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State Board of Education August 2026 Meeting Recap |
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The State Board of Education met for its regularly scheduled meeting online August 12-13. Find the complete agenda and supporting materials on SBE’s meeting site.
You can watch recordings of the meeting for Wednesday, August 12 and Thursday, August 13 on TVW.
The Washington State Board of Education approved a resolution supporting the policy direction of its FutureReady proposal to update Washington's high school graduation requirements and directed staff to develop draft rules and legislation for consideration during the 2027 legislative session.
The resolution establishes the framework of the Board’s FutureReady proposal. Staff are now working to translate that into language for draft legislation and administrative rules. During their September 10 meeting, Board members will consider approval of agency request legislation and proposed rules based on the adopted resolution. The proposal may continue to evolve through the legislative and rulemaking processes.
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Board staff provided an update on the 2026 Educational System Health Report, which examines six indicators established in state law to assess the health of Washington’s education system. The report is produced every two years and includes statewide data as well as disaggregated information by race, ethnicity, and other student groups.
Board members and staff discussed how the current six indicators provide an important but limited view of system conditions. As part of future work to determine how the report can inform the Board's broader accountability work, staff plan to examine 18 indicators identified through previous work and determine what statewide data is available to measure them. The work is intended to help the Board identify gaps in what is currently measured and consider how Educational System Health information can better inform future accountability efforts.
The Board received an update on the Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative (MBLC), a multi-year demonstration project launched in 2021 to support schools in implementing culturally responsive mastery-based education (also known as competency-based education) practices across Washington. Staff shared findings from a multi-year evaluation of the project, which highlighted increased student engagement, stronger teacher-student relationships, more culturally responsive practices, and greater student voice in higher-implementing schools.
The project is currently funded through June 2027 and staff are preparing a budget request that would continue the work through June 2029. The Board is expected to consider the proposed request at its September 10 meeting.
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The Board held its annual officer elections and filled three at-large positions on the Executive Committee. Dr. Angela Griffin and Dr. Susana Reyes were re-elected to the Executive Committee, while Jen Chong Jewell was elected to serve on the committee for the first time. At-large members serve one-year terms. They join Board Chair Mary Fertakis and Vice Chair Brooke Brown.
The Board also recognized Bill Kallappa as he concluded his service on the Executive Committee. Bill previously served as Board Chair and made significant contributions to the Board’s work during his tenure.
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