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Students may be eligible for emergency waiver program if legislation passes

by Angelica Relente, Herald Legislative Writer
| January 20, 2021 1:00 AM

State legislators are looking to create a permanent waiver program for graduating public and private high school students in case of a local, state or national emergency.

House Bill 1121, co-sponsored by Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, would allow the Washington State Board of Education to authorize public and private schools to offer emergency waivers from graduation requirements, according to the bill’s text.

Students are eligible for the waiver if their ability to complete graduation requirements was hindered by an emergency, according to the bill’s text. Before considering the waiver, the school must show a “good faith effort” by supporting students’ attempts in meeting the graduation requirements.

The SBE is required to adopt rules, like having eligibility criteria or limiting the number and type of credits it can waive, according to the bill’s text. School districts must also have a plan that details how students can request or reject a waiver.

Last year, legislators approved Engrossed House Bill 2965, which allowed the SBE to create a temporary waiver program for public and private schools affected by COVID-19, according to the bill’s text. The SBE had the authority to offer the waiver program up until July 3.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, said during the legislative hearing Friday the bill establishes a permanent authority for the SBE to step in when a statewide emergency is declared. Tomiko Santos is the primary sponsor of HB 1121.

“The overall bill is meant to do a good thing,” Ybarra said in an interview with the Herald.

Ybarra is co-sponsoring HB 1121. He said the bill is what he would call a “good stopgap effort.”

Ybarra said some legislators had concerns about making the emergency waiver program permanent because schools may use the waivers just to pass students who may not be ready to graduate.

“We want to make sure that the waivers are only used during emergencies and also used properly,” Ybarra said.

SBE Executive Director Randy Spaulding testified in support of HB 1121 during the virtual legislative hearing Friday. He said thousands of high school students would not have graduated last spring if EHB 2965 was not signed into law.

The SBE’s authority to have a waiver program needs to continue for future emergencies, Spaulding said. The waivers would be emphasized as a last resort option and not an “easy way out.”

“That authority does not exist on an ongoing basis,” Spaulding said during the virtual legislative hearing Friday. “If some other emergency were to occur outside of that, we would have had our hands tied. We wouldn’t have been able to respond.”

As of Tuesday, the House Education Committee held an executive session on HB 1121 and did not adopt amendments suggested by some committee members. One of the amendments was to add an expiration date for the emergency waiver program.