This bill adds a new section to chapter 28A.525 RCW creating a School Safety Capital Grant Program administered by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The program authorizes competitive grants for physical improvements to school facilities intended to advance safety or security, with examples including security vestibules, metal detectors, key card or remote door access, panic buttons, silent alarms, fencing, lighting, and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) projects; grantees must incorporate CPTED to the extent applicable. Charter schools may receive grants only from funding sources other than the common school construction fund. The bill makes procedural changes by directing OSPI to develop a competitive application process, assist applicants, award grants competitively, and adopt rules for the program. OSPI may use up to 3% of appropriated amounts for administration. Applicants must demonstrate at least 10 years of control of the project site (ownership or long-term lease) before funding, and grant contracts must require grantees to hold improvements and use facilities for the grant’s express purpose for a period appropriate to the grant amount; failure to comply requires repayment to the applicable state fund. If the grant was funded by general obligation bonds, repayment must go to the state general fund and include principal plus interest calculated at the interest rate on state general obligation bonds issued most closely to the date of authorization of the grant. Each project must have a total estimated project cost of $1,000,000 or less. The bill imposes funding conditions: OSPI generally requires nonstate matching funds equal to at least 100% of the state grant award, but must reduce required matches for applicants with more than the statewide average percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals only to the extent necessary to enable participation; any recipient receiving a reduced match must still provide a minimum nonstate match of at least 25% of the total estimated project cost. Important specifics are missing from the provided text: the exact new section number in chapter 28A.525 RCW, the amounts and sources of appropriations, detailed selection criteria and timelines, formal definitions of terms such as "long-term lease" and "appropriate state fund," the method OSPI will use to determine reduced matches and the statewide average, and the date of authorization used to select the bond interest rate for repayment.

If enacted, the state creates a competitive grant program run by OSPI to pay for physical school safety upgrades (things like vestibules, access controls, fencing, lighting, metal detectors, panic buttons, and CPTED work) for projects that cost $1,000,000 or less, with OSPI allowed to use up to 3% of the funding for administration. Schools must show they control the site for at least 10 years, follow CPTED where applicable, and keep the improvements and use the facility for the grant’s purpose for a period tied to the grant amount; failing to comply will trigger repayment to a state fund and, if the original grant came from general obligation bonds, repayment must include principal plus interest tied to state GO bond rates. The groups most affected are school districts (common schools), state-tribal compact schools, and charter schools (which cannot use the common school construction fund for awards), because they will be expected to provide substantial local matching funds—typically equal to the state award, though OSPI can reduce that only enough to enable participation for higher-poverty schools and never below a 25% minimum of the total project cost—so many districts will face increased upfront costs or need to seek alternative funding. OSPI takes on new responsibilities to run and make rules for the program, and practical details that will affect participation—how much money is actually appropriated, exact matching calculations, selection criteria, definitions of terms like “long-term lease” and the date used for bond-interest calculations—are not specified in the text provided, leaving key implementation questions unresolved.