Running Start Summer School Pilot Program. Report to the Legislature

The Running Start Summer School Pilot program was established in 2020 by House Bill 2864 and enacted as Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 28A.630.600. To determine whether the summer term should be funded under the Running Start Program, a summer pilot was created to evaluate interest in and barriers to expanding the Running Start program to include the summer term. The pilot program was implemented at Skagit Valley College, South Puget Sound Community College, and Yakima Valley College in the summer of 2021, but was not funded for a second year. In the summer of 2022, Summer Running Start was made available at all community and technical colleges through a combination of state proviso and federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. While some recommendations draw from the experience of scaling Summer Running Start in 2022, the outcomes and data presented in this report are reflective of the 2021 pilot only. As required by the statute, the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) have collaborated on this report to document pilot highlights and provide recommendations for future consideration.