Another issue I’ll be focusing on this session is education reform. Our smaller school districts are often overburdened by regulations and requirements handed down from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Olympia. My goal is to introduce two bills that will help streamline operations for our rural school districts to help them save much-needed revenue and free up more resources to focus on their kids.

One of my proposals would require a review of all the required reports that OSPI mandates of its school districts to see which ones are actually used. There are dozens of reports each district must complete during each school year and while larger districts like Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane may have the personnel to accomplish the task, smaller districts often have a minimal amount of staff who are already working at peak production.

I’m also hopeful to have a bill that will make permanent the pilot program that allows smaller school districts (those with less than 500 students) to move to a four-day school week. Bickleton has been taking advantage of the program and it is reporting great success.

Since the pilot program is due to expire this year, my bill will implement the four-day option for smaller school districts permanently. I’ll keep you informed about this bill as it moves through the education committee.