This bill adds a new section to chapter 28A.225 RCW and amends RCW 28A.225.216 and RCW 28A.225.220. It creates a new enrollment rule allowing a "student in transition" whose active duty parent must change residence by official military orders to remain enrolled in their current school through the end of the school year, and allows a student whose parent's active duty ends during the school year to remain through the end of the school year or through graduation if in grades 9–12. The new section and amendments also state that nonresident districts are not required to provide transportation to or from school unless state or federal law requires it. The amendment to RCW 28A.225.216 changes residency rules for children of military families by treating them as meeting residency requirements when a parent is transferred or pending transfer to an in-state military installation on active duty. It requires the parent (defined to include guardian or legal custodian) to provide proof of residence within 14 days of the arrival date on official military documentation, lists acceptable proofs of residence (temporary on-base billeting, purchased/leased residence or signed purchase/lease agreement, federal government housing or off-base military housing including public-private venture housing), and requires districts to accept electronic conditional enrollment and finalize enrollment once residence proof is provided. If a qualifying residence is unavailable for more than 14 and fewer than 90 days at enrollment, the child may enroll in the district where that temporarily unavailable residence is located. The amendment to RCW 28A.225.220 makes procedural changes to interdistrict transfers and fees. It allows school boards to enter agreements with adults attending school and charge reasonable tuition, strongly encourages districts to honor parent/guardian requests to transfer or attend another district, and requires a district to release a student to a nonresident district that agrees to accept the student if specified conditions are met (including when the student is a child of a military family or is transferring to enroll in an online course or program approved under RCW 28A.250.020). Districts may deny a transfer that would adversely affect an existing desegregation plan. The bill permits optional exit interviews for transferring students’ parents and prohibits districts from charging transfer fees or tuition for nonresident students enrolled under subsection (3) and RCW 28A.225.225; it also clarifies that reimbursement between high school and nonhigh school districts is not a transfer fee affecting apportionment. Affected parties include resident and nonresident school districts, boards of directors, children of military families and their parents/guardians, approved online providers, and high school/nonhigh school districts with respect to reimbursement. Required timing includes providing proof of residence within 14 days of the arrival date on official military documentation and the 14-to-90-day rule for temporarily unavailable residences. The bill was prefiled 12/09/24 and read for the first time 01/13/25. The text refers to definitions and related statutes in RCW 28A.705.010, RCW 28A.250.020, and RCW 28A.225.225, but those referenced definitions and statutory provisions are not included here, and the specific section number for the new section added to chapter 28A.225 is not provided.

If this becomes law, military-connected students are much more likely to stay in their current school through the end of the school year (or through high school graduation for grades 9–12) when a parent is moved by military orders or when a parent’s active duty ends midyear, and parents must usually show proof of an in-state residence within 14 days using specified military housing documents. That will make school enrollment more predictable for those families and let them enroll electronically on a conditional basis, but families should expect to arrange their own transportation unless some other law requires the district to provide it. School districts will need to accept and finalize conditional electronic enrollments, hold spots for these students, and may have to educate nonresident military children without charging transfer fees or tuition, which could change district enrollment numbers and resource needs; districts can only refuse transfers in limited circumstances such as when it would harm a desegregation plan. Important details are missing here, including the exact definitions from RCW 28A.705.010, the specific exceptions in subsection (3), and full reimbursement mechanics, so some financial and operational impacts remain uncertain.