SSHB 306: "An Act relating to providing a voluntary pre-elementary program within a school district; and providing for the establishment and implementation of a statewide early childhood education plan."
00 SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 306 01 "An Act relating to providing a voluntary pre-elementary program within a school 02 district; and providing for the establishment and implementation of a statewide early 03 childhood education plan." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.03.065. Pre-elementary program. (a) A pre-elementary program 07 provided by a school district must 08 (1) serve children who are three or four years of age who reside in the 09 district; 10 (2) comply with the statewide early childhood education plan adopted 11 under AS 14.07.020(a)(16); and 12 (3) to the extent appropriations are insufficient to fund all programs 13 provided by all districts that provide a pre-elementary program under this section, be 14 funded on a pro rata basis with a priority for low-income families, as defined by the
01 commissioner. 02 (b) Attendance at a pre-elementary program is optional. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 04 (g) A child who is three or four years of age on or before September 1 05 following the beginning of the school year and who is under school age may enter a 06 public school pre-elementary program. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) The department shall 09 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 10 except the University of Alaska; 11 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 12 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 13 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 14 of the public schools; 15 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 16 governing bodies and personnel; 17 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 18 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 19 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 20 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 21 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in detention 22 facilities in the state during the period of detention; 23 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 24 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 25 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 26 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 27 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 28 the members of each house; 29 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 30 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will assure healthful and safe 31 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of
01 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 02 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 03 (8) exercise general supervision over pre-elementary schools that 04 receive direct state or federal funding; 05 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 06 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 07 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 08 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 09 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 10 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 11 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 12 licensed; 13 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 14 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 15 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 16 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 17 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 18 include educational specifications, schematic designs, and final contract documents; 19 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 20 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 21 are no longer attending school; 22 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 23 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 24 school bus driver training course; 25 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 26 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 27 behavior; 28 (16) devise and implement a statewide early childhood education 29 plan for students three and four years of age that 30 (A) incorporates the early learning guidelines adopted by 31 the board under AS 14.07.165(6);
01 (B) provides for the most effective and efficient 02 coordination with or expansion of pre-elementary programs operating in 03 the state, including Head Start. 04 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.020(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) In this section, "pre-elementary school" means a school for children 06 [AGES] three or four [THROUGH FIVE] years of age if the school's primary 07 function is educational, and a pre-elementary program that is provided by a school 08 district. 09 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.165 is amended to read: 10 Sec. 14.07.165. Duties. The board shall adopt 11 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 12 goals that are consistent with local needs; 13 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 14 AS 14.03.125; 15 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 16 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 17 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 18 (5) regulations implementing the secondary school student competency 19 examination provisions of AS 14.03.075, including the criteria and procedure under 20 which a governing body uses a waiver to grant a diploma to a student; criteria 21 regarding granting a waiver must include provisions that a waiver may only be granted 22 for students who enter the system late or have rare or unusual circumstances meriting 23 a waiver; 24 (6) early learning guidelines that support an effective, cost- 25 efficient, and optional pre-elementary program provided under a statewide early 26 childhood education plan approved by the department.