wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1734 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that outdoor school for all, enacted in chapter 112, Laws of 2022, has helped tens of thousands of students from all corners of the state attend outdoor school at one of more than 40 recognized providers. These outdoor school experiences support career-connected learning and are helping create education workforce pathways in areas like forestry, timber, marine biology, and river management.
The legislature further finds that the statewide operating grant program, created in chapter 112, Laws of 2022, helps ensure students have a chance to benefit from outdoor education by providing grants to school districts to support educational experience and grants to providers to increase future capacity, with a focus on communities historically underserved by science education.
The legislature further finds that expanding the capacity of outdoor school facilities to serve more students can also improve accessibility of outdoor education programs to school districts by making it easier to plan for transportation and support needs across an entire class or grade level.
Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a statewide capital facility grant program to expand and improve facilities used for the delivery of outdoor learning opportunities.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office must establish a competitive process to solicit proposals for and prioritize projects whose primary objective is to expand access to outdoor education experiences for students enrolled in public schools by acquiring, constructing, or rehabilitating facilities used for the delivery of outdoor learning opportunities.
Applicants must demonstrate that the project is likely to increase the number of public school students served by outdoor education experiences at the project locations or is providing infrastructure improvements that are likely to remove barriers to the participation of public school students from underserved communities.
Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, renovations that increase bed capacity, rehabilitations that weatherize or improve energy efficiency at existing facilities so they can serve more public school students by extending the operating season for the facility, and upgrades in bathrooms and kitchen facilities that support better service delivery.
Eligible grant recipients include federally recognized tribes, local governments, state agencies, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
Beginning with the 2027-2029 fiscal biennium, the office must submit a prioritized list of recommended projects for funding to the governor and the legislature as part of the office's biennial capital budget request. The prioritized list must include a description of each project, the amount of recommended state funding, and documentation of nonstate funds to be used for the project.
In contracts for grants authorized under this section, the office must include provisions that require:
Grant-funded capital improvements be maintained by the grantee for a specified period of time appropriate to the amount of the grant;
Grant-funded facilities be used for the express purpose of the grant; and
Repayment of the grant award and interest if the grantee is found to be out of compliance with provisions of the contract. Interest must be calculated at the rate of interest on state general obligation bonds issued most closely to the date of award of the grant. Repayments collected by the office must be deposited into the state general fund.
For purposes of this section, "outdoor education experiences" and "outdoor learning opportunities" have the same meaning as in RCW 28A.300.795, and "public schools" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.150.010.