This bill adds a new section to chapter 28A.225 RCW and amends RCW 28A.200.010. It creates a new procedural requirement that parents, guardians, or persons with legal custody must file signed declarations describing their plan for a child who is not enrolled in public or private school in the school year the child turns six and again in the school year the child turns seven. It also makes an amendment requiring parents of children receiving home-based instruction to file an annual signed declaration of intent to provide home-based instruction. The bill changes procedures by specifying filing deadlines (by September 15 of the school year or within two weeks of the start of any public school quarter, trimester, or semester) and requires the superintendent of public instruction to prescribe the declaration format. It requires the annual declaration to state whether a certificated person will supervise instruction, requires annual academic evidence (either a standardized achievement test approved by the state board of education and administered by a qualified individual or an assessment of academic progress written by a certificated educator), and requires those results to be included in the child’s permanent records. Parents must forward test scores, immunization records, and other instructional records when a child transfers; the enrolling district superintendent may require a standardized achievement test and determine grade or course placement after reviewing records and consulting with the parent. If an annual test or assessment shows the child is not making reasonable progress, the parent must make a good faith effort to remedy the deficiency. The bill states that failure to comply with the duties in RCW 28A.200.010 is deemed a failure of the child to attend school without valid justification under RCW 28A.225.020, and that compliance creates a presumption the parent is providing home-based instruction under RCW 28A.225.010(4). It also provides that compulsory attendance and the home-based instruction requirements cited do not apply until the child is eight years old for children receiving home-based instruction. The extracted text identifies affected officials and bodies (superintendent of public instruction to prescribe forms, local district superintendents to receive declarations and make placement decisions, and the state board of education to approve the standardized test) and defines “parent” to include guardians and persons having legal custody. The text does not define terms used such as “certificated person” or “qualified individual,” does not include the full text of the referenced RCW sections, and does not provide additional enforcement details or specific penalty language beyond the cross-reference to RCW 28A.225.020; those elements are therefore unclear from the provided facts.

If enacted, parents who keep a child out of public or private school when the child turns six will need to sign and file formal declarations about their plan for the child (again when the child turns seven and then annually if providing home-based instruction), submit them by September 15 or within two weeks of a school term start to their local district superintendent in a state-prescribed form, and state whether a certificated educator will supervise. Those parents will also need to provide annual standardized tests or written assessments administered by a qualified person, share test and immunization records when a child transfers, and make a good faith effort to fix any academic deficiencies identified; failing to meet these duties can be treated as the child not attending school. The direct effects fall most heavily on parents (more paperwork, time and likely small costs to secure approved assessments or supervision and to address remedial needs) and on local school districts and the Superintendent of Public Instruction (more processing, review, and the authority to require tests and decide placement). The State Board of Education and SPI gain roles setting the approved test and the declaration format. Important details are missing from the provided text — for example, who exactly qualifies as a "certificated" or "qualified" assessor, the specific content of the required form and tests, and enforcement procedures — so actual administrative burden and costs will depend on how those agencies define and implement these requirements.