Sharon Santos — Argued that administrative housing in OSPI prevents full use of appropriated dollars by the affected agencies.
Sharon Santos — Referred to as Chair Santos while closing her testimony and inviting questions.
Sharon Santos — Marcus Hardin addressed Chair Santos in his remarks, thanking her for her continued advocacy and support for the agencies, and also included her in a formal opening greeting to the committee.
Monica Stonier — Referenced as currently chairing the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership.
Monica Stonier — Asked for a concrete example of duplicative processes and challenges under a larger agency.
Dr. Randy Spalding — Dr. Randy Spalding was introduced as Executive Director of the State Board of Education and then testified that the board’s small, volunteer-driven structure is burdened by OSPI’s inflexible administrative processes. He explained that the State Board needs more flexibility in travel, procurement, and hiring because current procedures create unnecessary, duplicative layers of approval and documentation. He argued that the bill would improve efficiency for the board while preserving accountability.
Marcus Hardin — Called to come up as part of the panel.
Marcus Hardin — Marcus Hardin was called as the next online witness and then testified before the committee. He identified himself as the Executive Director of the Washington State Charter School Commission and explained that he was joining remotely from his office nearby. His appearance was part of the same witness introduction and opening statement.
Tracy Godap — Called to come up as part of the panel.
Veronica Gallardo — Called to come up as part of the panel.
Dr. Erica Hernandez-Scott — Asked to be ready online on deck.
Dr. Erica Hernandez-Scott — Began online testimony in support of the bill, identifying herself as an education advocate scholar and concerned Washington taxpayer.
Veronica Maria Gallardo — Veronica Maria Gallardo introduced herself as the interim executive director of the Professional Educator Standards Board and explained that, based on her experience at both OSPI and PESB, the agencies are very different in size and needs. She emphasized that PESB is a much smaller agency with only 27 employees and a limited budget, while OSPI’s policies and administrative processes are designed for a much larger institution. As a result, those rules do not fit PESB well and create delays and extra steps in budgeting, staffing, and contract and grant approvals, which the bill is intended to address.
Tracy Godat — Tracy Godat, Executive Director of the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership, testified in support of the bill. She explained that indirect fees paid by boards and commissions have risen, that agencies often lack clarity and input on administrative charges and service changes, and that OSPI administrative decisions can create unexpected costs that affect program budgets. She argued the legislation would create a more transparent and accountable administrative structure and direct more funding to students, educators, and school districts.
the panel — The witnesses were thanked and then asked a question by Representative Stonier.
unidentified witness — The witness explained that requests for travel or contract approvals go through multiple layers after leaving the agency, and clarified that while the state account manual treats agency head approval as sufficient, OSPI adds an additional approval layer.
HB1683 — The committee opened the public hearing on House Bill 1683 and received a staff briefing on the bill and proposed substitute. Staff explained that the measure would require certain school districts to use district-based or proportional election structures for school board directors, with exemptions for smaller districts, and described how the substitute would take effect. The prime sponsor, Representative Ortiz-Self, framed the bill as a fair-representation and geographic-equity measure intended to address underrepresentation in school district communities. Committee members asked how the bill would structure elections, what happens where the bill is silent, and how it would apply to specific districts. Testimony in support followed from advocates including Tyler Munch and Nina Martinez, who argued the bill would improve representation and align school board membership more closely with the diverse communities districts serve.
HB1683 — House Bill 1683’s public hearing is closed after testimony and sign-in counts are entered into the record, and the chair briefly references it as one of the bills heard that week.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Representative Lillian Ortiz-Self is introduced as the prime sponsor of House Bill 1683 and explains that the bill is intended to improve fair representation within school districts and support better student outcomes. Later, Tyler Munch thanks her for introducing the bill, reinforcing the discussion around her sponsorship and the bill’s purpose.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Representative Ortiz-Self asks whether WASDA has a solution for inequitable resource distribution across districts.
Skyler Rude — The sponsor addressed the ranking member as 'Ranking Member Rude'; likely a reference to Representative Skyler Rude.
Michael Keaton — Asked Ethan about the research basis for the bill and what problems exist across the 295 districts.
Mari Leavitt — Vice Chair Shavers is asked to call the first witness; the transcript likely refers to Vice Chair Shavers, who is not in the expected list, but the role is procedural.
Tyler Munch — Tyler Munch is called to testify, then presents testimony in support of House Bill 1683 on behalf of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's office. He continues by discussing research findings, including that designated member districts rather than at-large elections attract more candidates, and responds to Representative Keaton's question about current district election methods.
Nina Martinez — Nina Martinez appears online to testify on behalf of the Latino Civic Alliance in support of House Bill 1683. She explains the importance of school board representation and the responsibilities of school boards, argues that district elections could broaden participation and make representation more local, recommends that school districts publicize open board positions through outreach campaigns, and closes by asking for support to move the bill forward.
Dr. Karen Bolton — Requested to testify online.
Dr. Karen Bolton — Dr. Karen Bolton, a school board director representing the Washington State School Directors' Association, testifies that while she supports the intent of the bill, she has major concerns about its approach and characterizes it as another unfunded mandate.
Shannon Grimes — Requested to be on deck for testimony.
Shannon Grimes — Shannon Grimes, a Democracy Researcher at Sightline Institute, begins testimony in support of the bill's goals.
Matt Boehnke — Representative Matt Boehnke is referenced in a continuous exchange where he asks about the analysis and requests the list of 23 districts. The transcript repeatedly misidentifies him as 'Representative Keaton,' but the discussion remains focused on the same point throughout.
Matt Boehnke — Representative Keaton asks about cost sharing and the financial impact on counties versus school districts.
Chris Corry — A brief sequence of mentions refers to the same ongoing discussion about district issues and recruitment challenges in a small district. The transcript appears to mis-transcribe member names as 'Representative Burquist,' 'Representative Burk,' and 'Representative Berquist,' with an additional reference to 'Representative Keaton,' but all are part of the same contiguous exchange about the district and related questions.
Tyler — Asked to clarify which district currently complies with the bill.
Ms. Grimes — The chair interrupts Ms. Grimes to steer her back to the bill rather than ranked-choice voting.
HB1795 — The chair mentions House Bill 1795 as one of the bills being considered during the meeting and executive session, repeating the bill name as part of the agenda reference.
HB1634 — The chair said HB 1634 will be on the executive session agenda for next Thursday.
HB1662 — The chair references House Bill 1662 as one of the bills heard that week.
Ethan Moreno — Identified himself as nonpartisan staff to the House Education Committee and began briefing the bill.
Ethan Moreno — Ethan Moreno, nonpartisan committee staff, began the briefing on House Bill 1683 and introduced the discussion of the bill, including whether to address the proposed substitute.
Clyde Shavers — Addressed as Vice Chair and asked to call forward the panel of witnesses.
Clyde Shavers — The chair greeted Vice Chair Shavers and then asked her to read into the record the names of those wishing to testify, including both those wishing to testify and those not wishing to testify.
Sharon Santos — Introduced herself as representing the 37th legislative district and spoke in support of the bill's purpose.
HB1662 — Public hearing on House Bill 1662 opens, followed by discussion of why the bill is in third substitute form and references to its prior committee history. The committee and witnesses then review the proposed third substitute’s contents, including its effective date and independence-related provisions, and compare it with the version that left committee last year. Testimony begins and concludes with support for the bill as a gradual path forward, and the State Board of Education notes it is not taking a position but is providing information.
HB1662 — During the public hearing on House Bill 1662, Dr. Hernandez-Scott testified in support of the bill, describing it as a reasonable solution that promotes transparency, fiscal responsibility, accountability, and good governance, and urged the committee to support it before the hearing was closed.