Nicole Mulhausen, the State Board of Education’s staff, reported that 110 schools have successfully submitted approval applications.
The boarding school licensing bill, which includes a proposed one-year implementation extension, is awaiting a committee vote. Private schools, SBE, and DCYF support it.
Discussion on adding financial education to graduation requirements confirmed it would not directly impact private schools, as the House bill only mandates an “opportunity to meet the learning standards.” Many private schools already integrate financial education across grade levels. WFIS emphasized that if WA teacher certification were to require financial education qualifications, professional development must be accessible to both public and private school educators.
SBE Executive Director Randy Spaulding stressed the need for private schools to plan for weather-related closures. Private schools can track either days or hours to meet instructional requirements, whereas public schools have tighter restrictions but may apply for conditional waivers. We heard that some schools are adding occasional Saturday or Sunday as a school day, others are using a day or two during spring break to compensate for the closures, and others have enough hours built into their year that they aren’t concerned.
Additional topics included PSAC’s work on accreditation pathways, concerns about immigration and ICE policies affecting private school students, and stress over potential changes to Title Funds, as the current system, with the help of the Ombuds, works well overall for both private schools and Districts.
The next meeting is Monday, April 21, at 3:30 pm.
