This bill amends existing law to extend eligibility for state-supported special education services so that services begin at age three and continue through the end of the school year in which a student with a disability turns 22. It amends multiple RCWs (including 28A.155.020 and 28A.150.220), creates a new section (Sec. 2), and includes an express finding about a November 22, 2024 federal court order in N.D. v. Reykdal. The bill states the extension is not intended to reduce or supplant other services and adds or clarifies statutory definitions and OSPI duties related to appropriate education and excess cost funding. The bill creates a temporary (expiring August 1, 2027) interagency planning requirement (Sec. 2) directing OSPI, DSHS, the Department of Services for the Blind, and other state agencies to collaboratively update a transition implementation plan by October 30, 2026. The updated plan must describe coordinated transition services, include examples for students ages 16–22, explain how transition services supplement (not supplant) state special education funding, and require consultation with nonprofit high school transition providers and IEP advocates. The bill also requires OSPI to establish interagency agreements for transition services, to transmit lists of potentially eligible students to relevant agencies no later than three years before a student leaves the school system (with required consents), and directs the education data center and OSPI to monitor and report certain post‑graduation outcomes for IEP-eligible students to the legislature, to the extent data are available. The bill makes several procedural and administrative changes: it requires districts with high schools to adopt policies allowing students receiving special education services to participate in graduation ceremonies after four years of high school attendance and receive a certificate of attendance without forfeiting continued special education services; it extends appeal and nonresident enrollment apportionment provisions to apply explicitly to students with disabilities; it amends state school provisions to make attendance free for eligible residents ages three through the end of the school year in which they turn 22 for certain disability populations; and it requires districts to report names of visually or hearing impaired youth ages three through 22 to educational service districts. The extracted text is incomplete: portions of the bill cut off mid-sentence, several RCWs listed in the bill header are not shown in detail here, and the prior implementation plan referenced is not included.

If enacted, students found eligible for special education can stay in public special education services through the end of the school year in which they turn 22, and school districts must continue offering appropriate programs for those students. That will likely mean districts need more staff time, program space, and related supports for older students, and OSPI and other agencies will have to create and coordinate transition plans, interagency agreements, and earlier referrals (lists sent three years before a student leaves) to connect students to adult services. The people who change the most are students with disabilities and their families, who get more time and clearer transition planning; school districts, OSPI, DSHS, and the Department of Services for the Blind, which take on new planning, reporting, and coordination duties; and nonprofit transition providers, who must be consulted. The bill requires agencies to show transition services “supplement not supplant” state special education funding, so districts and agencies face potential new costs and fiscal risk if additional funding isn’t provided. Important details on how the other listed statute changes affect funding and implementation aren’t shown in the provided text, so it’s unclear whether and how state funding will be increased to cover the extra service period.