Washington Revised Code Title 28A. Common School Provisions § 28A.245.005. Findings

The legislature finds that student access to programs offered at skill centers can help prepare them for careers, apprenticeships, and postsecondary education. The legislature further finds that current limits on how school districts and skill centers report full-time equivalent students and the time students are served provide a disincentive for school districts to send their students to skill centers. The legislature further finds that there are barriers to providing access to students in rural and remote areas but that there are opportunities to do so with satellite and branch campus programs, distance and online learning programs, and collaboration with higher education, business, and labor. The legislature further finds that skill centers provide opportunities for dropout prevention and retrieval programs by offering programs that accommodate students' work schedules and provide credit retrieval opportunities. The legislature further finds that implementing the recommendations from the study by the workforce training and education coordinating board will enhance skill center programs and student access to those programs.