RCW 36.160.100 Public school cultural access program.

(1) A program created under this chapter must develop and provide a public school cultural access program, as provided in RCW 36.160.110.

(2) To the extent practicable consistent with available resources, the public school cultural access element of a program of a county described in RCW 36.160.110(2) must include the following attributes:

(a) Provide benefits designed to increase public school student access to the programming offered and facilities operated by regional and community-based cultural organizations receiving funding under this chapter, giving priority to the activities in the order described in (c) of this subsection;

(b) Offer benefits to every public school in the county while scaling the range of benefits available to and the frequency of opportunities to participate by any particular school to coincide with the relative percentage of students attending the school who participate in the national free or reduced-price school meals program;

(c) Benefits provided under the public school cultural access program must include, without limitation:

(i) Providing directly or otherwise funding and arranging for transportation for all public school students at participating schools to attend and participate annually in the age-appropriate programs and activities offered by such organizations;

(ii) Should funding available under this program for student transportation be inadequate in any one year due to more demand for student transportation than can be funded, increasing the subsequent annual percentage allocation to the public school cultural access program up to two percent so as to provide sufficient funds to ensure adequate funding of student transportation;

(iii) Establishing and operating, within funding provided to support the public school cultural access program under this subsection, of a centralized service available to regional and community-based cultural organizations receiving funding under this chapter and public schools in the county to coordinate opportunities for public school student access to the programs and activities offered by the organizations both at the facilities and venues operated by the organizations and through programs and experiences provided by the organizations at schools and elsewhere;

(iv) In consultation with cultural organizations located within the county, preparing and maintaining a readily accessible and current guide cataloging access opportunities and facilitating scheduling;

(v) Coordinating closely with cultural organizations to maximize student utilization of available opportunities in a cost-efficient manner including possible scheduling on a single day opportunities for different grade levels at any one school and participation in multiple programs or activities in the same general area for which program-funded transportation is provided;

(vi) Supporting the development of tools, materials, and media by cultural organizations to ensure that school access programs and activities correlate with school curricula and extend the reach of access programs and activities for classroom use with or without direct on-site participation, to the extent practicable;

(vii) Building meaningful partnerships with public schools and cultural organizations in order to maximize participation in school access programs and activities and ensure their relevance and effectiveness;

(d) When a program determines that its program element required under (c)(i) through (vii) of this subsection has achieved sufficient scale and participation among public schools located within its boundaries and that it has resources remaining to devote to additional public school cultural access programs without diminishing such participation, the county may develop and financially support other public school cultural access activities in conjunction with cultural organizations receiving funds under this chapter; public school districts; and other public or nonprofit organizations that support cultural access. Any funding for development and support of such activities provided to cultural organizations receiving funds under this subsection must only be used to supplement the public benefits provided by such organizations as required under this chapter and may not be used by such organizations to replace or diminish funding for such required public benefits;

(e) Preparation of an annual public school cultural access plan for review and adoption prior to implementation; and

(f) Compilation of an annual report documenting the reach and evaluating the effectiveness of program-funded public school cultural access efforts, including information about the numbers and types of students who participated in the program and recommendations to the county for improvements.

[ 2015 3rd sp.s. c 24 § 502.]

NOTES:

Construction—2015 3rd sp.s. c 24: See note following RCW 36.160.030.