wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5969 > Original Bill
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Each student must have a high school and beyond plan to guide the student's high school experience and inform course taking that is aligned with the student's goals for education or training and career after high school.
Students with a required transition plan under RCW 28A.155.220(2) may elect for their transition plan to fulfill the requirements of this section.
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By grade seven, each student must be administered a career interest and skills inventory which is intended to be used to inform grade eight course taking and development of an initial high school and beyond plan. No later than grade eight, each student must have begun development of a high school and beyond plan that includes a proposed plan for first-year high school courses aligned with graduation requirements and secondary and postsecondary goals.
For each student who has not earned a score of level 3 or 4 on the middle school mathematics assessment identified in RCW 28A.655.070 by grade nine, the high school and beyond plan must be updated to ensure that the student takes a mathematics course in both grades nine and 10. These courses may include career and technical education equivalencies in mathematics adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.230.097.
With staff support, students must update their high school and beyond plan annually, at a minimum, to review academic progress and inform future course taking.
The high school and beyond plan must be updated in grade 10 to reflect high school assessment results under RCW 28A.655.070(3), ensure student access to advanced course options per the district's academic acceleration policy in RCW 28A.320.195, assess progress toward identified goals, and revise as necessary for changing interests, goals, and needs.
Each school district shall provide students who have not met the standard on state assessments or who are behind in completion of credits or graduation pathway options with the opportunity to access interventions and academic supports, courses, or both, designed to enable students to meet all high school graduation requirements. The parents or legal guardians shall be notified about these opportunities as included in the student's high school and beyond plan, preferably through a student-led conference, including the parents or legal guardians, and at least annually until the student is on track to graduate.
For students with an individualized education program, the high school and beyond plan must be developed and updated in alignment with their school to postschool transition plan. The high school and beyond plan must be developed and updated in a similar manner and with similar school personnel as for all other students.
School districts shall involve parents and legal guardians to the greatest extent feasible in the process of developing and updating the high school and beyond plan.
High school and beyond plans must be provided to students and their parents or legal guardians in a language the students and parents or legal guardians understand and in accordance with the school district's language access policy and procedures as required under chapter 28A.183 RCW, which may require language assistance for students and parents or legal guardians with limited English proficiency.
School districts must annually provide students in grades eight through 12, and their parents or legal guardians, with comprehensive information about the graduation pathway options offered by the district and are strongly encouraged to begin providing this information to students in grade six. School districts must provide this information in a manner that conforms with the school district's language access policy and procedures as required under chapter 28A.183 RCW.
School districts are strongly encouraged to partner with student serving, community-based organizations that support career and college exploration and preparation for postsecondary and career pathways. Partnerships may include high school and beyond plan coordination and planning, data-sharing agreements, and safe and secure access to individual student's high school and beyond plans.
All high school and beyond plans must, at a minimum, include the following elements:
Identification of career goals and interests, aided by a skills and interest assessment;
Identification of secondary and postsecondary education and training goals;
An academic plan for course taking that:
Informs students about course options for satisfying state and local graduation requirements;
Satisfies state and local graduation requirements;
Aligns with the student's secondary and postsecondary goals, which can include education, training, and career preparation;
Identifies available advanced course sequences per the school district's academic acceleration policy, as described in RCW 28A.320.195, that include dual credit courses or other programs and are aligned with the student's postsecondary goals;
Informs students about the potential impacts of their course selections on postsecondary opportunities;
Identifies available career and technical education equivalency courses that can satisfy core subject area graduation requirements under RCW 28A.230.097;
If applicable, identifies career and technical education and work-based learning opportunities that can lead to technical college certifications and apprenticeships; and
If applicable, identifies opportunities for credit recovery and acceleration, including partial and mastery-based credit accrual to eliminate barriers for on-time grade level progression and graduation per RCW 28A.320.192;
Evidence that the student has received the following information on federal and state financial aid programs that help pay for the costs of a postsecondary program:
The college bound scholarship program established in chapter 28B.118 RCW, the Washington college grant created in RCW 28B.92.200, and other scholarship opportunities;
The documentation necessary for completing state and federal financial aid applications; application timeliness and submission deadlines; and the importance of submitting applications early;
Information specific to students who are or have been the subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, who are or are at risk of being homeless, and whose family member or legal guardian will be required to provide financial and tax information necessary to complete applications;
Opportunities to participate in advising days and seminars that assist students and, when necessary, their parents or legal guardians, with filling out financial aid applications in accordance with RCW 28A.300.815; and
A sample financial aid letter and a link to the financial aid calculator created in RCW 28B.77.280; and
Any decision on whether a student has met the state board of education's requirements for a high school and beyond plan shall remain at the local level, and a school district may establish additional, local requirements for a high school and beyond plan to serve the needs and interests of its students and the purposes of this section.
The state board of education shall adopt rules to implement this section.
The office of the superintendent of public instruction must establish interagency agreements with the department of social and health services, the department of services for the blind, and any other state agency that provides high school transition services for special education students. Such interagency agreements shall not interfere with existing individualized education programs, nor override any individualized education program team's decision-making power. The purpose of the interagency agreements is to foster effective collaboration among the multiple agencies providing transition services for individualized education program-eligible special education students from the beginning of transition planning, as soon as educationally and developmentally appropriate, through the end of the school year in which the student turns 22 years of age, or through high school graduation, whichever occurs first. Interagency agreements are also intended to streamline services and programs, promote efficiencies, and establish a uniform focus on improved outcomes related to self-sufficiency.
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When educationally and developmentally appropriate, the interagency responsibilities and linkages with transition services under subsection (1) of this section must be addressed in a transition plan to a postsecondary setting in the individualized education program of a student with disabilities.
Transition planning shall be based upon educationally and developmentally appropriate transition assessments that outline the student's individual needs, strengths, preferences, and interests. Transition assessments may include observations, interviews, inventories, situational assessments, formal and informal assessments, as well as academic assessments.
The transition services that the transition plan must address include activities needed to assist the student in reaching postsecondary goals and courses of study to support postsecondary goals.
Transition activities that the transition plan may address include instruction, related services, community experience, employment and other adult living objectives, daily living skills, and functional vocational evaluation.
When educationally and developmentally appropriate, a discussion must take place with the student and parents, and others as needed, to determine the postsecondary goals or postschool vision for the student. This discussion may be included as part of an annual individualized education program review, high school and beyond plan meeting, or any other meeting that includes parents, students, and educators. The postsecondary goals included in the transition plan shall be goals that are measurable and must be based on appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and independent living skills, when necessary. The goals must also be based on the student's needs, while considering the strengths, preferences, and interests of the student.
As the student gets older, changes in the transition plan may be noted in the annual update of the student's individualized education program.
When a student with a required transition plan under this subsection (2) elects to have both a transition plan and a high school and beyond plan under RCW 28A.230.212, the transition plan must be aligned with the student's high school and beyond plan.
To the extent that data is available through data-sharing agreements established by the education data center under RCW 43.41.400, the education data center must monitor the following outcomes for individualized education program-eligible special education students after high school graduation:
The number of students who, within one year of high school graduation:
Enter integrated employment paid at the greater of minimum wage or competitive wage for the type of employment, with access to related employment and health benefits; or
Enter a postsecondary education or training program focused on leading to integrated employment;
The wages and number of hours worked per pay period;
The impact of employment on any state and federal benefits for individuals with disabilities;
Indicators of the types of settings in which students who previously received transition services primarily reside;
Indicators of improved economic status and self-sufficiency;
Data on those students for whom a postsecondary or integrated employment outcome does not occur within one year of high school graduation, including:
Information on the reasons that the desired outcome has not occurred;
The number of months the student has not achieved the desired outcome; and
The efforts made to ensure the student achieves the desired outcome.
To the extent that the data elements in subsection (3) of this section are available to the education data center through data-sharing agreements, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must prepare an annual report using existing resources and submit the report to the legislature.
To minimize gaps in services through the transition process, no later than three years before students receiving special education services leave the school system, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall transmit a list of potentially eligible students to the department of social and health services, the counties, the department of services for the blind, and any other state agency working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that consent be obtained prior to the release of this information as required in accordance with state and federal requirements.