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SB 15: "An Act relating to prekindergarten programs within a school district; relating to pre-elementary students and pre-elementary schools; and providing for an effective date."

00 SENATE BILL NO. 15 01 "An Act relating to prekindergarten programs within a school district; relating to pre- 02 elementary students and pre-elementary schools; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.03.060(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) Except as provided in (e) of this section, an elementary school consists of 06 grades kindergarten through grade eight or any appropriate combination of grades 07 within this range, and a prekindergarten program provided by a school district 08 under AS 14.03.065. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.060(e) is amended to read: 10 (e) In addition to the grades enumerated in (a) of this section, an elementary 11 school consists of a prekindergarten [PRE-ELEMENTARY] program supervised by 12 the department under AS 14.07.020(a)(8), operated by the department as a head start 13 program under AS 14.38.010, or located in a public school [FOR FEDERAL 14 FUNDING PURPOSES. EXCEPT FOR A CHILD WITH A DISABILITY WHO IS

01 RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION OR RELATED SERVICES UNDER 02 AS 14.30.180 - 14.30.350, PRE-ELEMENTARY STUDENTS MAY NOT BE 03 COUNTED IN A SCHOOL'S AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP UNDER 04 AS 14.17]. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.03.065. Prekindergarten program. (a) A school district may provide 07 a prekindergarten program for students who are four years of age on or before 08 September 1 following the beginning of the school year and who reside in the district 09 if the program is 10 (1) optional for a student; 11 (2) supervised by the department under AS 14.07.020(a)(8); and 12 (3) consistent with regulations adopted by the board under 13 AS 14.07.165. 14 (b) A student who is enrolled in and attends a prekindergarten program 15 provided by a district shall be counted as not more than a half-time student in the 16 district average daily membership count estimate under AS 14.17.500. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 18 (g) A child who is four years of age on or before September 1 following the 19 beginning of the school year and who is under school age may enter a public school 20 prekindergarten program. 21 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) The department shall 23 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 24 except the University of Alaska; 25 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 26 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 27 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 28 of the public schools; 29 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 30 governing bodies and personnel; 31 (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 and 18 district prekindergarten programs that 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 and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 30 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 31 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans"

01 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 02 and costs, and final contract documents; 03 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 04 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 05 are no longer attending school; 06 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 07 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 08 school bus driver training course; 09 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 10 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 11 behavior; 12 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 13 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 14 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(14) or (15); the regulations must include 15 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 16 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 17 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 18 AS 14.07.030(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 19 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 20 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in 21 mathematics, reading, and writing as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(2)(A); and 22 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 23 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 24 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 25 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(14) or redirecting 26 public school funding under AS 14.07.030(15); 27 (18) assist the Department of Natural Resources in developing and 28 implementing the farm-to-school program established under AS 03.20.100. 29 * Sec. 6. AS 14.07.020(c) is amended to read: 30 (c) In this section, "pre-elementary school" means a school for children 31 [AGES] three through five years of age, if the school's primary function is

01 educational, and a prekindergarten program for children four years of age that is 02 provided by a school district. 03 * Sec. 7. AS 14.07.165 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 14.07.165. Duties. The board shall adopt 05 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 06 goals that are consistent with local needs; 07 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 08 AS 14.03.125; 09 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 10 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 11 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 12 (5) regulations implementing the secondary school student competency 13 examination provisions of AS 14.03.075, including the criteria and procedure under 14 which a governing body uses a waiver to grant a diploma to a student; criteria 15 regarding granting a waiver must include provisions that a waiver may only be granted 16 for students who enter the system late or have rare or unusual circumstances meriting 17 a waiver; 18 (6) regulations for the implementation of a prekindergarten 19 program by a school district using the model curriculum developed by the 20 department under AS 14.07.030(13). 21 * Sec. 8. AS 14.17.905(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the determination of the number of schools in 23 a district is subject to the following: 24 (1) a community with an ADM of at least 10, but not more than 100, 25 shall be counted as one school; 26 (2) a community with an ADM of at least 101, but not more than 425, 27 shall be counted as 28 (A) one elementary school, which includes those students in 29 grades kindergarten through six, and, except as provided in (c) of this 30 section, a prekindergarten program provided by a school district for 31 students four years of age; and

01 (B) one secondary school, which includes students in grades 02 seven through 12; 03 (3) in a community with an ADM of greater than 425, each facility that 04 is administered as a separate school shall be counted as one school, except that each 05 alternative school with an ADM of less than 175 shall be counted as a part of the 06 school in the district with the highest ADM. 07 * Sec. 9. AS 14.17.905 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 08 (c) A school district may not include in the average daily membership of a 09 school students who are four years of age if the students are enrolled in a program that 10 receives state funding other than funding under this chapter. 11 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect July 1, 2014.