The bill creates a new section in chapter 28A.620 RCW establishing a statewide goal to increase use of public school outdoor recreational property and requires that all public school outdoor recreational spaces be designated as "green community schoolyards" and be available for general recreational use outside school hours as authorized by school districts. It urges school boards to adopt policies allowing community shared-use agreements and encourages districts to open schoolyards and playfields for both structured community programs and unstructured free play. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), in consultation with the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and other listed partners, must adopt a model community shared-use policy that addresses maximizing use, shared-use costs, scheduling, liability protection, fees, and equity strategies. The bill also ties these policies to capital funding and state construction assistance: school districts that receive funding for green community schoolyard capital improvements must allow use of the improved property through a community shared-use agreement consistent with the new section, and districts that adopt the OSPI model community shared-use policy are made eligible for adjustments or additional points in the calculated rate of state funding assistance. The bill amends RCW 28A.525.162 to add a subsection reflecting this eligibility and defines "preschool students with disabilities" for purposes of that statute. Affected entities include OSPI, the RCO and its physical activities task force, school districts and local boards, educational associations, youth and outdoor recreation organizations, local governments, and community nonprofits. The bill was read for the first time on 02/05/25. Important details are not specified in the extracted text: there is no effective date or implementation timeline, no deadline or detailed process for OSPI’s adoption of the model policy, no description of how the funding "adjustments" or additional points are calculated, and no statutory definitions provided for terms like "green community schoolyards" or "community shared-use agreement" beyond the actions required.

If enacted, the bill would make every public school outdoor play area a "green community schoolyard" and require schools to make those spaces available for community recreation outside school hours, while directing the state superintendent’s office to create a model shared-use policy covering how to maximize use, manage costs and schedules, handle liability, collect fees, and apply sliding‑scale equity measures. School districts that accept state capital funds for improving these schoolyards would have to allow community use under shared‑use agreements, and districts that adopt the state model policy would become eligible for extra points in the school construction assistance funding formula. The most affected parties are school districts (which will have new responsibilities to open, schedule, maintain, and manage liability for outside use and may face increased maintenance or administrative costs but could receive funding incentives), OSPI and the Recreation and Conservation Office (which must develop the model policy and consult stakeholders), and local governments, nonprofits, and youth organizations (which are likely to gain more access to school playfields and playgrounds). Key implementation details are missing from the text provided—there’s no deadline for the model policy, no definition of terms like “green community schoolyard,” and no specifics on how many or how much additional funding the eligibility points would provide—so the timing and financial impact remain uncertain.