wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1817 > Substitute Bill
To help meet the requirements of RCW 28A.400.317(2)(b), the office of the superintendent of public instruction, by November 1, 2026, shall post on its website, and periodically update, staff training materials on trauma-informed, survivor-centered responses to disclosures of sexual abuse, misconduct, and assault, including best practices for working with local community experts in sexual assault and misconduct and child abuse prevention and response.
A certificated or classified school employee who has knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that a student has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse , sexual misconduct, or assault by another school employee, shall report such abuse , misconduct, or assault to the appropriate school administrator. The school administrator shall cause a report to be made to the proper law enforcement agency if he or she has reasonable cause to believe that the misconduct , abuse, or assault has occurred as required under RCW 26.44.030. During the process of making a reasonable cause determination, the school administrator shall contact all parties involved in the complaint.
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Certificated and classified school employees shall receive training regarding their reporting obligations under state law in their orientation training when hired and then every three years thereafter.
The training required under this subsection must promote trauma-informed and survivor-centered responses to sexual abuse, misconduct, and assault, and must include bystander intervention training of employee sexual abuse of students.
The training required under this subsection may be incorporated within existing training programs and related resources and may use the staff training materials described in section 1 of this act.
Nothing in this section changes any of the duties established under RCW 26.44.030.
By November 1, 2026, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with the Washington state school directors' association and local community experts in sexual assault and misconduct and child abuse prevention and response, shall develop, and periodically update, a student and family guide to the school district sexual harassment policy required by RCW 28A.640.020(2) and other laws, policies, and procedures related to sexual abuse, misconduct, and assault, and mandatory reporting of child abuse or neglect under RCW 26.44.030.
The student and family guide must:
Be culturally informed; and
Be translated into the most common non-English languages spoken across the state in accordance with the model language access policy and procedures as required under chapter 28A.183 RCW.
School districts are encouraged to make the student and family guide available to students and families, especially those participating in the sexual harassment complaint process.
Section 2 of this act takes effect August 1, 2027.