00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 44(EDC) 01 "An Act relating to a parent's right to direct the education of a child; relating to course 02 mastery requirements; relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early 03 Development; prohibiting a school district from contracting with an abortion services 04 provider; relating to questionnaires administered in a public school; relating to the 05 duties of school districts; relating to training for school employees and mandatory 06 reporters of child abuse or neglect; relating to physical examinations for students; 07 relating to physical examinations for teachers; relating to sexual abuse and sexual 08 assault awareness and prevention efforts in public schools; relating to dating violence 09 and abuse awareness and prevention efforts in public schools; prohibiting a school 10 district from allowing an abortion services provider to furnish course materials or 11 provide instruction concerning sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases; relating to 12 national criminal history record check requirements for employees of child care 01 facilities and residential child care facilities; and repealing the requirement for 02 secondary students to take college and career readiness assessments." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04  * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 SHORT TITLE. Section 16 of this Act may be known as the Alaska Safe Children's 07 Act. 08  * Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 09 Sec. 14.03.016. A parent's right to direct the education of the parent's  10 child. (a) A local school board shall, in consultation with parents, teachers, and school 11 administrators, adopt policies to promote the involvement of parents in the school 12 district's education program. The policies must include procedures 13 (1) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to 14 object to and withdraw the child from a standards-based assessment or test required by 15 the state; 16 (2) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to 17 object to and withdraw the child from an activity, class, or program because of 18 concern regarding 19 (A) content involving human reproduction or sexual matters; 20 (B) inquiries into personal or private family affairs of the 21 student or family that are not a matter of public record or subject to public 22 observation; 23 (3) providing for parent notification not less than two weeks, but not 24 more than six weeks, before any activity, class, or program that includes content 25 involving human reproduction or sexual matters is provided to a child and requiring 26 written permission from the child's parent before the child may participate in the 27 activity, class, or program; 28 (4) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to 29 withdraw the child from an activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or 30 test required by the state for a religious holiday, as defined by the parent; 01 (5) providing a parent with an opportunity to review the content of an 02 activity, class, performance standard, or program; 03 (6) ensuring that, when a child is absent from an activity, class, 04 program, or standards-based assessment or test required by the state under this section, 05 the absence is not considered an unlawful absence under AS 14.30.020.  06 (b) The policies adopted under (a)(1), (2), and (4) - (6) of this section may not 07 allow a parent categorically to object or withdraw a child from all activities, classes, 08 programs, or standards-based assessments or tests required by the state. The policies 09 must require a parent to object each time the parent wishes to withdraw the child from 10 an activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or test required by the state. 11 The policies adopted under (a)(3) of this section must require written permission from 12 the child's parent before each separate activity, class, or program is provided to a child 13 that includes content involving human reproduction or sexual matters. 14 (c) In this section, 15 (1) "child" means an unemancipated minor under 18 years of age; 16 (2) "local school board" has the meaning given in AS 14.03.290; 17 (3) "parent" means the natural or adoptive parent of a child or a child's 18 legal guardian; 19 (4) "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 20  * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.073(a) is amended to read: 21 (a) A school district shall provide the opportunity for students enrolled in 22 grades nine through 12 [A SECONDARY SCHOOL] in the district to challenge one  23 or more courses [A COURSE] provided by the district by demonstrating mastery in 24 mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and world languages at the level of 25 the course challenged. A school district shall give full credit for a course to a student 26 who successfully challenges that course as provided under this section. 27  * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.073(b) is amended to read: 28 (b) A school district shall establish, within a reasonable time, an assessment 29 tool and a standard for demonstrating mastery in [SECONDARY SCHOOL] courses 30 provided for students in grades nine through 12 by the district under this section. 31 This section does not require a school district to establish an assessment tool for  01 every course in mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and world  02 languages that is offered to students in grades nine through 12 by the district.  03  * Sec. 5. AS 14.03.083 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 04 (e) A school district and an educational services organization that has a 05 contract with a school district may not contract with an abortion services provider. 06  * Sec. 6. AS 14.03.110(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) A school district, principal or other person in charge of a public school, or 08 teacher in a public school may not administer or permit to be administered in a school 09 a questionnaire or survey, whether anonymous or not [, THAT INQUIRES INTO 10 PERSONAL OR PRIVATE FAMILY AFFAIRS OF THE STUDENT NOT A 11 MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD OR SUBJECT TO PUBLIC OBSERVATION] 12 unless written permission is obtained from the student's parent or legal guardian. 13  * Sec. 7. AS 14.03.110(d) is amended to read: 14 (d) The school shall give a student's parent or guardian an opportunity to 15 review the questionnaire or survey described under (b) or (c) of this section and shall 16 give the parent or guardian written notice regarding 17 (1) how the questionnaire or survey will be administered to the 18 student; 19 (2) how the results of the survey or questionnaire will be used; and 20 (3) who will have access to the questionnaire, [OR] survey, or results. 21  * Sec. 8. AS 14.08.111 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 14.08.111. Duties. A regional school board shall 23 (1) provide, during the school term of each year, an educational 24 program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; 25 (2) develop a philosophy of education, principles, and goals for its 26 schools; 27 (3) approve the employment of the professional administrators, 28 teachers, and noncertificated personnel necessary to operate its schools; 29 (4) establish the salaries to be paid its employees; 30 (5) designate the employees authorized to direct disbursements from 31 the school funds of the board; 01 (6) submit the reports prescribed for all school districts; 02 (7) provide for an annual audit in accordance with AS 14.14.050; 03 (8) provide custodial services and routine maintenance of school 04 buildings and facilities; 05 (9) establish procedures for the review and selection of all textbooks 06 and instructional materials, including textbooks and curriculum materials for statewide 07 correspondence programs, before they are introduced into the school curriculum; the 08 review includes a review for violations of AS 14.18.060; nothing in this paragraph 09 precludes a correspondence study student, or the parent or guardian of a 10 correspondence study student, from privately obtaining or using textbooks or 11 curriculum material not provided by the school district; 12 (10) provide prospective employees with information relating to the 13 availability and cost of housing in rural areas to which they might be assigned, and, 14 when possible, assist them in locating housing; however, nothing in this paragraph 15 requires a regional school board to provide teacher housing, whether owned, leased, or 16 rented or otherwise provided by the regional educational attendance area, nor does it 17 require the board to engage in a subsidy program of any kind with respect to teacher 18 housing; [AND] 19 (11) train persons required to report under AS 47.17.020, in the 20 recognition and reporting of child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse of a minor; and  21 (12) establish procedures for providing the training under  22 AS 14.30.355 and 14.30.356 if the school board elects to provide the training  23 under those sections, and the training required under AS 14.18.060,  24 AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022,  25 at least once every five years or at intervals set by the governing body of a school  26 to ensure that a sufficient number of school employees receive the training to  27 meet the needs of the school population; the training under this paragraph may  28 be provided on a staggered schedule. 29  * Sec. 9. AS 14.14.090 is amended to read: 30 Sec. 14.14.090. Duties of school boards. In addition to other duties, a school 31 board shall 01 (1) determine and disburse the total amount to be made available for 02 compensation of all school employees and administrative officers; 03 (2) provide for, during the school term of each year, an educational 04 program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; 05 (3) withhold the salary for the last month of service of a teacher or 06 administrator until the teacher or administrator has submitted all summaries, statistics, 07 and reports that the school board may require by bylaws; 08 (4) transmit, when required by the assembly or council but not more 09 often than once a month, a summary report and statement of money expended; 10 (5) keep the minutes of meetings and a record of all proceedings of the 11 school board in a pertinent form; 12 (6) keep the records and files of the school board open to inspection by 13 the public at the principal administrative office of the district during reasonable 14 business hours; 15 (7) establish procedures for the review and selection of all textbooks 16 and instructional materials, including textbooks and curriculum materials for statewide 17 correspondence programs, before they are introduced into the school curriculum; the 18 review includes a review for violations of AS 14.18.060; nothing in this paragraph 19 precludes a correspondence study student, or the parent or guardian of a 20 correspondence study student, from privately obtaining or using textbooks or 21 curriculum material not provided by the school district; 22 (8) provide prospective employees with information relating to the 23 availability and cost of housing in rural areas to which they might be assigned, and, 24 when possible, assist them in locating housing; however, nothing in this paragraph 25 requires a school district to provide teacher housing, whether district owned, leased, 26 rented, or through other means, nor does it require a school board to engage in a 27 subsidy program of any kind regarding teacher housing; 28 (9) train persons required to report under AS 47.17.020, in the 29 recognition and reporting of child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse of a minor; 30 (10) provide for the development and implementation of a preventative 31 maintenance program for school facilities; in this paragraph, "preventative 01 maintenance" means scheduled maintenance actions that prevent the premature failure 02 or extend the useful life of a facility, or a facility's systems and components, and that 03 are cost-effective on a life-cycle basis;  04 (11) establish procedures for providing the training under  05 AS 14.30.355 and 14.30.356 if the school board elects to provide the training  06 under those sections, and the training required under AS 14.18.060,  07 AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022,  08 at least once every five years or at intervals set by the governing body of a school  09 to ensure that a sufficient number of school employees receive the training to  10 meet the needs of the school population; the training under this paragraph may  11 be provided on a staggered schedule. 12  * Sec. 10. AS 14.16.020 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 14.16.020. Operation of state boarding schools. In the management of 14 state boarding schools, the board shall 15 (1) adopt a philosophy of education for state boarding schools; 16 (2) approve the employment of personnel necessary to operate state 17 boarding schools; 18 (3) establish the salaries and benefits to be paid teachers, excluding 19 administrators; 20 (4) designate the employees authorized to direct disbursements from 21 the money appropriated for the operation of state boarding schools and for the 22 construction of facilities; 23 (5) provide custodial services and routine maintenance of physical 24 facilities; 25 (6) establish procedures for the development and implementation of 26 curriculum and the selection and use of textbooks and instructional materials; 27 (7) prescribe health evaluation and placement screening programs for 28 newly admitted students; 29 (8) establish procedures for staff evaluation; and 30 (9) establish procedures for providing the training under  31 AS 14.30.355 and 14.30.356 if the board elects to provide the training under those  01 sections, and the training required under AS 14.18.060, AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680,  02 AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022, at least once every five  03 years or at intervals set by the governing body of a school to ensure that a  04 sufficient number of school employees receive the training to meet the needs of  05 the school population; the training under this paragraph may be provided on a  06 staggered schedule [PROVIDE STAFF TRAINING]. 07  * Sec. 11. AS 14.18.060(b) is amended to read: 08 (b) The board shall establish by regulation standards for nondiscriminatory 09 textbooks and educational materials. Each school board shall provide training for all 10 its certificated personnel at intervals set by the governing body of a school to  11 ensure that a sufficient number of certificated personnel receive the training to  12 meet the needs of the school population in the identification and recognition of sex- 13 biased materials. 14  * Sec. 12. AS 14.20.149(d) is amended to read: 15 (d) At least once every five years or at intervals set by the governing body  16 of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of certificated employees receive  17 the training to meet the needs of the school population, and within 45 days after  18 the first day of employment for new certificated employees [ONCE EACH 19 SCHOOL YEAR], a school district shall offer in-service training to the certificated 20 employees who are subject to the evaluation system. The training must address the 21 procedures of the evaluation system, the standards that the district uses in evaluating 22 the performance of teachers and administrators, and other information that the district 23 considers helpful. 24  * Sec. 13. AS 14.20.680(b) is amended to read: 25 (b) A newly hired teacher, administrator, counselor, or specialist who has not 26 previously received the training required under (a) of this section shall receive the 27 required training within 45 days after the first day the teacher, administrator, 28 counselor, or specialist begins to work and, thereafter, at intervals set by the  29 governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of school employees  30 receive the training to meet the needs of the school population.  31  * Sec. 14. AS 14.30.070(b) is amended to read: 01 (b) The Department of Health and Social Services may require the district to 02 conduct [ADDITIONAL] physical examinations that it considers necessary, and may 03 reimburse the district for the [ADDITIONAL] examinations on the basis and to the 04 extent the commissioner of health and social services prescribes by regulation. 05  * Sec. 15. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.30.075. Physical examinations for teachers. (a) A school district may 07 require physical examinations of teachers as a condition of employment. A school 08 district may not pay the cost of physical examinations for teachers. This section does 09 not affect the coverage of any health insurance benefits that a school district provides 10 to teachers. 11 (b) In this section, "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 12  * Sec. 16. AS 14.30 is amended by adding new sections to read: 13 Article 6A. Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention.  14 Sec. 14.30.355. Sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention.  15 (a) The governing body of each school district may adopt and implement a policy, 16 establish a training program for employees and students, and provide parent, student, 17 and staff notices relating to sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention 18 for students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12. 19 (b) The policy, training, and notices adopted under this section must include 20 (1) age-appropriate information; 21 (2) warning signs of sexual abuse of a child; 22 (3) referral and resource information; 23 (4) available student counseling and educational support; 24 (5) methods for increasing teacher, student, and parent awareness of 25 issues regarding sexual abuse of children; 26 (6) actions that a child may take to prevent and report sexual abuse or 27 sexual assault; and 28 (7) a procedure allowing a student to be excused from participating in 29 training or from receiving notices under this section at the written request of a parent 30 or guardian of the student, or of the student if the student is emancipated or 18 years of 31 age or older. 01 (c) In this section, "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 02 Sec. 14.30.356. Dating violence and abuse policy, training, awareness,  03 prevention, and notices. (a) The governing body of each school district may adopt 04 and implement a policy, establish a training program for employees and students, and 05 provide parent, student, and staff notices relating to dating violence and abuse in 06 grades seven through 12. A training program adopted under this section must 07 emphasize prevention and awareness. 08 (b) The policy, training, notices, and instruction adopted under this section 09 must include 10 (1) age-appropriate information; 11 (2) information explaining that "dating violence and abuse" means a 12 pattern of behavior in which one person threatens to use, or actually uses, physical, 13 sexual, verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse to control the person's dating 14 partner; 15 (3) the warning signs of dating violence and abusive behavior; 16 (4) characteristics of healthy relationships; 17 (5) measures to prevent and stop dating violence and abuse; 18 (6) community resources available to victims of dating violence and 19 abuse; and 20 (7) a procedure allowing a student to be excused from participating in 21 training or from receiving notices under this section at the written request of a parent 22 or guardian of the student, or of the student if the student is emancipated or 18 years of 23 age or older. 24 (c) In this section, "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 25  * Sec. 17. AS 14.30.360 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 26 (c) A school district may not permit an abortion services provider or an 27 employee or volunteer of an abortion services provider to offer, sponsor, furnish 28 course materials, or provide instruction relating to human sexuality or sexually 29 transmitted diseases. 30  * Sec. 18. AS 14.30.370 is amended to read: 31 Sec. 14.30.370. Evaluation. Health education programs conducted under 01 AS 14.30.360 shall be evaluated by the department in the same manner as other 02 curriculum programs are evaluated, except that the evaluation shall also include 03 changes in the health status of the pupils as determined by physical and dental 04 examinations conducted under AS 14.30.070 [AND 14.30.120]. 05  * Sec. 19. AS 14.33.100(d) is amended to read: 06 (d) Each district shall [ANNUALLY] provide to each district employee 07 training in crisis response, including evacuation and lock down drills. New district  08 employees who have not previously received the training required under this  09 subsection shall receive the required training within 45 days after the first day of  10 employment and, thereafter, at intervals required by the governing body of a  11 school to ensure that a sufficient number of district employees receive the  12 training to meet the needs of the school population.  13  * Sec. 20. AS 18.66.310(d) is amended to read: 14 (d) The continuing education required under (a) - (c) of this section must be  15 provided within 45 days after the first day of employment for new employees who  16 have not previously received the training, and thereafter, at least once every five  17 years, and must include information on the following subjects: 18 (1) the nature, extent, and causes of domestic violence; 19 (2) procedures designed to promote the safety of the victim and other 20 household members; 21 (3) resources available to victims and perpetrators of domestic 22 violence; and 23 (4) the lethality of domestic violence. 24  * Sec. 21. AS 47.05.310 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 25 (j) An individual who possesses a valid teacher certificate issued under 26 AS 14.20.015 - 14.20.025 and applies to work at a facility licensed or certified by the 27 Department of Education and Early Development or who applies to work in a child 28 care facility or residential child care facility in a position as a certificated teacher with 29 supervised access may request that the individual's criminal justice information and 30 national criminal history record check on file with the Department of Education and 31 Early Development be used to satisfy the requirements of (d) and (e) of this section. 01 (k) In this section, 02 (1) "child care facility" has the meaning given in AS 47.25.095; 03 (2) "residential child care facility" has the meaning given in 04 AS 47.32.900; 05 (3) "supervised access" means that a supervisor maintains a prudent 06 level of awareness of the whereabouts of the individual for whom supervised access is 07 required to ensure the protection of recipients of services. 08  * Sec. 22. AS 47.17.022(b) is amended to read: 09 (b) Each department of the state and school district that employs persons 10 required to report abuse or neglect of children shall provide 11 (1) initial training required by this section to each new employee 12 within 45 days after the first day [DURING THE EMPLOYEE'S FIRST SIX 13 MONTHS] of employment, and to any existing employee who has not received 14 equivalent training; and 15 (2) [AT LEAST ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS,] appropriate in- 16 service training at least once every five years thereafter, or at intervals required  17 by the governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of school  18 employees receive the training to meet the needs of the school population 19 [REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION AS DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENT OR 20 SCHOOL DISTRICT]. 21  * Sec. 23. AS 14.03.075(a), 14.03.075(b), 14.03.075(c), 14.03.075(e)(1); 22 AS 14.07.165(a)(5), 14.07.165(b); AS 14.30.070(a), and 14.30.120 are repealed.