SB 197: "An Act establishing a grant program in the Department of Education and Early Development for achieving excellence in public schools."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 197 01 "An Act establishing a grant program in the Department of Education and Early 02 Development for achieving excellence in public schools." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.17.480 is repealed and reenacted to read: 05 Sec. 14.17.480. Achieving excellence grant program. (a) A grant program is 06 established in the department for the purpose of awarding grants to achieve excellence 07 in public schools that have failed to meet academic standards adopted by the board for 08 adequate yearly progress. The program is subject to appropriation. Total annual 09 awards may not exceed an amount equal to the number of students who drop out of 10 school in the fiscal year in which the grants are awarded, multiplied by $400. 11 (b) A school district may apply for a project grant under this section on a form 12 approved by the department. The district shall provide a matching cash amount equal 13 to not less than 10 percent or more than 40 percent of the total project cost from any 14 source of funds available to the district. The department shall annually determine the
01 percentage for the match required for all districts on the basis of the availability of 02 state funding for the program so that a higher match will result from lower state 03 funding. 04 (c) The department may approve a grant application only for a proposed grant 05 project for which the district provides persuasive evidence that the project 06 (1) is designed to address known causes of failure of a school in the 07 district to meet standards for adequate yearly progress adopted by the board; 08 (2) applies best practices that are research-based; 09 (3) will be sustainable beyond the grant funding period; 10 (4) establishes locally determined and measurable goals for success 11 that include improvements in student achievement, academic interest, attendance, and 12 graduation rates; 13 (5) includes a process for providing regular evaluations and reporting 14 to the department. 15 (d) The department shall review the progress of a grant project funded under 16 this section not less frequently than once every two years. A project that the 17 department determines is making sufficient progress toward the short-term and long- 18 term goals established for the project may, at the discretion of the department, be 19 continued for not more than two additional years on request of the grantee. The 20 department shall discontinue, on 30 days' notice to the grantee, a project that is failing 21 to make sufficient progress toward the short-term and long-term goals established for 22 the project. 23 (e) A district may reapply for and the department may provide grant funding 24 beyond an initial four-year grant period if the department determines the project is 25 demonstrating significant success. 26 (f) If appropriations are insufficient to fund all qualified grant projects in a 27 year, the department shall allocate annual appropriations to the program established 28 under this section to qualified grant projects on a pro rata basis. 29 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 30 read: 31 ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE GRANT PROGRAM; FIRST YEAR. Notwithstanding
01 the maximum amount established for annual grant awards under AS 14.17.480, added by sec. 02 1 of this Act, the maximum cumulative grants awarded by the Department of Education and 03 Early Development for the first year of the program shall be calculated by multiplying the 04 number of students who drop out of school each year, averaged over the 10 years preceding 05 the effective date of this Act, by $4,800. If insufficient money is appropriated for the first year 06 of the program to meet the number of qualified grant projects, the department shall allocate 07 the awards on a pro rata basis.