Legislative and Policy Advocacy
We work with legislators and policy makers to ensure that legislation in Olympia affecting schools and education is crafted with the particular needs of private and independent schools in mind.WFIS Legislative and Policy Updates
The dismal grab back of EANS support
Political maneuvering resulted in the legislature reverting over $6.8M private school-designated EANS I and ARP/EANS II funds by June 30, 2023. Your legislative representative may or may not know of these actions. WFIS is working with national and legal advisors to...
The Nation’s Report Card
WFIS is asking that all schools invited by NAEP to participate in the national test please do so. The participation of private schools in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is essential for examining the picture of K-12 education in the United...
EANS I reimbursements due by June 30
Schools that received EANS I funding allocations need to spend the funding now. If not, the private schools will lose about $5m on June 30. EANS I is the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools federal relief program approved by the Department of Education in...
Federal Funding -EANS II- Stripped from Washington’s Private Schools by State Legislators
OSPI allotted nineteen private schools $3.7M designated by Congress as emergency relief funds through the EANS 2 Program or ARP EANS for private schools to support low-income students most impacted by COVID. Each private school received a letter from OSPI with an...
On the horizon: Stronger Connections Grant
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act allows school districts to apply for the Stronger Connections Grant Program. The Stronger Connections Grant will only be available to private schools in Districts with a 40%+ poverty level IF the District applies for the grant....
Clean Buildings Standards next webinar
The team at the Department of Commerce will be hosting their next Clean Buildings Expansion webinar on May 18 Workshop (10 am-Noon) to focus on customer outreach, technical support, and energy benchmarking for Tier 2 (20,000+ sq ft building spaces). Facilities...
School Facility Managers: Help inform the rules of Clean Buildings Program expansion
The Clean Buildings Expansion Bill SB 5722 requires public input to guide the final rule-making of the law that will come into effect in December 2023. Facilities Managers of private schools with buildings 20,000 sq. ft or above can get involved now and help set...
2023 legislative session, final summary
SB 5315 - There were months of collaboration between the private schools authorized as Non-Public Agencies and legislators. The bill was passed through both Houses and is on the Governor's desk after multiple iterations. Non-Public Agencies are often either private...
Clean Buildings expansion
April 13th was the first community engagement webinar for Tier 2 building owners (20,000 sq ft or more of covered space) and community advocates conveying the Clean Buildings Expansion Bill SB 5722 final rule-making steps. Below are links to the webinar recording,...
Security Personnel on Campus
Schools are curious about the rules concerning security personnel on campus. WFIS will continue to compile resources and share them in our newsletter. Here are the laws on who can be on your campus and act as security. There is a lot of information in the various...
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