Washington Administrative Code › Title 180 - Education, State Board of › Chapter 180-90 - Private schools › Section 180-90-160 - Minimum standards and certificate form

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) The annual certificate of compliance
			 required by WAC
			 180-90-130
			 shall be submitted to the state board of education and signed by the school or
			 district administrator certifying compliance by the school or district. The
			 certificate of compliance form and the submittal process will be determined by
			 the state board of education. Information about annual private school approval
			 and the submittal process will be posted on the state board of education
			 website. The certificate of compliance affirms the school meets the
			 requirements, standards, or legal obligations that private schools are subject
			 to, including those enumerated in this chapter or in chapter 28A.195 RCW and
			 the following standards with the exception only of such deviations or proposed
			 deviations, if any, as are set forth in an attachment to the certificate of
			 compliance:
(a) Except as provided in chapter
			 180-111 WAC, the minimum school year for instructional purposes consists of no
			 less than 180 school days or the equivalent in annual minimum instructional
			 hour offerings as prescribed in
			 RCW
			    28A.195.010.
(b) On each school day, pupils enrolled and
			 in attendance at the school are engaged in educational activity planned by and
			 under the direction of the school; and that pupils are provided an annual total
			 instructional hour offering, as prescribed in
			 RCW
			    28A.195.010, of at least:
(i) Four hundred fifty hours for students in
			 kindergarten.
(ii) One thousand
			 hours for students in grades one through 12.
(c) All classroom teachers hold appropriate
			 Washington State certification except for:
(i)
			 Teachers for religious courses or courses for which no counterpart exists in
			 the public schools: Provided, That a religious course is a course of study
			 separate from the courses of study defined in
			 RCW
			    28A.195.010 including occupational education,
			 science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading,
			 writing, spelling, and the development of the appreciation of art and music all
			 in sufficient units for meeting state board of education graduation
			 requirements, except as provided in chapter 180-111 WAC; and/or
(ii) A person of unusual competence who is
			 not certified but who will teach students in an exceptional case under the
			 general supervision of a Washington state certificated teacher, administrator,
			 or superintendent pursuant to WAC
			 180-90-112. The
			 non-Washington state certificated teacher, the Washington state certificated
			 person who will supervise, and the exceptional circumstances are listed on the
			 addendum to this certificate.
(d) If the school operates an extension
			 program for parents, guardians, or persons having legal custody of a child to
			 teach children in their custody, the extension program meets the following
			 requirements:
(i) The parent, guardian, or
			 custodian is supervised by a person certified under chapter 28A.410 RCW and who
			 is employed by the school;
(ii) The
			 planning by the certified person and the parent, guardian, or person having
			 legal custody includes objectives consistent with (a), (b), (e) through (g) of
			 this subsection;
(iii) The
			 certified person spends a minimum average each month of one contact hour per
			 week with each student under his or her supervision who is enrolled in the
			 extension program;
(iv) Each
			 student's progress is evaluated by the certified person; and
(v) The certified person does not supervise
			 more than 30 students enrolled in the approved private school's extension
			 program.
(e) Measures
			 have been taken to safeguard all permanent records against loss or damage
			 through either the storage of such records in fire-resistant containers or
			 facilities, or the retention of duplicates in a separate and distinct
			 area;
(f) The physical facilities
			 of the school are adequate to meet the program offered, and all school
			 facilities and practices are in compliance with all reasonable health
			 requirements and all reasonable fire safety requirements, as defined in WAC
			 180-90-112, and
			 substantiated as required by current inspection reports of appropriate health
			 and fire safety officials which are on file in the school or district
			 administrator's office;
(g) The
			 school's curriculum includes instruction in the basic skills of occupational
			 education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health,
			 reading, writing, spelling, and the development of appreciation of art and
			 music in sufficient units for meeting state board of education graduation
			 requirements, as set forth in chapter 180-51 WAC. A school may substitute
			 courses specific to the mission or focus of the school to satisfy the career
			 and technical education requirement of chapter 180-51 WAC and may waive
			 requirements as provided in chapter 180-111 WAC;
(h) The school or its organized district
			 maintains up-to-date policy statements related to the administration and
			 operation of the school or district;
(i) The school does not engage in a policy of
			 racial segregation or discrimination;
(j) The governing authority of this private
			 school or private school district has been apprised of the requirements of
			 chapter 180-90 WAC relating to the minimum requirements for approval of private
			 schools and such governing authority has further been apprised of all
			 deviations or proposed deviations from the rules and regulations of the state
			 board of education and the standards contained in chapter 180-90 WAC.