(1) By the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, school districts that have safety and security staff working on school property when students are expected to be present must adopt, and periodically update, a policy and procedure that:

(a) Includes a clear statement regarding safety and security staff duties and responsibilities related to student behavior and discipline that:

(i) Prohibits a school resource officer from becoming involved in formal school discipline situations that are the responsibility of school administrators; and

(ii) Recognizes that trained safety and security staff know when to informally interact with students to reinforce school rules and when to enforce the law;

(b) Clarifies the circumstances under which teachers and school administrators may ask safety and security staff to intervene with a student;

(c) Explains how safety and security staff will be engaged in creating a positive school climate and positive relationships with students; and

(d) Describes the process for families to file complaints with the school and, when applicable, the local law enforcement agency or the company that provides the safety and security staff on contract related to safety and security staff and a process for investigating and responding to complaints.

(2) At the beginning of each school year, school districts that have safety and security staff working on school property must present to and discuss with students, and distribute to students’ families, information about the role and responsibilities of safety and security staff.

(3) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) “Safety and security staff” means a school resource officer, a school security officer, a campus security officer, and any other commissioned or noncommissioned employee or contractor, whose primary job duty is to provide safety or security services for a public school, as defined in RCW 28A.150.010.

(b) “School resource officer” means a commissioned law enforcement officer in the state of Washington with sworn authority to make arrests, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing police department or sheriff’s office to work in schools to build positive relationships with students and address crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities affecting or occurring in or around K-12 schools. School resource officers should focus on keeping students out of the criminal justice system when possible and should not be used to attempt to impose criminal sanctions in matters that are more appropriately handled within the educational system.

Findings—Intent—2021 c 38: See note following RCW 28A.400.345.

Intent—2019 c 333: “It is not the intent of the legislature to require school resource officers to work in schools. If a school district chooses to have a school resource officer program, it is the intent of the legislature to create statewide consistency for the minimum training requirements that school resource officers must receive and ensure that there is a clear agreement between the school district and local law enforcement agency in order to help establish effective partnerships that protect the health and safety of all students.” [ 2019 c 333 § 11.]

Findings—Intent—2019 c 333: See note following RCW 28A.300.630.