SB 102: "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to the duties of school districts; relating to course mastery requirements; relating to school funding; relating to training for school employees and mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect; relating to layoff of tenured teachers; relating to fiscal notes prepared by the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to notification of proposed agency actions; and repealing requirements for minimum expenditures for instruction."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 102 01 "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; 02 relating to the duties of school districts; relating to course mastery requirements; 03 relating to school funding; relating to training for school employees and mandatory 04 reporters of child abuse or neglect; relating to layoff of tenured teachers; relating to 05 fiscal notes prepared by the Department of Education and Early Development; relating 06 to notification of proposed agency actions; and repealing requirements for minimum 07 expenditures for instruction." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. AS 14.03.073(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) A school district shall provide the opportunity for students enrolled in 11 grades nine through 12 [A SECONDARY SCHOOL] in the district to challenge one 12 or more courses [A COURSE] provided by the district by demonstrating mastery in 13 mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and world languages at the level of
01 the course challenged. A school district shall give full credit for a course to a student 02 who successfully challenges that course as provided under this section. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.073(b) is amended to read: 04 (b) A school district shall establish, within a reasonable time, an assessment 05 tool and a standard for demonstrating mastery in [SECONDARY SCHOOL] courses 06 provided for students in grades nine through 12 by the district under this section. 07 This section does not require a school district to establish an assessment tool for 08 every course in mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and world 09 languages that is offered to students in grades nine through 12 by the district. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.073(c) is amended to read: 11 (c) The board shall adopt regulations to implement this section. The 12 regulations must include a list of organizations approved by the department that 13 offer assessment tools a school district may use to meet the requirements under 14 (b) of this section. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.120(b) is amended to read: 16 (b) The department shall summarize the reports submitted under (a) of this 17 section as a statewide report, provide the report to the governor, publish the 18 report on the department's Internet website, and notify the legislature that the 19 report is available. The department shall provide the report in an easily sortable 20 format and include in the report 21 (1) all revenue received by each school district organized in easily 22 sortable categories including ADM and district [, AS A STATEWIDE REPORT, 23 PROVIDE A COPY TO THE GOVERNOR, PUBLISH THE REPORT ON THE 24 DEPARTMENT'S INTERNET WEBSITE, AND NOTIFY THE LEGISLATURE 25 THAT THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE]; in this subsection, "revenue" means all 26 money reported to the department as receipts from any source, including state, federal, 27 local, special, and other funding; 28 (2) a summary of the school funding formula and estimated 29 funding for each school district for the upcoming school year based on student 30 count data submitted under AS 14.17.500; 31 (3) all raw data and formulas the department used to determine
01 the estimated funding for each school district; the department may not lock the 02 cells of the raw data or the formulas to prevent manipulation of the data. 03 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.060 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 14.07.060. Regulations. The board shall adopt regulations that are 05 necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. All regulations shall be adopted 06 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act). In addition to the fiscal notes 07 required under AS 44.62.195, before the board may adopt, amend, or repeal a 08 regulation, the department shall prepare an estimate of the effect, if any, on 09 school district budgets for the fiscal year following the adoption, amendment, or 10 repeal of the regulation. 11 * Sec. 6. AS 14.08.111 is amended to read: 12 Sec. 14.08.111. Duties. A regional school board shall 13 (1) provide, during the school term of each year, an educational 14 program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; 15 (2) develop a philosophy of education, principles, and goals for its 16 schools; 17 (3) approve the employment of the professional administrators, 18 teachers, and noncertificated personnel necessary to operate its schools; 19 (4) establish the salaries to be paid its employees; 20 (5) designate the employees authorized to direct disbursements from 21 the school funds of the board; 22 (6) submit the reports prescribed for all school districts; 23 (7) provide for an annual audit in accordance with AS 14.14.050; 24 (8) provide custodial services and routine maintenance of school 25 buildings and facilities; 26 (9) establish procedures for the review and selection of all textbooks 27 and instructional materials, including textbooks and curriculum materials for statewide 28 correspondence programs, before they are introduced into the school curriculum; the 29 review includes a review for violations of AS 14.18.060; nothing in this paragraph 30 precludes a correspondence study student, or the parent or guardian of a 31 correspondence study student, from privately obtaining or using textbooks or
01 curriculum material not provided by the school district; 02 (10) provide prospective employees with information relating to the 03 availability and cost of housing in rural areas to which they might be assigned, and, 04 when possible, assist them in locating housing; however, nothing in this paragraph 05 requires a regional school board to provide teacher housing, whether owned, leased, or 06 rented or otherwise provided by the regional educational attendance area, nor does it 07 require the board to engage in a subsidy program of any kind with respect to teacher 08 housing; [AND] 09 (11) train persons required to report under AS 47.17.020, in the 10 recognition and reporting of child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse of a minor; and 11 (12) establish procedures for providing the training required 12 under AS 14.18.060, AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, 13 AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022 at least once every five years or at intervals 14 required by the governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of 15 school employees receive the training to meet the needs of the school population; 16 the training under this paragraph may be provided on a staggered schedule. 17 * Sec. 7. AS 14.14.090 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 14.14.090. Duties of school boards. In addition to other duties, a school 19 board shall 20 (1) determine and disburse the total amount to be made available for 21 compensation of all school employees and administrative officers; 22 (2) provide for, during the school term of each year, an educational 23 program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; 24 (3) withhold the salary for the last month of service of a teacher or 25 administrator until the teacher or administrator has submitted all summaries, statistics, 26 and reports that the school board may require by bylaws; 27 (4) transmit, when required by the assembly or council but not more 28 often than once a month, a summary report and statement of money expended; 29 (5) keep the minutes of meetings and a record of all proceedings of the 30 school board in a pertinent form; 31 (6) keep the records and files of the school board open to inspection by
01 the public at the principal administrative office of the district during reasonable 02 business hours; 03 (7) establish procedures for the review and selection of all textbooks 04 and instructional materials, including textbooks and curriculum materials for statewide 05 correspondence programs, before they are introduced into the school curriculum; the 06 review includes a review for violations of AS 14.18.060; nothing in this paragraph 07 precludes a correspondence study student, or the parent or guardian of a 08 correspondence study student, from privately obtaining or using textbooks or 09 curriculum material not provided by the school district; 10 (8) provide prospective employees with information relating to the 11 availability and cost of housing in rural areas to which they might be assigned, and, 12 when possible, assist them in locating housing; however, nothing in this paragraph 13 requires a school district to provide teacher housing, whether district owned, leased, 14 rented, or through other means, nor does it require a school board to engage in a 15 subsidy program of any kind regarding teacher housing; 16 (9) train persons required to report under AS 47.17.020, in the 17 recognition and reporting of child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse of a minor; 18 (10) provide for the development and implementation of a preventative 19 maintenance program for school facilities; in this paragraph, "preventative 20 maintenance" means scheduled maintenance actions that prevent the premature failure 21 or extend the useful life of a facility, or a facility's systems and components, and that 22 are cost-effective on a life-cycle basis; 23 (11) establish procedures for providing the training required 24 under AS 14.18.060, AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, 25 AS 18.66.310, and AS 47.17.022 at least once every five years or at intervals 26 required by the governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of 27 school employees receive the training to meet the needs of the school population; 28 the training under this paragraph may be provided on a staggered schedule. 29 * Sec. 8. AS 14.16.020 is amended to read: 30 Sec. 14.16.020. Operation of state boarding schools. In the management of 31 state boarding schools, the board shall
01 (1) adopt a philosophy of education for state boarding schools; 02 (2) approve the employment of personnel necessary to operate state 03 boarding schools; 04 (3) establish the salaries and benefits to be paid teachers, excluding 05 administrators; 06 (4) designate the employees authorized to direct disbursements from 07 the money appropriated for the operation of state boarding schools and for the 08 construction of facilities; 09 (5) provide custodial services and routine maintenance of physical 10 facilities; 11 (6) establish procedures for the development and implementation of 12 curriculum and the selection and use of textbooks and instructional materials; 13 (7) prescribe health evaluation and placement screening programs for 14 newly admitted students; 15 (8) establish procedures for staff evaluation; and 16 (9) establish procedures for providing the training required under 17 AS 14.18.060, AS 14.20.149, 14.20.680, AS 14.33.100, 14.33.127, AS 18.66.310, and 18 AS 47.17.022 at least once every five years or at intervals required by the 19 governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of school employees 20 receive the training to meet the needs of the school population; the training under 21 this paragraph may be provided on a staggered schedule [PROVIDE STAFF 22 TRAINING]. 23 * Sec. 9. AS 14.18.060(b) is amended to read: 24 (b) The board shall establish by regulation standards for nondiscriminatory 25 textbooks and educational materials. Each school board shall provide training for all 26 its certificated personnel at intervals required by the governing body of a school to 27 ensure that a sufficient number of certificated personnel receive the training to 28 meet the needs of the school population in the identification and recognition of sex- 29 biased materials. 30 * Sec. 10. AS 14.20.149(d) is amended to read: 31 (d) At least once every five years or at intervals required by the governing
01 body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of certificated employees 02 receive the training to meet the needs of the school population, and within 45 03 days after the first day of employment for new certificated employees [ONCE 04 EACH SCHOOL YEAR], a school district shall offer in-service training to the 05 certificated employees who are subject to the evaluation system. The training must 06 address the procedures of the evaluation system, the standards that the district uses in 07 evaluating the performance of teachers and administrators, and other information that 08 the district considers helpful. 09 * Sec. 11. AS 14.20.177(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) A school district may implement a layoff plan under this section if it is 11 necessary for the district to reduce the number of tenured teachers [BECAUSE 12 (1) SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IN THE DISTRICT HAS 13 DECREASED; OR 14 (2) THE BASIC NEED OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT 15 DETERMINED UNDER AS 14.17.410(b)(1) DECREASES BY THREE PERCENT 16 OR MORE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR]. 17 * Sec. 12. AS 14.20.680(b) is amended to read: 18 (b) A newly hired teacher, administrator, counselor, or specialist who has not 19 previously received the training required under (a) of this section shall receive the 20 required training within 45 days after the first day the teacher, administrator, 21 counselor, or specialist begins to work and, thereafter, at intervals required by the 22 governing body of a school to ensure that a sufficient number of school employees 23 receive the training to meet the needs of the school population. 24 * Sec. 13. AS 14.33.100(d) is amended to read: 25 (d) Each district shall [ANNUALLY] provide to each district employee 26 training in crisis response, including evacuation and lock down drills. New district 27 employees who have not previously received the training required under this 28 subsection shall receive the required training within 45 days after the first day of 29 employment and, thereafter, at intervals required by the governing body of a 30 school to ensure that a sufficient number of district employees receive the 31 training to meet the needs of the school population.
01 * Sec. 14. AS 18.66.310(d) is amended to read: 02 (d) The continuing education required under (a) - (c) of this section must be 03 provided within 45 days after the first day of employment for new employees who 04 have not previously received the training, and thereafter, at least once every five 05 years, and must include information on the following subjects: 06 (1) the nature, extent, and causes of domestic violence; 07 (2) procedures designed to promote the safety of the victim and other 08 household members; 09 (3) resources available to victims and perpetrators of domestic 10 violence; and 11 (4) the lethality of domestic violence. 12 * Sec. 15. AS 24.08.035 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 (h) In addition to the information required under (c) of this section, if a bill or 14 resolution will affect school districts, the Department of Education and Early 15 Development shall prepare a fiscal note that contains information regarding the fiscal 16 effects of the bill or resolution on each school district in the state. 17 * Sec. 16. AS 44.62.190(d) is amended to read: 18 (d) Along with a notice furnished under (a)(2), (4)(A), or (6) of this section, 19 the state agency, except the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the Board of Fisheries, 20 the Board of Game, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, shall 21 include 22 (1) the reason for the proposed action, including, if applicable, an 23 identification of the law, order, decision, or other action of the federal government or a 24 federal or state court that is the basis for the proposed action; in this paragraph, 25 "federal government" means a department, agency, corporation, or instrumentality of 26 the United States government; 27 (2) the initial cost to the state agency of implementation; 28 (3) the estimated annual costs, based on a good faith effort to estimate 29 the costs in the aggregate for each of the following categories using the information 30 available to the state agency, to 31 (A) private persons to comply with the proposed action;
01 (B) the state agency for implementation and to other state 02 agencies to comply with the proposed action; [AND] 03 (C) municipalities to comply with the proposed action; and 04 (D) each school district in the state, if the proposed action 05 will affect schools; 06 (4) the name of the contact person for the state agency; and 07 (5) the origin of the proposed action. 08 * Sec. 17. 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. 18. AS 14.17.520 is repealed.