WSR 16-20-006

PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY

[Filed September 22, 2016, 11:01 a.m.]

Subject of Possible Rule Making: Amending WAC 131-48-080, 131-48-100 and 131-48-110, governing the eligibility to test for the high school equivalency certificate.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: Chapter 28B.50 RCW.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Rule changes are needed to accommodate our approval to have our state's 1418 open doors program be a general education development (GED) options program. The publisher of the high school equivalency tests does not allow students enrolled in any type of high school program to take the tests, unless it is a GED options program. Our current statute requires any student in a high school program to be release[d] from the high school before testing. The statute needs to reflect the change to allow students in 1418 open doors programs to test for the high school equivalency credential without having to be released from the school district.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The high school equivalency credential is awarded jointly by the state board for community and technical colleges and the office of the superintendent of public instruction (OSPI). With approval from OSPI, we have requested that open doors be a GED options program for our state, which would allow students to test while enrolled in an open doors program.

Process for Developing New Rule: Normal rule making.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Lou Sager, 1300 Quince Street S.E., P.O. Box 42495, Olympia, WA 98504, e-mail lsager@sbctc.edu, phone (360) 704-4321.

September 22, 2016

Beth Gordon

Executive Assistant and

Agency Rules Coordinator