WA SB5179

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction must establish by July 1, 2026 a complaint process for students, parents, and community members to address willful noncompliance by school district superintendents or board members with state laws on civil rights, harassment/bullying, curriculum requirements, student restraint/isolation, and discipline.

Complainants must first exhaust existing local complaint procedures before filing with OSPI; complaints can be "limited" (affecting individual students) or "broad" (affecting entire schools or student groups).

Districts found in noncompliance must adopt a compliance action plan developed collaboratively with OSPI, administrators, teachers, parents, unions, and community members, with public hearings required before submission.

For willful noncompliance, OSPI may require policy changes, find superintendents committed unprofessional conduct, or withhold and redirect up to 20% of state basic education funds until compliance is achieved; willful or negligent noncompliance also constitutes grounds for recall of board members.

The Washington Professional Educator Standards Board must adopt rules making superintendent willful noncompliance an act of unprofessional conduct; the complaint process applies to charter schools and state-tribal education compact schools.