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The State Board of Education met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the Tukwila School District Administrative Building, in Tukwila, on October 15-16.
Find the complete agenda, supporting materials, and links to TVW’s video footage of the meeting on SBE’s
Board members were invited to tour Tukwila School District’s Foster High on Thursday, October 16.
During the visit, members observed several classrooms and spoke with students about their learning experiences. In a biotechnology class led by science teacher Timothy Renz, students shared their work on the University of Washington’s Genome Sciences yeast evolution project, where they were studying the effects of antifungal drugs on different yeast samples.
Later in the tour, members visited a history class led by Andrea Gamboa, where they answered students’ questions about the Board’s role in public education, discussed education policy, and shared updates on the Board’s FutureReady initiative to modernize high school graduation requirements.
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The Board adopted its 2026 legislative platform. This platform elevates key priorities for legislative consideration and guides the Board's advocacy work for the year
This year, the Board’s legislative platform will focus on safeguarding recent progress while identifying opportunities to restore or strengthen critical investments, aligning with the Board’s mission to advance an equitable and inclusive education system that prepares every student to thrive in a changing world.
The platform calls for preventing K–12 funding cuts that disproportionately affect underserved students, upholding civil rights protections and inclusive curricula, and maintaining support for student mental health and well-being.
The platform also emphasizes restoring critical resources. It supports OSPI’s request to fund the legislative mandate for districts to move to a universal online platform for the High School and Beyond Plan, a graduation requirement for students. The platform also calls for reinstating funding for Treehouse’s Graduation Success Program, which helps students in foster care stay on track to graduation.
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The Board continued its work to modernize Washington's high school graduation requirements during a FutureReady work session.
During the work session, members reviewed and discussed “straw man” proposals created by Board staff based on themes from previous Board and FutureReady Task Force conversations and survey responses. These conceptual proposals focused on specific aspects of the diploma framework. They are not intended as final solutions, but rather as structured starting points for critique, conversation, and refinement.
Feedback provided by members will be used to rework, adjust, and expand on concept proposals as the policy development process unfolds. Feedback will also help shape ongoing discussions between the Board and Task Force.
The Board voted to approve its 2025 Charter Schools Report. The report provides an overview of Washington’s public charter school system during the 2023-24 school year. It compares the academic performance of charter school students with that of demographically similar students in traditional public schools and includes the State Board of Education’s assessment of key successes, challenges, funding adequacy, and areas for policy improvement. The report also details the number of non-certificated instructors employed in public charter schools.
The Board annually reports on the performance of public charter schools in Washington as required by RCW 28A.710.250.
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The Board took time to honor three members who will be departing the Board.
Ryan Brault was first elected to the Board in March 2017 to fill a partial term and has since been re-elected twice. His final term will expire in January 2026. Ryan is a certified financial planner and a former member of the Pasco School District Board of Directors.
Harium Martin-Morris was appointed to the Board by Governor Jay Inslee in March 2018 to fill an unexpired term and was reappointed in January 2021. Harium owns a consulting firm focused on school district communication, equity, and school improvement. Prior to that, he worked as a software developer for Boeing and served on the Seattle School Board.
Kevin Wang was appointed to the Board by Governor Jay Inslee in May 2020 to fill an unexpired term and was reappointed in January 2021. Kevin is a lifelong educator, engineer, and social entrepreneur dedicated to expanding access and equity in STEM education. Kevin is the founder of Mentors in Tech, a program that helps overlooked tech students at smaller, less well known, accessible and affordable colleges navigate and launch their careers through structured industry mentorships, integrated open-source capstone projects, and tailored recruitment.
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