Washington Revised Code Title 28A. Common School Provisions § 28A.300.840. Media literacy and digital citizenship--Grant program (Expires July 31, 2031)

(1)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall establish a grant program for the purposes of supporting media literacy and digital citizenship through school district leadership teams. The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall establish and publish criteria for the grant program, and may accept gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources for the grant program.

(b) A school district that receives a grant under this section is not prohibited from receiving a grant in subsequent grant cycles.

(2)(a) For a school district to qualify for a grant under this section, the grant proposal must provide that the grantee create a district leadership team that develops a curriculum unit on media literacy or digital citizenship, or both, that may be integrated into one of the following areas:

(b) School districts selected under the grant program are expected to evaluate the curriculum unit they develop under this subsection (2).

(c) In developing their curriculum unit, school districts selected under the grant program are encouraged to work with school district teacher-librarians or a school district library information technology program, if applicable.

(5)(a) Up to 10 grants a year awarded under this section must be for establishing media literacy professional learning communities with the purpose of sharing best practices in the subject of media literacy.

(c) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall convene group meetings for the purpose of sharing best practices and strategies in media literacy education.

(d) Additional activities permitted for the use of these grants include, but are not limited to:

(6)(a) At least one grant awarded in each award cycle must be for developing and using a curriculum that contains a focus on synthetic media as a major component.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “synthetic media” means an image, an audio recording, or a video recording of an individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated with the use of digital technology in a manner to create a realistic but false image, audio, or video.