Substitute Senate Bill 5956, sponsored by Senator T’wina Nobles (D-Tacoma), passed the Washington State Senate 3rd reading on 10 February 2026 and was reported out of the House Education Committee on 24 February 2026. The bill prohibits school districts, public schools, the State School for the Blind, and the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth from using an automated decision system as the sole or determinative basis for any student discipline-related decision.
Specific prohibitions include: emergency removal, suspension, expulsion, referral to law enforcement, or assignment to an alternative education setting based solely on data from an automated decision system or school surveillance technology without independent human investigation and contextual review; use of predictive student risk scores estimating likelihood of misconduct, gang affiliation, or future discipline; and use of biometric inference or facial recognition technology to assess students’ psychological or personal characteristics.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to update its human-centred AI guidance for K-12 education to reflect the bill’s prohibitions. The effective date is 90 days after adjournment of the session in which it passes.
Who it affects: All Washington public school districts, the ~1 million K-12 students enrolled, and administrators who use automated tools in disciplinary processes.
What is notably missing: The bill does not impose AI literacy requirements on schools, create a training mandate for staff, or fund AI skills programmes. No score dimension is directly affected: the provisions protect students from automated disciplinary action but do not constitute AI literacy training or a named AI governance body. Governor Ferguson’s signature has not been confirmed in available sources as of the research date.