This bill creates a new legislative finding and amends RCW 28A.225.055 to change how certain student excused absences are handled. It continues the current recognition of state-recognized search and rescue activities as excused absences and encourages allowing up to five days per year for those activities, subject to parent and principal approval and provided the activities do not cause a serious adverse effect on the student’s educational progress. It also requires each school district to grant students up to one day each academic term as an excused absence for participation in civic engagement activities, to provide a form to request such absences, and to allow districts to set reasonable request requirements but not to deny requests for reasons outside the section or unrelated to the submittal process. The bill sets procedural requirements for civic engagement absence requests: they must be signed by a parent or legal guardian, describe the nature of the activity, and be submitted at least seven days before the planned absence. It lists examples of eligible civic engagement activities (legislative visits, organized advocacy days, convention participation, civic leadership events, and meetings with an elected official) and requires that qualifying activities be optional relative to course curriculum and not organized or supervised by school district staff. The bill references “search and rescue activities” as defined in chapter 38.52 RCW but does not add a formal statutory definition of civic engagement. This is a modification of existing law (procedural change governing excused absences), not a new criminal offense or penalty change. The text provided does not define “academic term,” does not give a statutory definition of “civic engagement activities” beyond examples, does not state whether principal approval is required for civic engagement absences, and does not include an effective date, enforcement mechanism, or details about interaction with other absence policies.

If enacted, school districts would have to let students take short excused absences for certain civic activities and for state-recognized search and rescue. Students could be excused up to five days a year for search and rescue with parent and principal approval and as long as the absences don’t seriously harm the student’s progress, and they could be excused up to one day each academic term for civic engagement if a parent or guardian signs a request describing the activity at least seven days in advance. Districts must provide a form for these requests, may set reasonable submission requirements, and may not reject requests for reasons unrelated to the listed rules; qualifying civic activities must be optional and not run or supervised by school staff. The practical effects fall most heavily on school districts and principals, who will need to create or change forms and attendance procedures, handle additional approval or intake work, and apply the new limits; principals retain explicit approval responsibility for search and rescue absences. Parents gain a clearer option to get excused absences for their children to attend civic events, and students gain limited new opportunities to miss school without penalty. The measure likely creates only modest administrative costs but somewhat increases the risk of missed instructional time; key details are unclear here, including what counts as an “academic term,” whether principals can deny civic engagement absences, and how the policy will be enforced or take effect.