This bill makes multiple procedural and administrative changes to how public school districts handle special education evaluations, records, notifications, translations, and data reporting. It adds new sections to chapter 28A.155 RCW requiring districts to give parents specific written materials (including contact information for the Office of the Education Ombuds and OSPI guidance), to use OSPI templates for referral and evaluation notices and planned evaluation activities, to decide within 22 calendar days whether to conduct an initial evaluation and to complete evaluations and eligibility determinations within 60 calendar days of parental consent (subject to OSPI rulemaking for research-based exceptions). Districts must record and publicly report interval statistics for referral, evaluation, IEP completion, and service start dates, make translated documents available for defined limited-English-proficient parent groups, ensure parents understand IEP meetings (including interpretation or audio recording), provide quarterly quantitative service reports on request, and may not use MTSS to delay or deny evaluations for special education eligibility. The bill also addresses student record transfers and enrollment protections for students subject to dependency or tribal shelter-care orders and for children of military families, and directs OSPI to create templates, collect and share deidentified data, and distribute up to $2,000,000 annually to educational service districts for special education evaluators subject to appropriation. Legislative and administrative changes include new grant funding and a temporary grant program (the educational service district special education evaluators grant) that expires June 30, 2035, and a repeal provision effective July 1, 2036. The superintendent of public instruction is authorized to adopt rules to implement federal IDEA Part B requirements and to establish sanctions, including withholding state aid, for districts that fail to comply with the specified RCWs and added sections. The act is contingent on specific funding: if funding is not provided in the omnibus appropriations act by June 30, 2025, the act is null and void. Section 2 is stated to take effect August 1, 2026. These changes are primarily procedural and administrative (new procedural timelines, reporting duties, translation and parental-notice requirements, record-transfer rules, OSPI rulemaking and data duties) and include an enforcement mechanism (sanctions such as withholding state aid). No new crimes or criminal penalties are created; the bill focuses on compliance, oversight, funding, and timelines. Important details are missing from the provided extracts: the text cuts off regarding the full design and purpose of the OSPI distribution of up to $2,000,000, the exact statutory amendments and effective dates for all sections, specific OSPI rule provisions (including any exceptions to the 60-day timeline), and some cross-referenced text and section numbering, so those specifics cannot be described here.

If enacted, school districts will need to act faster and provide parents clearer, translated information about special education referrals, evaluations, and services. Districts must decide within 22 days whether to evaluate a referred student, give parents a template-based plan and consent instructions, and generally finish evaluations within 60 calendar days of consent unless OSPI sets different research-based deadlines. Districts will routinely track and publish how long referrals, evaluations, and IEP starts take, provide written quarterly reports on quantifiable services within 10 business days when parents ask, and take steps (interpreters, translated documents, recordings) to make IEP meetings understandable. Parents are likely to get more timely notices, translated materials when their language group meets a size threshold, and clearer options to see how services were delivered; districts will face more paperwork, translation and interpreter costs, and pressure to speed evaluations to avoid sanctions. OSPI must make templates and translations, collect and share deidentified timing data with the Office of the Education Ombuds and the public, and can make rules changing deadlines or procedures. Educational service districts must assess regional evaluator needs and can apply for prioritized funding from OSPI; OSPI may distribute up to $2 million per year for evaluators, but the bill’s explanation of those funds is incomplete and that grant authority expires June 30, 2035. The act is also funding-contingent: if specific appropriations are not made by June 30, 2025, the whole act is null and void, and some implementation details (exact OSPI rules, how the $2 million is allocated, and exceptions to timelines) are not specified in the provided text.