This bill creates a new, temporary statute establishing "enrollment stabilization" payments for local education agencies (LEAs) for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. It requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide a stabilization payment to any LEA whose combined state revenue in a given year is less than the amount that would have been generated using 2025-26 annual average enrollment values and the funding formulas in place for that year. The stabilization amount for each year is defined as the positive difference between (a) the combined state revenue that would be generated using 2025-26 enrollments and that year's formulas and (b) the combined state revenue actually generated in that year. The section states these payments are not part of the state's program of basic education but may be used for any allowable cost within the listed programs, and the section expires July 1, 2028. The bill defines "combined state revenue" to include allocations for general apportionment, special education, learning assistance (with a note about free or reduced-price meal percentages when using 2025-26 enrollments), transitional bilingual, highly capable, career and technical education and skill centers, institutional education for residential schools and juveniles in detention, dropout reengagement, alternative learning experience, and running start. It applies to school districts, charter schools established under chapter 28A.710 RCW, and state-tribal education compact schools under chapter 28A.715 RCW, with the Superintendent of Public Instruction responsible for providing payments. The bill is a new statutory, financial/procedural mechanism (not a penalty or criminal change). Important implementation details are not provided in the extracted text, including the payment mechanism, timing, funding source, and administrative calculations for how combined state revenue is computed in practice, and it is unknown whether other sections or fiscal notes appear elsewhere in the bill.

If enacted, the bill would temporarily protect school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal compact schools from revenue drops by topping up any loss in combined state funding for 2026-27 and 2027-28 to the level they would have received using 2025-26 enrollment figures. Practically, affected LEAs that see funding fall because enrollment declines would get supplemental payments from the Superintendent of Public Instruction equal to the shortfall across many program allocations (general apportionment, special education, learning assistance, bilingual, highly capable, CTE/skill centers, institutional education, dropout reengagement, alternative learning experience, and running start), and those payments can be used flexibly for allowable costs in those programs. The Superintendent must provide the payments, but the bill does not say how payments will be funded, scheduled, or calculated in operational detail, so districts and state budget managers will face uncertainty about timing and total state cost; the stabilization requirement expires July 1, 2028. LEAs without revenue shortfalls are unaffected.