Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1994 NO. 1 >

RCW 9.41.280 prohibits possession of firearms in areas of facilities while being used exclusively by public or private schools.  An area of a facility is used exclusively by a school when the school has sole possession, control, or use of an area of the facility, regardless of the duration of the use.

AGO 1993 NO. 1 >

1.  RCW 28A.400.300 requires school districts to grant employees a minimum of 10 days per year of leave for illness, injury, and emergencies.  The maximum leave that can be accrued for this purpose is 12 days per year.  Within this minimum and maximum a school district board of directors can define how such leave is to be used.  If the board defines leave for illness, injury, and emergencies so that it only applies to the employee's illness, injury, and emergencies, then the board has the authority to authorize employee leave beyond the 12-day limit to care for sick family members. 2.   RCW 49.12.270 requires employers to permit employees to use sick leave to care for their sick children.  RCW 49.12.270 does not limit the ability of a school district board of directors to allow family leave to care for sick family members beyond the 12-day limit for leave for illness, injury, and emergencies.

AGLO 1982 NO. 1 >

In order to receive reimbursement for unused sick leave, pursuant to RCW 28A.58.097, at the time of separation from school district employment due to retirement, an employee must have separated from such employment and have been granted a retirement allowance under the laws governing the Teachers' Retirement System or the Public Employees' Retirement System, whichever applies;  however, it is not necessary that the employee have actually filed for retirement prior to the date of his or her separation so long as the application is thereafter filed within a reasonable period of time and without the occurrence of any intervening covered employment.

AGO 1987 NO. 1 >

School districts have the authority to provide programs that offer care for children, including children not enrolled as students of the school district. The facilities of the school district may be used to provide these programs. School district funds may be used for the operation of the child care programs and for the construction or remodeling of facilities to house such programs. School districts may not contract with private or other public agencies to provide child care services, either in district facilities or elsewhere, without express statutory authority. The school districts are authorized to charge fees for child care services but, if they charge fees, they may not waive some or all of the fees otherwise chargeable based upon such factors as the income of the parents. The districts are not authorized to furnish transportation to children in child care programs established by the district unless authorized by a specific statute.

AGO 1990 NO. 1 >

1.  RCW 28A.05.055 requires school districts to provide education on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) at least once during each school year beginning with the 1988-89 school year.2.  If a school district elects to develop its own AIDS curricula, it need not complete the curricula prior to the beginning of the school year, so long as it is developed in time to provide AIDS education at least once during the school year.

AGO 1971 NO. 1 >

(1) RCW 41.40.410, as amended by § 1, chapter 84, Laws of 1965, requires all public school districts to provide coverage in the Washington public employees' retirement system for their eligible noncertificated employees even though such employees may be members of a craft or trade union which has its own union pension trust plan; the fact of membership in such a craft or trade union does not constitute a basis for personal ineligibility for membership in the public employees' retirement system under the provisions of RCW 41.40.120.(2) Chapter 39.12 RCW, providing for payment of the "prevailing rate of wage" (including pension benefits, where applicable) on public works projects does not apply when a school district directly hires noncertificated craft or trade union members on a regular basis to perform work on school district property under the supervision of the school district administrators.(3) A school district which is covering its noncertificated employees under the Washington public employees' retirement system is not authorized to make additional pension contributions to a union pension trust fund set up by a craft or trade union to which these employees belong.

AGO 1965 NO. 1 >

(1) A school district pursuant to chapter 75, Laws of 1963 (RCW 41.04.180-41.04.190), may contract with more than one insurance carrier or health service contractor and allow each employee to choose the plan he or she desires, as long as each plan meets all of the requirements of chapter 75, Laws of 1963. (2) A school district pursuant to chapter 75, Laws of 1963, may designate specific categories of its employees to be covered by a group policy or contract to the exclusion of other categories of employees. (3) A school district which has designated specific categories of employees to be covered by a group policy or contract to the exclusion of other categories of employees is not required to make provision for like benefits for such excluded categories of employees by entering into similar contracts for such employees if the categories established by the district are not arbitrary, capricious or invidiously discriminatory. (4) If existing employees' term contracts do not provide in any manner for such insurance, the school district may not provide such benefits during the term of such contracts since under RCW 41.04.190 such benefits constitute additional compensation and under Article II, § 25, Amendment 35, extra compensation may not be granted to any employee after the contract of employment has been entered into.

AGO 1996 NO. 1 >

The records of a juvenile court in a truancy case are confidential and not available for public inspection and copying, with the limited exceptions listed in RCW 13.50.010 and 13.50.100.

AGLO 1976 NO. 2 >

When territory is transferred from one school district to another and a school building is situated within such territory, the question of whether, and to what extent, compensation must be paid by the receiving district will be dependent upon the decision of the appropriate county committee on school district reorganization under RCW 28A.57.050(2).

AGO 1984 NO. 2 >

The provisions of RCW 28A.58.135 do not require school districts to go through a competitive bidding process prior to entering into a contract for pupil transportation services under RCW 28A.58.131.