Tag Archives: OSPI

Senate budget committee passes Hawkins-Wellman education bill

A bill prime-sponsored by 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins aimed at learning recovery due to impacts of the COVID pandemic, including a pilot project to help districts voluntarily reform their school calendars, was approved today by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

As amended and passed by the committee, Hawkins’ bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 5147, would help assist districts with “learning stabilization, recovery, and acceleration” in response to struggling academics resulting from less than ideal remote learning and significantly reduced in-person instruction.

Hawkins, the ranking Republican member on the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, has partnered on the bill with 41^st District Sen. Lisa Wellman, who chairs the committee and is the lead co-sponsor of Senate Bill 5147. Prior to the committee’s passage of the bill, Hawkins and Wellman worked together on a sweeping amendment to the measure that would:

Fund three additional instructional days to all districts statewide in the 2021-22 school year.
Direct the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to create and administer a grant program to assist school districts in facilitating a weeklong “reengagement” program prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year for students to reconnect with peers and teachers through learning, physical activity, and social interaction.
Direct OSPI to administer a grant program to fund up to five days of additional education opportunities in preparation for the 2021-22 school year for lower-income districts.
Advance a “balanced school calendar” program to allow up to 20 school districts to explore using their 180 state-funded school days differently to implement an 11-month school calendar beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

“This bill took a significant step forward by being approved by the Ways and Means Committee today,” said Hawkins. “The substitute version that Senator Wellman and I developed broadens the bill to help school districts address learning stabilization and recovery, in both the short term and the longer term.”

Hawkins, who served for 10 years on the Eastmont School Board and North Central Educational Service District Board before being elected to the Legislature, says the state should be supporting districts to address learning recovery to try to catch students up to their prepandemic academic learning trajectory.

“Now is the time – as we prepare to move past this pandemic – to assist our school districts and their students with their growing academic and social challenges resulting from loss of instruction or less than ideal remote learning. We also need to think big about reforming the system and to get serious about exploring better opportunities for student learning in the years ahead. The ‘balanced calendar’ pilot remains as a section of the bill to help incentivize districts to change,” said Hawkins.

Senate Bill 5147 now goes to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration.

To review the committee-approved amendments, click here and here.

To review a summary of the bill, click here.

Photo caption: Sen. Brad Hawkins (left) and Sen. Lisa Wellman worked together on changes to Senate Bill 5147 before it was passed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Hawkins thanks Supt. Reykdal for bringing in expertise and planning ahead for school employee vaccinations

Sen. Brad Hawkins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, responded to today’s announcement of the “Get Ready Plan” partnership between the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Kaiser Permanente.

“I applaud Superintendent Reykdal for working with partners to bring in expertise and plan ahead for school employee vaccinations,” said Hawkins, who serves the 12^th District and is a former Eastmont School Board member. “I’m thankful that the governor changed course on January 18th to acknowledge that all school employees, regardless of age, will be eligible to get vaccinated in the next phase. School employees across Washington – our teachers, administrators, and support staff – are helping our state fulfill its paramount duty and deserve to be protected.

“I still believe it is important for Governor Inslee and the Department of Health to allocate the vaccines to regions in proportion to their population and to allow local health providers and health districts to coordinate vaccine distribution.

“To the question about logistics, I believe the partners can get employee lists from their school districts, ask staff to present identification cards, and start getting vaccines administered as soon as they are allowed. School employees are critical workers and deserve to be protected as soon as possible.

“The reality is that our state will not get back to normal until our schools are fully functioning. The best way to make that happen is to get our school employees vaccinated now alongside our older Washingtonians because, unlike some of them, school employees will not be able to self-isolate.”

Hawkins acknowledges the challenge of coordinating vaccinations, but he believes it is often made worse by the state’s “top-down” approach and limiting flexibility at the local level.

“I’m thankful the health-care providers in my region – even prior to the governor’s designation of the Town Toyota Center as a regional distribution site – have been successful at getting vaccinations administered. However, the state should simplify things and provide more local flexibility in decision-making and vaccine distribution,” said Hawkins.

(PHOTO CAPTION: Senator Brad Hawkins of the 12^th District is a former school board member and the ranking Republican member on the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.)

Education committee approves Hawkins’ school calendar bill

Following a challenging school year for students, parents, and schools, and anticipating significant learning loss across Washington state, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee has taken a step forward to address “learning loss” throughout the state.

The committee today approved 12^th District state Sen. Brad Hawkins’ bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 5147, aimed at addressing learning loss by exploring alternatives to current school calendars that leave students with nearly three months each year with no school instruction.

Hawkins, the ranking Republican member on the Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, is sponsoring the bill to explore alternative school calendars. His lead co-sponsor is 41^st District Sen. Lisa Wellman, who chairs the committee and works closely with Hawkins on education policy. Other prominent Senate co-sponsors include Majority Leader Andy Billig, Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair David Frockt, Democratic Caucus Chair Bob Hasegawa, and Republican Caucus Chair Ann Rivers.

As passed by the committee, the bill would create opportunities for up to 30 school districts (15 from western Washington and 15 from eastern Washington) to voluntarily participate in year-round school. The bill includes a financial incentive in the school funding formula for districts seeking to spread their existing state-funded 180 days over a full calendar year. The bill would require instructional days in at least 11 months of the school year and breaks of no longer than four weeks.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction would select applicant districts based on the bill’s criteria to implement the program beginning in the 2022-23 school year and concluding after the 2025-26 school year and then report back to the Legislature regarding its findings. If this program works well, the Legislature could consider expansion to all schools in future years.

Hawkins, who served for 10 years on the Eastmont School Board and North Central Educational Service District Board before being elected to the Legislature, says now is the time for the state to encourage willing school districts to reform their school calendars.

“Now is the time – as we’ll pull out of this pandemic – to think big about reforming the system and to get serious about addressing student learning loss,” said Hawkins. “Long summer breaks, requiring significant reteaching in the fall, are the last thing our kids need in the years ahead. I hope for a program that encourages lawmakers and districts to consider transformational reforms to meet students’ academic needs. They deserve that,” says Hawkins.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has listed reforms to the school calendar as one of his agency’s 10 “strategic changes.” In a Jan. 8, 2021, letter to Gov. Jay Inslee and members of the Legislature, Reykdal cited “Substantially shrink summer learning loss in the long term, and learning loss due to the pandemic in the short term, by balancing the school calendar” as a policy step for increasing learning for students in an effort “to become the highest performing public education system in the nation.”

Reykdal appreciates the bipartisan effort and positive dialogue around SB 5147, saying, “I am grateful for Senator Hawkins’ deep dive into this critical work. We have known for a very long time that our agrarian school calendars contribute to summer learning loss and a lack of supports for students who need us the most. By rebalancing calendars, we can improve student achievement and student supports, and we can sustain the teaching profession for our educators who are cramming 1,700+ work hours into a compressed calendar.”

The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee has referred the bill to the Senate Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.