CSHB 165(W&M): "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to correspondence study programs; relating to public school funding; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 165(W&M) 01 "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to correspondence study programs; 02 relating to public school funding; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature that a school district spend 07 the increase in state aid to the school district resulting from the amendments made to 08 AS 14.17.430 in secs. 6 and 7 of this Act on student allotments under AS 14.03.310 and not 09 on administering the school district's correspondence program. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 11 Sec. 14.03.251. Charter schools established by the board. (a) The board may 12 establish a charter school in a school district under procedures established by the board 13 in regulation. The procedures must include provisions for establishment of an 14 academic policy committee consisting of parents of students attending the school,
01 teachers, and school employees. 02 (b) A local school board shall operate a charter school established by the 03 board under this section as provided in AS 14.03.255 - 14.03.290. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 15, ch. 40, SLA 2022, 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; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 12 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 13 preparatory courses; 14 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 15 governing bodies and personnel; 16 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 17 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 18 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 19 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 20 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile 21 detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in 22 AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; 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 ensure 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 early education programs that 04 receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by 05 a school district for students four and five years of age, approve an early education 06 program provided by a school district that complies with the standards adopted by the 07 board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5), and revoke approval of an early education program if 08 the program does not comply with the standards adopted by the board under 09 AS 14.07.165(a)(5); 10 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 11 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 12 educational attendance areas; [THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO OFFER AND 13 MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY ALASKAN THROUGH A CENTRALIZED 14 OFFICE A CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAM;] 15 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 16 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 17 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 18 licensed; 19 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 20 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 21 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 22 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 23 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 24 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 25 and costs, and final contract documents; 26 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 27 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 28 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 29 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 30 will lead to employment opportunities; 31 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11;
01 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 02 school bus driver training course; 03 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 04 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 05 behavior; 06 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 07 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 08 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 09 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 10 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 11 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 12 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 13 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 14 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 15 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 16 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 17 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 18 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 19 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 20 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); 21 (18) establish a reading program to provide direct support for and 22 intervention in the reading intervention programs of participating schools as described 23 in AS 14.30.765 and 14.30.770; 24 (19) annually convene, either in person or electronically, a panel to 25 review and comment on the effectiveness of the programs created by the department 26 and the regulations adopted by the board to implement AS 14.03.410, 14.03.420, 27 AS 14.30.760 - 14.30.770, and 14.30.800; the panel 28 (A) shall provide recommendations and guidance to the board, 29 the department, and the legislature on how to integrate early education and 30 reading programs created under this title with tribal compacting or programs 31 focused on cultural education within the department;
01 (B) shall discuss support for reading in Alaska Native 02 languages and other non-English languages; 03 (C) must collectively represent the regions of the state and 04 include teachers of grades kindergarten through three, school administrators, 05 parents of students in grades kindergarten through three, stakeholders from 06 indigenous language immersion programs, representatives from early 07 education stakeholder groups, and researchers of best practices for improving 08 literacy performance, including best practices for instruction of indigenous 09 students and students whose first language is not English; 10 (20) offer and make available to any Alaskan through a 11 centralized office a correspondence study program if required to do so by the 12 board; 13 (21) for each school district that offers a correspondence study 14 program, including a school district that offers a statewide correspondence study 15 program, calculate the amount allocated to the school district under AS 14.17.430 16 and inform the school district of the amount resulting from the calculation. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 18 (a) The department shall 19 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 20 except the University of Alaska; 21 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 22 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 23 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 24 of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 25 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 26 preparatory courses; 27 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 28 governing bodies and personnel; 29 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 30 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 31 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language;
01 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 02 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile 03 detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in 04 AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; 05 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 06 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 07 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 08 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 09 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 10 the members of each house; 11 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 12 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe 13 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 14 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 15 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 16 (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs that 17 receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by 18 a school district for students four and five years of age; 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 22 MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY ALASKAN THROUGH A CENTRALIZED 23 OFFICE A CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAM;] 24 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 25 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 26 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 27 licensed; 28 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 29 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 30 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 31 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school
01 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 02 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 03 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; the department may consult with businesses and labor 07 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 08 will lead to employment opportunities; 09 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 10 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 11 school bus driver training course; 12 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 13 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 14 behavior; 15 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 16 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 17 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 18 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 19 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 20 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 21 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 22 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 23 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 24 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 25 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 26 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 27 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 28 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 29 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); 30 (18) offer and make available to any Alaskan through a 31 centralized office a correspondence study program if required to do so by the
01 board; 02 (19) for each school district that offers a correspondence study 03 program, including a school district that offers a statewide correspondence study 04 program, calculate the amount allocated to the school district under AS 14.17.430 05 and inform the school district of the amount resulting from the calculation. 06 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.165(a), as amended by sec. 21, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 07 (a) The board shall adopt 08 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 09 goals that are consistent with local needs; 10 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 11 AS 14.03.125; 12 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 13 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 14 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 15 (5) regulations establishing standards for an early education program 16 provided by a school district for children who are four and five years of age; the 17 regulations must include 18 (A) standards for a locally designed, evidence-based program 19 that meets Head Start Program Performance Standards and other federal 20 standards required for early education programs to receive federal funding; 21 (B) a requirement that a teacher in charge of a program hold a 22 valid teacher certificate issued under AS 14.20 and 23 (i) have satisfactorily completed a minimum of six 24 credit hours in early childhood education or complete the minimum 25 credit hours within two years of the date the teacher's employment with 26 the early education program begins; or 27 (ii) have two or more years of experience teaching 28 kindergarten or another early education program and have completed 29 additional coursework related to reading instruction, as required by the 30 department; 31 (C) developmentally appropriate objectives for children four
01 and five years of age rather than academic standards appropriate for older 02 children; the objectives must allow school districts to adapt the content of an 03 early education program to be culturally responsive to local communities; 04 (D) accommodations for the needs of all early education 05 children and their families regardless of socioeconomic circumstances; and 06 (E) standards for day in session requirements appropriate for 07 children four and five years of age; 08 (6) regulations establishing standards for day in session requirements 09 appropriate for kindergarten students; 10 (7) regulations regarding establishment of charter schools by the 11 board. 12 * Sec. 6. AS 14.17.430 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 14.17.430. State funding for correspondence study. Except as provided 14 in AS 14.17.400(b), funding for the state centralized correspondence study program or 15 a district correspondence program, including a district that offers a statewide 16 correspondence study program, includes an allocation from the public education fund 17 in an amount calculated by 18 (1) multiplying the ADM of the correspondence program by 121.5 [90] 19 percent; 20 (2) multiplying the correspondence intensive student count by 11; 21 and 22 (3) adding the number obtained under (1) of this section to the 23 number obtained under (2) of this section. 24 * Sec. 7. AS 14.17.430 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 25 (b) Each district that offers a district correspondence program, including a 26 district that offers a statewide correspondence study program, shall 27 (1) separately account for money allocated to the district under (a) of 28 this section; 29 (2) maintain complete financial records of the receipt, transfer, and 30 expenditure of money allocated to the district under (a) of this section; and 31 (3) provide an annual report to the department on the district's receipt,
01 transfer, and expenditure of money allocated to the district under (a) of this section 02 and make the report available on an Internet website that is accessible to the public at 03 no cost. 04 (c) In this section, 05 (1) "correspondence intensive student" means a special education 06 student who 07 (A) needs and receives intensive services; and 08 (B) is enrolled in the state centralized correspondence study 09 program or a district correspondence program, including a district that offers a 10 statewide correspondence study program, on the last day of the student count 11 period as described in AS 14.17.600; 12 (2) "intensive services" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.420(c). 13 * Sec. 8. Section 5 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 14 2022. 15 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2023.