The authority for this chapter is RCW 28A.205.030 which authorizes the superintendent of public instruction to adopt rules relating to the grade level standing of a prior common school dropout who reenters the common school system.

The purpose of this chapter is to establish policies and procedures governing the reentry to the common school system of a prior common school dropout.

As used in this chapter, the term common school dropout includes all students who leave school for reasons other than a lawfully imposed expulsion, including the period of time a student is subject to a lawfully imposed suspension.

A common school dropout of common school age shall be entitled to reenter the common school system at the grade level appropriate to such individual's ability and, in the case of a high school student, with the credits previously earned toward graduation.

A common school dropout of common school age who has attended a certified education center shall be entitled to reenroll in the common school system. In addition, any such student shall be entitled to be placed at the class level in which he or she would have been but for having dropped out and to graduate with the class, notwithstanding any loss of credits prior to reentry, if each of the following conditions is met:

(1) The student has attended a certificated education center for no less than ninety, sixty minute instructional hours;

(2) The student has reenrolled in the common school system no later than the commencement of the next regular school year semester or trimester, as the case may be, following his or her last day of attendance at a certified education center;

(3) The student possesses the ability to perform academically at a passing level at the grade level of placement as determined pursuant to WAC 392-184-025;

(4) The student has earned credits following his or her reentry at the normal rate;

(5) The student has been enrolled at least two of the three grades nine through eleven at a common school or approved private school, or a combination of both; and

(6) The student has commenced and satisfactorily completed his or her last full school year immediately preceding high school graduation at a public high school, or a combination of public high schools.

The determination pursuant to WAC 392-184-020 of a student's level of academic ability and grade level of placement at the time of a former education center student's reentry shall be made by the principal of the common school of enrollment or such other school district authority as may be designated pursuant to school district policy. Such determination shall be made by the principal or other designated official only after consultation with one or more representatives of the education center which the student last attended and shall be based exclusively upon the principal's or other designated official's professional judgment of the following:

(1) The recommendations of the clinic representative(s);

(2) The student's performance while enrolled in the center; and

(3) The student's academic ability as documented by the results of standardized tests recently administered by the center or school district, or both.