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Homeschool / Private
School Students
Q-24. What
is the impact of SB 5289?
A. Senate Bill
5289 was passed by the 2005 legislature and resulted in the following
language changes to the Running Start enabling statute:
Sec. 1 RCW 28A.600.310 and 1994 c 205 s 2
are each amended to read as follows:
Eleventh and twelfth grade students or students
who have not yet received the
credits required for the award of a high school diploma
((or its equivalent)) and are eligible to be in the eleventh or twelfth
grades may apply to a participating institution of higher education
to enroll in courses or programs offered by the institution of higher
education. A student
receiving home-based instruction enrolling in a public high school for
the sole purpose of participating in courses or programs offered by
institutions of higher education shall not be counted by the school
district in any required state or federal accountability reporting if
the student's parents or guardians filed a declaration of intent to
provide home-based instruction and the student received home-based instruction
during the school year before the school year in which the student intends
to participate in courses or programs offered by the institution of
higher education. Students receiving home-based instruction under chapter
28A.200 RCW and students attending private schools approved under chapter
28A.195 RCW shall not be required to meet the student learning goals,
obtain a certificate of academic achievement ora certificate of individual
achievement to graduate from high school, or to master the essential
academic learning requirements.
The three agencies responsible for Running
Start regulations will be reviewing the statutory change to determine
whether the changes require any revisions to the Running Start WACs.
Q-25. May home schooled and private schooled
students enroll in the Running Start Program?
A. Yes. If seeking
dual credit, the students must enroll through the local public high
school and have obtained junior or senior standing. The home school
student so enrolled does not have to attend classes in the public high
school in order to participate in Running Start.
Q-26. How is
junior/senior standing determined for private schools and home schooled
students who wish to participate in running start?
A. For students
seeking dual credit, it is the responsibility of the common school district
to establish grade placement criteria. Some schools consider age appropriateness;
others review credits and prior learning. In other cases, a standardized
achievement test may be used in the absence of adequate documentation
of a student's home-based education.
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