This act creates a new statewide complaint and enforcement process administered by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for alleged noncompliance with certain state education laws. It defines key terms (including "broad" and "limited" complaints, "negligent," "willful," and what constitutes "noncompliance" with state law) and requires OSPI to adopt rules, by July 1, 2026, for investigation, timelines, due process, and compliance action plans. Eligible filers include enrolled students, parents or guardians, and district residents (for broad complaints); complaints may name local superintendents, district boards, or board members; complainants must first exhaust existing complaint procedures or notify the superintendent if none exist. Procedural changes require OSPI to promptly investigate complaints and, for findings of nonwillful noncompliance, require districts to develop collaboratively and submit compliance action plans and hold a public hearing before submission. If OSPI finds willful noncompliance, the district must hold additional public hearings (including ongoing six-month progress hearings) and may be required to adopt or readopt policies; OSPI may, as a last resort and after providing written notice with reasons, withhold and redirect up to 20 percent of state basic education funds to support the compliance plan, with consideration of the district’s financial health. The act adds accountability measures: willful or negligent noncompliance can be a violation of the oath of office for board members (subject to recall/discharge processes), and the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board must treat a superintendent’s willful noncompliance as potential unprofessional conduct (with a statutory defense if active attempts to comply are shown). Parties may appeal OSPI’s final decisions to an administrative law judge within 30 days and then to superior court. The act also tasks the Office of the Education Ombuds with creating a single access point for education complaints by July 1, 2025 (assigning unique identifiers and linking to existing complaint processes but not gaining new mitigation authority), requires OSPI to post model student handbook language by July 1, 2024 for districts to include starting in 2024–25, requires the charter school commission to maintain an online complaint system by November 1, 2023 (forwarding willful complaints to OSPI after local exhaustion), and extends sections 2–5 to charter and state-tribal schools and to chapter 28A.300 RCW. The extracted materials reference additional amendments and a section 8 concerning superintendent accountability, but the text of those provisions and some implementation details (including certain referenced amendments and a timing inconsistency about effective dates) are not included in the provided facts.

If enacted, the state will give students, parents, and local residents a formal state-level route to flag district-wide or individual violations of laws about discrimination, bullying, curriculum, restraint/isolation, and discipline, and OSPI must investigate and require districts to create publicly reviewed compliance plans. School districts will need to run collaborative planning processes with staff, families, unions and communities, hold public hearings (more often and ongoing if the violation is found willful), and respond to OSPI timelines; superintendents and board members face new accountability risks including potential findings of unprofessional conduct, recall or discharge, and appeals will go to administrative hearings and possibly superior court. The biggest practical impacts fall on OSPI, which must build rules, investigate complaints, and coordinate with the Office of the Education Ombuds and other boards, and on school districts that will absorb the administrative and engagement costs of creating and implementing compliance plans and holding repeated hearings. Districts also face a real financial risk: for willful noncompliance OSPI may withhold and redirect up to 20 percent of basic education funds (after providing written notice and considering district financial health) until compliance is reached. Some implementation and enforcement details (including the full content of section 8 and certain timing provisions) are not included in the provided text, leaving uncertainty about exact procedures and thresholds.