WSSDA%202413%202023.pdf

Parent document: Regular Board Meeting-09-11-2024.pdf

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(HB) 1658 - High School Credit for Paid Work

Experience, which authorizes public high school
students to earn elective credit for their paid work
experience. Within that legislation, our Legislature
found that a student’s paid work experience could
demonstrate that the student:

| ast session, our Legislature passed House Bill

¢ set personally meaningful goals
¢ applied learning in new contexts,
¢ mastered an essential life skill,

* exercised self-agency by developing competence
in personal finance, and

¢ took initiative

However, school districts were restrained from
implementing the new legislation until the Office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) adopted the
necessary new provisions to the Washington Adminis-
trative Code (WAC) and updated relevant existing WACs.
These new and updated rules are now in place and
OSPI has issued implementation guidance and other

DECEMBER 2023

supportive tools for school districts. Here are the key
takeaways about offering students credit for their work
experience as provided for under the statute and new
and revised rules.

To be eligible to participate, students must be at least
16 years old and legally eligible for paid employment.
The school counselor, principal, or other school
designee must approve the student’s paid work
experience in advance and in writing. The student must
provide district staff with documentation identifying the
employer and the employment. Additionally, the student
must provide a narrative describing how the paid work

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POLICY AND LEGAL NEWS = WSSDA_ 6


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experience will develop skills to meet their education
goals, understanding of work and finance, and how
their performance, effort, and decisions will affect their
future career and educational opportunities.

It is possible for students to schedule their paid work
hours during the school day or outside of the regular
school calendar. School districts may claim the paid
work experience that is scheduled as part of the
student’s school day for basic education apportionment
in alignment with WAC 392-121-139. Students may
earn a maximum of two credits and only elective credit.
To earn one elective credit, students must work no less
than 360 hours of paid work. To earn half an elective
credit, students must work no less than 180 hours of
paid work.

To receive credit, students must demonstrate or be
assessed on the grade-level proficiency of Washington
State High School Financial Education Standards.
Additionally, receiving credit requires that the
designated school staff (school counselor, principal,
or other school designee) verifies and reports the
student’s paid work experience to OSPI no less than

MODEL POLICY &
PROCEDURE

Financial Education
Mastery-Based Leaming
and Credit

MODEL POLICY

Equivalency Credit
Opportunities

(S) POLICY DECEMBER 2023

once per term. School staff must also update the
student’s High School and Beyond Plan to reflect the
paid work experience.

Fundamental to the opportunity for students to receive
elective credit for their paid work experience under HB
1658 is that your school board must first adopt a written
policy that satisfies the requirements. The only identified
mechanism for awarding this credit is through mastery-
based learning of the state financial education learning
standards found in RCW 28A.300.469. WSSDA has
revised model policy and procedure 2401 - Financial
Education Mastery-Based Learning and Credit to
address the policy requirements. This policy is classified
as Encouraged, because your district is not required to
provide students with credit for their work experience,
but if your district would like to offer this opportunity to
students, the policy is required. WSSDA has also revised
model policy 2413 - Equivalency Credit Opportunities
based both on HB 1658 and Senate Bill 5617 - Skill
Centers - School District Course Equivalencies. Model
policy 2413 is an Essential model policy.