may, within limitations stated in board policy, use and 1 experiment with instructional materials for a period of time before 2 general adoption is formalized. 3 Within the limitations of board policy, a school district's chief 4 administrator may purchase instructional materials to meet deviant 5 needs or rapidly changing circumstances. 6 (2) Establish a depreciation scale for determining the value of 7 texts which students wish to purchase. 8 --- END --- p. 6 SB 5441