Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/11/2003 11:00 AM House EDU
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 165-COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Number 2218 REPRESENTATIVE GATTO announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 165, "An Act relating to community schools; and providing for an effective date." Number 2251 EDDY JEANS, Manager, School Finance and Facilities Section, Education Support Services, Department of Education and Early Development, testified on HB 165, which would repeal the community schools program outlined in Alaska Statute 14.36.010 through 14.36.070. Mr. Jeans told the committee the community schools statute was adopted in 1975, and the purpose and intent of this program was to assist local school districts in establishing community schools programs and to provide funds to assist the local communities in the initial development, implementation, and operations of community schools programs. Mr. Jeans asked the committee to review the fiscal note, which shows a $500,000 reduction; however, the schedule attached to that fiscal note demonstrates that if the community schools program were fully funded at the statutory entitlement, it would generate almost $3.3 million. He told the committee the program has been substantially underfunded for a number of years. He said the $500,000 represents 12 percent of the school districts' entitlements, and the department believes, based on the intent language in the statute, that this program has fulfilled its intended purpose. The Department of Education and Early Development and the administration recommend that this statute be repealed. Number 2336 REPRESENTATIVE GATTO said that for the record the repealing of this statute does not eliminate community schools. It just eliminates a portion of the funding that may be substantial to some communities because they have become accustomed to state funding. Number 2370 REPRESENTATIVE WOLF asked Mr. Jeans to confirm that repealing this statute would in no way deter communities from having community schools programs. For example, he asked if Kenai community schools could charge a user fee to fill the gap in loss of state funding. MR. JEANS responded that Representative Wolf is correct. He told the committee that districts have put in place user fees to keep those schools open for after-school and weekend activities. He restated that the language could be repealed and community schools programs could continue with user-fee funding. Number 2460 JOYCE KITKA, Alaska Association for Community Education, testified in opposition to HB 165. She told the committee she has been in the field for 23 years and agrees with Mr. Jeans that community schools has been underfunded for many years. She said the law was passed in 1978, and the initial funding for the community schools program was obtained in 1980. Ms. Kitka said that even though community schools [programs are] underfunded, services have still been provided and there has been fiscal responsibility for these years. Number 2542 MS. KITKA challenged the committee to find a program for $500,000 that logs in the number of hours this does, and 20,000 programs that serve children and adults. She told the committee community schools are responsible for many programs that help kids. They are ready to help the education system in meeting the federal No Child Left Behind Act. MS. KITKA said community schools have already implemented fees to help administer the programs. She is concerned that increasing the fees too much will mean that the Head Start parents or the low-income parents will not be able to stay involved in programs because of the cost. Number 2624 REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked what portion of community schools funding goes to children's programs and what portion to individuals over 18 years old. MS. KITKA responded that most of the adult programs actually subsidize the children's programs. She said locally, adult classes are a 60/40 split, with the instructor getting 60 percent, and community schools getting 40 percent. With that 40 percent she told the committee she opens the gym for approximately 150 kids, and is able to provide scholarships for kids to go to summer school. She told the committee she could not speak to the statewide programs. Number 2658 REPRESENTATIVE WOLF asked how Ms. Kitka would propose the legislature find the dollars to fund community schools. He said the legislature has one source of funding. He asked if the community schools program is a nonprofit organization. He said he does not question the value of community schools, but wonders if there is a possibility to reach out to the corporate world. MS. KITKA responded that she believes community schools have reached out to the corporate world. She told the committee the program has been creative in ways of funding programs. She said community schools do have a lot of business partnerships and she is always amazed at the return from the community. She said her personal preference for funding community schools would be to take her permanent fund dividend. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO praised Ms. Kitka for her dedicated work and told her how much it is appreciated. Number 2815 REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER praised Ms. Kitka as well. She said she believes Ms. Kitka was asked an unfair question because she did not run for office; that is what the members were elected to do. REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked Chair Gatto how this is not the elimination of the community schools program. She said that since the program costs $500,000 and [the bill is] eliminating $500,000, that would eliminate the funding for the program. She asked how this is only cutting a portion. MR. JEANS responded that the bill eliminates the program from the statutes. He said all communities are running some form of community schools program. He told the committee he will provide the committee with a list of the total amount of money that is being spent on community schools; then the committee could look at that compared with what the state is contributing at the $500,000 level. Mr. Jeans asked the committee to look at the statute and note that the intent of the statute was to assist communities in the establishment of the community school programs. Nowhere in the statute is there an intention to support on an ongoing basis community schools programs, and that is why the department and the administration have come to the legislature with this proposal. Community schools programs are operating across the state through user fees, small subsidies from the state, and private corporations. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO pointed out that the state does do a lot for community schools by providing the schools, heat, lights, and custodians, just not the funds. He said he believes the state is providing a good service by allowing communities to use the schools. REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked Mr. Jeans what the impact will be on community schools if the $500,000 is cut. Number 2938 MR. JEANS responded that when he provides the committee with the schedule that shows how much money the districts are spending on community schools on a statewide basis, the members will be able to determine that. He told the members that the department has not done a formal study on the impact on each community if the state removes the $500,000 contribution, nor does the department intend to do that. Mr. Jeans said he thinks when the members look at the $500,000 in relationship to the total amount being spent on community schools, he believes the members will be able to draw their own conclusions. TAPE 03-9, SIDE B Number 2984 REPRESENTATIVE SEATON told the committee that he spoke with the superintendent of schools in the Kenai Peninsula School District and he was told that Kenai is the fourth-highest-funded school district. He said his district gets approximately $32,000 per year. The total the district is spending on community schools is $220,000 per year. Eliminating that $32,000 would require raising some fees, changing some programs, but it would not eliminate the community schools program. Number 2920 CONNIE MUNROE told the committee she is a volunteer for community schools, retired from the Department of Education and Early Development, where she was in charge of this program, and received her master's degree in adult community education through APU [Alaska Pacific University]. Ms. Munroe said that while she is from Juneau, she is currently living in Healy, and it is her first experience in living in Interior Alaska where there is a very small school. Number 2871 MS. MUNROE said that every single school district in the state applies for these funds to allow and encourage it to provide lifelong learning. Every dollar is spent providing the program to the communities. She said if the legislature eliminates that funding, then the communities will not pay someone to do it. It is really difficult to get someone to come into the school and open it, because that individual must be bonded. That is one issue. Another one is that the Department of Education and Early Development has made a very strong effort to reduce the paperwork to apply for this grant. She told the committee she has monitored and reviewed this program across the state. MS. MUNROE spoke to the question of eliminating adult education and GED [general equivalency diploma] testing. She said it is usually the principal of the school who volunteers to be the GED proctor. She said that the librarian volunteers to keep the library open two evenings per week or on Saturdays for people to come into the school and study. Ms. Munroe said she will be doing some testing for Nenana, Anderson, Healy, and the park service area. She said the adult education program will be using community schools and does not have to pay a fee. In urban areas the fees are a problem. There is no way to persuade someone to volunteer to go to the corporate entities to get funds. It takes a lot of effort to get funds donated. Number 2746 MS. MUNROE also spoke to the issue of a time of need for a homeland security type of public forum. One of the questions in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau was where the public would go if there were a war disaster in Alaska and there were no utilities. The response was that the community would go to the schools. The question was who would monitor the schools and who would keep people busy if they were stuck in the schools two or three days, or even a week. Every community school will probably have someone who could take care of them and keep the kids busy. She told the committee she feels community education and community schools are essential. Number 2692 CHAIR GATTO commented that because of his work with the fire department, he knows that the schools are designed and built to withstand earthquakes and other disasters. Schools and fire departments will still be standing when other buildings have fallen. The schools are designed to be there for the communities in the event of a disaster, and that is part of the reason why the state spends so much money in building them. He pointed out that in the Miller's Reach fire it was Houston High School that was the place where all of the incident command took place. Chair Gatto agreed with Ms. Munroe that the schools are there for the community. Number 2637 MS. MUNROE told the committee that user fees are not charged for activities that do not charge participants. She said that the athletic programs charge, but for small children to do gymnastics or reading, there is no charge. Other groups and activities that are not charged for use of the building are adult basic education, private and nonprofit organizations, cooperative extension programs, or church groups that do activities. She added that if a fee is charged, the funds are for materials or support of a private or nonprofit organization that does not have money. Number 2592 REPRESENTATIVE GARA thanked Ms. Munroe and Ms. Kitka for providing good arguments in opposition to cutting funds for adult services. Number 2563 CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards, testified in opposition to HB 165 because he sees the importance of community schools. He told the committee community schools is just a small piece of the peripheral issues the state is dealing with in education. He said he is aware of the fact that all the funds come out of one source and whatever is reduced eventually is going to be addressed with the foundation formula. He said the association is supportive of community schools because the community is central to the schools and whatever will engage communities is what the association wants to encourage. In response to previous inquiries concerning how community schools will be funded if these dollars are reduced, he said he believe they will be picked up in other ways. The question is how far can you stretch that educational dollar. This is one of those peripheral issues and the state will be dealing with many more in the future. Number 2515 CHAIR GATTO pointed out that the House Special Committee on Education is not the place to deal with how to enhance revenues. He commented that everyone wishes there were more funds, but the committee is faced with the task of dealing with the governor's bills to do something about the fiscal problems. Education is a huge portion of the state's budget. Chair Gatto reiterated that the legislature is just trying to deal with the governor's requests. Number 2426 REBECCA REICHLIN, President, Alaska Association for Community Education; Anchorage School District Coordinator, testified via teleconference in opposition to the repeal of the community schools grant program in HB 165. She urged the committee to support the current level of funding at $500,000. She said for the past 27 years community education has extended its reach to every school district in the state. She said that while on the surface it may seem that community schools' primary purpose is to provide access to school facilities beyond the school day, community schools' goals are far more extensive. She said they provide programming for extended learning for all ages, community development and a vehicle for community engagement, enrichment opportunities for school-age children, interagency cooperation, and opportunities for youth beyond the regular K-12 programs. In addition, community schools are providing more programs to meet the benchmarks and standards that the legislature has established in the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Number 2351 MS. REICHLIN explained that lifelong learning has many benefits. Research shows that a family of learners produces children who love to learn. Community involvement produces citizens who care and are active contributing members of society. Community schools are in the business of educating and providing services. The funding has been cut to $500,000, but the money has been well spent. In the 2002 school year, over 20,150 programs were held, producing over 342,000 contact hours; over 20,000 volunteers contributed over 211,000 volunteer hours to the benefit of over 464,000 youths and 390,000 adults all engaged in learning. Alaska Gateway School District offered technology, tutoring, and GED and college preparation work for $3,683 in grant funding. In order to provide these services, the district leverages the current state funding and matched it with in-kind donations, and business and nonprofit collaborations and partnerships. She asked members to please not dismantle these successful and far-reaching programs. She urged the committee to utilize community schools to achieve the state's goals; to provide safe, supervised places for Alaska's youth to be involved, and to involve local citizens and empower them for the good of Alaska's communities. Number 2231 PETER MACKSEY, Community Schools Coordinator, Inlet View Elementary School, testified via teleconference in opposition to HB 165. He pointed out that there are approximately 600,000 residents in Alaska and that the legislature gives community schools approximately $500,000, which works out to be about 84 cents per person. Anchorage gets between about $145,000 and $150,000, which works out to be about 53 cents per person. He said he knows Rebecca [Reichlin] told the committee about the quality and quantity of volunteer hours. He indicated that Anchorage already matches hour per hour and beyond what the legislature is doing for community schools. MR. MACKSEY responded to Representative Gara's question about adult education. He said the evening adult-education classes are subsidizing all the children's classes that community schools are doing. He said community schools give back $65,000 to the Anchorage School District out of the money raised. At Inlet View Elementary School, the community schools program subsidizes two other schools' after-school children's programs that are provided free of charge. He told the committee they are getting the most bang for their buck out of this money. In some places outside of Anchorage, this money is all that is keeping an after-school program or gym open for kids to play basketball. He told the committee he reads the statute to say "operate" schools and not to say anything about stopping or just getting them started. Number 2105 BLYTHE CAMPBELL, Chair, Anchorage Community Education Association, testified via teleconference in opposition to HB 165. She told the committee she has been involved with the community schools program since 1985. She said that HB 165 repeals the statute enabling state funding and pointed out that this funding is not a mandate in the district. She said eliminating this statute is not eliminating an obligation; there is no obligation. She said what it does do for her and the other 20,000 volunteers is to say that the legislature does not value this program and the state does not value this program. She said the association does not think the program needs to be described in the state statute. She said she does not think this bill is necessary. The budget process is totally separate from this bill. All this bill does is repeal language that community schools exist and she said she does not understand the reason for that. Number 2037 LARRY WIGET, Executive Director, Public Affairs Division, Anchorage School District, testified via teleconference in opposition to HB 165. He said the Anchorage School District does not support eliminating community schools from statute or eliminating community schools funding as proposed in the governor's budget. For 27 years the Municipality of Anchorage has been strengthened through strong community outreach by community schools. The Anchorage School District has appreciated stronger support by community members in the educational efforts, programs, and services that are committed to providing for students, parents, and staff. Mr. Wiget told the committee the district is continually striving through community schools programs to more closely align its community schools offerings to assist the students in meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and the benchmark exams. The Anchorage School District does not support eliminating community schools from statute or eliminating its funding. Number 1968 BARBARA HAYR, Coordinator, Bear Valley Elementary School, testified via teleconference as a long-time supporter of community schools. She shared with the committee that a community schools program she works with lost its funding a couple of years ago and they hung on. She said the funding was restored this year, but if it had not been, there would be no community schools program. She told the committee that with the funding they have instituted tutoring programs in reading and math, and have addressed the need for a school-age childcare program. She said Bear Valley has between 40 to 50 families who need childcare, and the community schools program is prepared to institute a before- and after-school childcare program next year. Community schools has been asked to help meet the needs of meeting the benchmark standards and No Child Left Behind; that includes both children and parents, and is for the whole group. State funding does not fund the program entirely, but it allows her, as a coordinator, to work on other fundraising efforts to establish partnerships and to seek out grants and donations from private businesses. She asked the committee to keep community schools in the statutes and to continue funding the programs. CHAIR GATTO thanked Ms. Hayr and told her that all their efforts are appreciated. Number 1855 JULIE WILD-CURRY, Community After School Program Director, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, testified via teleconference in opposition to HB 165. She told the committee that many of the points she would make have been touched on by previous speakers. She told the committee that the school district has been successful in leveraging "one to nine" funding in terms of bringing other funding in. They charge user fees, serve both students and adults, and work to assist in meeting benchmarks. Community schools help families in learning different ways to take tests, to read, and to study. Community schools also provides enrichment and a safe place for kids to be both after school and in the evening hours. MS. WILD-CURRY told the committee if this funding were to go away along with the law, this program would not be available with the school district. There would not be a staffing position that coordinates all of these different events that take place in Fairbanks. Over 9,000 people were served in this program last year. For a community the size of Fairbanks, that is a great number of people. The one special program that is offered in the community schools program in Fairbanks that is offered nowhere else in the state is a driver education program for teen drivers. Other communities are looking at this model. This is a class that used to be in the day program, but when it was eliminated from state funding, it was taken over in community schools because it was a definite need in the community with the driving conditions here. Community schools continues to operate that program and fees are charged for it; however, this grant helps subsidize those fees, and if the funding were not provided, the program would have the charge substantially higher rates. She urged the committee not to pass this bill. Number 1747 CHAIR GATTO asked if the program would disappear if community schools lost this funding. MS. WILD-CURRY replied that it would likely disappear. Community schools also provide an opportunities for community members, agencies, and businesses to partner to see how they can offer what is needed in the community. Through all of these processes, community schools have lost a great deal of funding, and each time they community has helped fund a larger portion of it by increased user fees, donation, or fundraisers. She questioned how far community schools can go in asking for this leverage for these programs. CHAIR GATTO replied that if the legislature makes this reduction, it will be the last one made. Number 1654 ROSE MARY REEDER, Kenai Peninsula School District, testified via teleconference in opposition to HB 165. She told members that she supports the current level of funding. At this time, the Kenai Peninsula School District gets a little over $32,000 per year, which is spread over three sites, Soldotna, Homer, and Seward. She said they consider this basic funding, charge user fees, apply for grants, and do fundraising activities. This small amount of money the Peninsula gets is a representation of [the legislature's] support [for the program]. When applying for grants or asking corporations for donations it is important to show some kind of local and state support, and this funding has been very helpful. MS. REEDER said all three sites have no overhead. [The program] works out of the schools and other municipal buildings, and that saves a lot of money. She said [the community schools program] usually has one staff person, some short-time people, and lots of volunteers. There is an effort to keep the school buildings open in the evenings, the weekends, and in the summertime, when those buildings would sit vacant. She told the committee Ms. Kitka's comment about the adult programs funding kids programs is very true in their case. For example, she said there are basketball programs two nights per week in the middle school for gentlemen; the $4 that each one pays provides for community school activities for the Soldotna Middle School PE [physical education] program during the day and community schools activities for kids on the weekends. Number 1564 MS. REEDER said that [the community schools program] reaches out to the community, and applies for grants. She said she has written four small grant proposals in the last month that are pending for summer programs. She said they try to keep the school open as often as possible, when they would normally be closed, and in many instances that is up to 18 hours per day [counting the school day]. Ms. Reeder said that they have an excellent working relationship with the school district and combine resources, which provides leverage to do so much more than would normally be possible. The community schools program provides cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities for all ages. Classes are even offered on the legislative process, which is very well attended. MS. REEDER, in response to the question of impacts of the reduction of funds in the Soldotna community schools program, said their program has already done all those things recommended to raised funds. Some of the changes they have made to adjust to the reduction in funding are raising fees, closing the school one night per week, and eliminating programs. One of those programs was a craft program for families; they used to do three per year and now do two because the money for supplies is short. Those are the kind of impacts seen as the funds diminish. She told the committee that [the community schools program] has appreciated the legislature's support in the past and hopes it can count on it in the future. Number 1468 CHAIR GATTO announced that that concludes the testimony for HB 165. The committee took an at-ease from 12:17 p.m. to 12:25 p.m. Number 1419 REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked Mr. Jeans if, by repealing the statute on HB 165, communities lose some authority for facility use, insurance, or any other aspect of community schools activities. He asked about the alternative of not funding the grants, but leaving community schools in statute. Number 1350 MR. JEANS replied as that as far as he knows, there is no loss in ability to use those facilities for community school purposes. The community schools program will continue to be operated by the school districts for after-school activities. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if there is somewhere else in statute that authorizes that use or if this is the only statutory authority for community schools. MR. JEANS responded that this part of the statute authorizes use for this specific purpose, but there is not a statute that says a school district cannot use its facilities for after-school activities. He said there is no prohibition for this use in statutes. [HB 165 was held over.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|