HB 341: "An Act relating to school construction and major maintenance funding; relating to school design standards."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 341 01 "An Act relating to school construction and major maintenance funding; relating to 02 school design standards." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The department shall 06 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 07 except the University of Alaska; 08 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 09 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 10 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 11 of the public schools; 12 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 13 governing bodies and personnel; 14 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public
01 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 02 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 03 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 04 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in detention 05 facilities in the state during the period of detention; 06 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 07 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 08 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 09 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 10 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 11 the members of each house; 12 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 13 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will assure healthful and safe 14 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 15 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 16 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 17 (8) exercise general supervision over pre-elementary schools that 18 receive direct state or federal funding; 19 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 20 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 21 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 22 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 23 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 24 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 25 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 26 licensed; 27 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 28 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 29 elementary and secondary schools for consistency with prototypical designs 30 established under AS 14.11.014(b)(8) and, in accordance with regulations adopted 31 by the department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a
01 school construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, 02 "plans" include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy 03 consumption and costs, and final contract documents; 04 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 05 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 06 are no longer attending school; 07 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 08 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 09 school bus driver training course; 10 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 11 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 12 behavior; 13 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 14 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 15 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(14) or (15); the regulations must include 16 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 17 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 18 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 19 AS 14.07.030(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 20 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 21 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in 22 mathematics, reading, and writing as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(2)(A); and 23 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 24 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 25 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 26 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(14) or redirecting 27 public school funding under AS 14.07.030(15); 28 (18) assist the Department of Natural Resources in developing and 29 implementing the farm-to-school program established under AS 03.20.100. 30 * Sec. 2. AS 14.08.101 is amended to read: 31 Sec. 14.08.101. Powers. A regional school board may
01 (1) sue and be sued; 02 (2) contract with the department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or any 03 other school district, agency, or regional board for the provision of services, facilities, 04 supplies, or utilities; 05 (3) determine its own fiscal procedures, including but not limited to 06 policies and procedures for the purchase of supplies and equipment; the regional 07 school boards are exempt from AS 37.05 (Fiscal Procedures Act) and AS 36.30 (State 08 Procurement Code); 09 (4) appoint, compensate, and otherwise control all school employees in 10 accordance with this title; these employees are not subject to AS 39.25 (State 11 Personnel Act); 12 (5) adopt regulations governing organization, policies, and procedures 13 for the operation of the schools; 14 (6) establish, maintain, operate, discontinue, and combine schools 15 subject to the approval of the commissioner; 16 (7) recommend to the department projects for construction, 17 rehabilitation, and improvement of schools and education-related facilities as specified 18 in AS 14.11.011(b), and plan [, DESIGN,] and construct the project when the 19 responsibility for it is assumed under AS 14.11.020; 20 (8) by resolution adopted by a majority of all the members of the board 21 and provided to the commissioner of the department, assume ownership of all land and 22 buildings used in relation to the schools in the regional educational attendance area, as 23 provided for in AS 14.08.151(b); 24 (9) provide housing for rental to teachers, by leasing existing housing 25 from a local agency or individual, by entering into contractual arrangements with a 26 local agency or individual to lease housing that will be constructed by the local agency 27 or individual for that purpose, or, without using for the purpose that portion of public 28 school funding that consists of state aid provided under AS 14.17, by constructing or 29 otherwise acquiring housing that is owned and managed by the regional educational 30 attendance area for rental to teachers; 31 (10) employ a chief school administrator;
01 (11) apply for and use the proceeds of a loan from the Alaska energy 02 efficiency revolving loan fund (AS 18.56.855); 03 (12) exercise those other functions that may be necessary for the 04 proper performance of its responsibilities. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 14.11.014(b) is amended to read: 06 (b) The committee shall 07 (1) review the department's priorities among projects for which school 08 construction grants are requested; 09 (2) make recommendations to the board concerning school 10 construction grants and make recommendations to the commissioner concerning 11 projects for which bond reimbursement is requested; 12 (3) develop criteria for construction of schools in the state; criteria 13 developed under this paragraph must include requirements intended to achieve cost- 14 effective [COST EFFECTIVE] school construction; 15 (4) analyze existing prototypical designs for school construction 16 projects; 17 (5) establish a form for grant applications; 18 (6) establish a method of ranking grant projects; 19 (7) recommend to the board necessary changes to the approval process 20 for school construction grants and for projects for which bond reimbursement is 21 requested; 22 (8) approve prototypical designs, components of prototypical 23 designs under AS 14.11.100, and modifications to prototypical designs under 24 AS 14.11.020(f) for each region of the state [SET STANDARDS] for energy and 25 maintenance efficiency for school construction and major maintenance that [TO] 26 provide energy and maintenance efficiency benefits for all school locations in the 27 state and that address energy and maintenance efficiency in design and operating 28 [ENERGY] systems to [THAT] minimize long-term energy and operating costs. 29 * Sec. 4. AS 14.11.020(a) is amended to read: 30 (a) The assembly or council of a municipality that is a school district or a 31 regional school board may, by resolution or majority vote of the body, assume the
01 responsibilities relating to the planning [, DESIGN,] and construction of a school or an 02 education-related facility located within the boundaries or operating area of the 03 municipality or regional educational attendance area. After receipt of a request by an 04 assembly or council under this subsection, the department shall provide for the 05 assumption of the responsibilities requested. After receipt of a request by a regional 06 school board under this subsection, the department may provide for the assumption of 07 the responsibilities requested. 08 * Sec. 5. AS 14.11.020 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 09 (e) Except as provided in (f) of this section, a school or facility constructed by 10 a school district or regional school board that has assumed responsibility for planning 11 and constructing under this section must be consistent with the prototypical designs 12 approved by the bond reimbursement and grant review committee under 13 AS 14.11.014(b)(8) for the region in which the school or facility is located. 14 (f) A school district or regional school board may submit for consideration by 15 the bond reimbursement and grant review committee modifications to a prototypical 16 design for a school or facility. The modification must provide operational energy and 17 maintenance efficiencies that are equivalent to or better than the prototypical design 18 for the region and must be suitable for the unique regional or local climatic conditions 19 in which the school or facility will be constructed. 20 * Sec. 6. AS 14.11 is amended by adding a new section to read: 21 Sec. 14.11.101. Prototypical school construction design. The department 22 shall establish one or more prototypical school construction designs and identify 23 components of prototypical designs for school construction that offer operational 24 energy and maintenance efficiencies and take into account regional climatic 25 differences. The department shall consult with representatives of the Alaska Housing 26 Finance Corporation, the Alaska Energy Authority, and the Department of 27 Transportation and Public Facilities and with organizations and individuals with 28 engineering and architectural design expertise relevant to construction in the various 29 climatic regions in the state.