Due to the often-negative impact upon children forced to move repeatedly because their parents are on active duty in the military, the state is looking at whether or not to join in on a national compact to make it easier on young students transferring to new schools.

The interstate compact, which includes 10 states to date, will start meeting in January to begin working toward creating uniform transferring rules from state to state in order to keep students on track throughout their educational career.

The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that military children attend between six and nine different schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, including more than two schools during high school. That mobility creates educational burdens on these children, including age variations when entering kindergarten and first grade, redundant and/or missing entrance/exit tests and challenges regarding custodial powers while the parents are deployed.

Washington has the seventh-highest number of military members in the nation, following Florida (No. 6), Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, California and Texas (No. 1).

According to a DOD report, 26,479 school-aged military dependants resided in Washington during the 2005-06 school year.

The state of Washington was on the fence as to whether or not joining the compact would be beneficial for military students. A number of House members had concerns with approving the compact bill initially, so the legislature formed a 16-member task force to review the compact and make recommendations for the 2009 session.

The task force recommendation is due Dec. 1.

Members of the task force met for the third time July 14 to discuss stipulations of the compact in accordance with state and federal laws, as well as the financial implications it would create.

Joining the compact would cost the state an average of about $105,000 a year, and could also create additional costs at the district level.

The state must amend many of its laws to be consistent with the compact rules in order to join, so one could argue amending statutes independently could lessen the blow for military students without incurring the costs of being a compact member.

When reviewing the rules of the compact at a July task force meeting, which included transfers of student records and transcripts, immunization requirements, graduation requirements, extracurricular activities and special academic program participation, it became clear from educational leaders of the task force that many district procedures already fall in line with the compact’s protocol.

Out of 19 rules for the interstate compact, Washington state laws were consistent with five of them. Nine of the issues have been at the school district’s discretion in the past, and the other five were not consistent.

The task force plans to gather survey information from a wider range of districts to see if they follow the same patterns in how they handle certain transfer situations.

Ray Miller, business manager at Clover Park School District, said he is “personally a huge supporter of this compact.

“We already do these things in the spirit…of what the parents do to serve our country,” he said. “I don’t see any huge fiscal impacts [at the district level].”

Bob Butts, assistant superintendent for governmental relations at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, noted the state could make some policy decisions to cut financial impacts of the compact, like choosing not to fill the military family education liaison position, however, they would not be receiving the same level of service.

“The question is, what’s in this compact that is currently not already being done by the districts?” Butts stressed the importance of gathering more information from district staff from around the state.

When the compact commission does begin meeting next year, all states will be invited to attend as non-voting members.

Any state could independently amend its laws to be in accordance with the compact, without joining formally.

According to Assistant Attorney General Colleen Warren, several of the compact states accepted the compact without question, while others created a task force to study the issue, much like Washington.

Mississippi is a state that rejected the compact and did so because of the cost.

The task force will be meeting again in September, October and November before drafting the recommendation to the legislature.