Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
02/13/2023 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): Mt. Edgecumbe High School; Division of Library, Archives, and Museums by Department of Education and Early Development | |
| Overview(s): Mt. Edgecumbe High School | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 13, 2023
8:01 a.m.
DRAFT
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Jamie Allard, Co-Chair
Representative Justin Ruffridge, Co-Chair
Representative Mike Prax
Representative CJ McCormick
Representative Tom McKay
Representative Rebecca Himschoot
Representative Andi Story
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW(S): MT. EDGECUMBE HIGH SCHOOL; OVERVIEW(S): DIVISION OF
LIBRARY~ ARCHIVES~ AND MUSEUMS
- HEARD
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SABRINA JAVIER, Administrative Services Director
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, titled "Division
of Libraries, Archives & Museums."
AMY PHILLIPS-CHAN, PhD, Director
Division of Libraries, Archives & Museums
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, titled "Division
of Libraries, Archives & Museums."
LACY SANDERS, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, titled "Division
of Libraries, Archives & Museums."
SUZZUK HUNTINGTON, Director/Superintendent
Mt. Edgecumbe High School
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint, titled "Mt.
Edgecumbe High School."
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:00 AM
CO-CHAIR JAMIE ALLARD called the House Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Representatives Prax,
McKay, Himschoot, Ruffridge, and Allard were present at the call
to order. Representatives McCormick and Story arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^OVERVIEW(S): Mt. Edgecumbe High School; Division of Library,
Archives, and Museums by Department of Education and Early
Development
OVERVIEW(S): Division of Library, Archives, and Museums
CHAIR ALLARD announced that the first order of business would be
the Division of Library, Archives, and Museums presentation.
8:02:04 AM
SABRINA JAVIER, Administrative Services Director, Department of
Education and Early Development, provided her introduction.
8:02:33 AM
DR. AMY PHILLIPS-CHAN, Director, Division of Libraries, Archives
& Museums, Department of Education and Early Development,
provided her introduction and proceeded to explain the functions
of the Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums. She
explained that for fiscal year 2023 (FY 23), the Division of
Libraries, Archives & Museums (LAM) worked in partnership with
the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) to
advance the strategic priorities to heed Alaska's education
challenge. She also noted the close partnerships with K-12
schools.
8:04:32 AM
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN moved to slide 4, titled "Budget
Organizational Chart," showing the other seven main components
under the organizational chart: Division of Innovation &
Education Excellence; Division of Finance & Support Services;
Division of Administrative Services; Mt. Edgecumbe Boarding
School; Alaska State Council on the Arts; Professional, Teaching
Practice Commission, and Alaska Commission on Postsecondary
Education. She proceeded to slide 5, titled "Component: Library
Operations," where she explained the many resources the library
provides to all, and the availability of materials in various
formats. She also noted the library provides a statewide summer
reading program which helps promote literacy and mitigate summer
learning loss.
8:07:15 AM
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN moved on to slide 6, titled "Component:
Archives," and explained that one of the priorities of the state
archives is to preserve and provide access to government records
that document Alaska's history. She went on to note some of the
materials and digital records the state archives received in
2022. She proceeded to slide 7, titled "Component: Museum
Operations," where she began by pointing out Alaska operates two
museums: The Alaska State Museum in Juneau, Alaska, and the
Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, Alaska. She described the
museum's strong cultural ties, its collaborative partnerships,
the development of exhibits and educational programs, and
research projects.
8:12:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked what the intersection is between
the museum and local needs of the Indigenous people.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN replied that the team at the Sheldon Jackson
Museum fostered a great working relationship with Indigenous
people across Southeast Alaska.
8:15:24 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE referred back to slide 5, and asked how many
libraries are represented under the library operations
component.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN answered it is one library here in Juneau,
Alaska.
8:16:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCORMICK asked about LAM's re-patriation
efforts, and artifacts currently housed out of state or even
internationally.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN replied LAM does not have control over those
items, and that LAM functions as an educational resource for
community members.
8:17:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked how many Alaska museums and cultural
centers LAM supports.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN answered there are around 100 museums and
cultural centers in Alaska that are all eligible to participate
in LAM's main grant program. She continued the presentation on
slide 8, titled "Component: Online with Libraries (OWL)," and
explained the OWL project offers grants to Alaska public
libraries to help with Internet costs, and supports a Zoom
account for trainings and story times. She proceeded to slide
9, titled "Component: Live Homework Help," which is an online
tutorial program for students in grades K-12 and intro level
college students. In addition to tutoring, she explained users
can receive help preparing materials for finding employment.
8:21:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked how many people use the live homework
help.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN responded there were 12,883 students served by
live homework help during school year 2021-2022. She continued
on slide 10, titled "Component: Andrew P. Kashevaroff Facilities
Maintenance." The budget of this component supports
construction, maintenance, contracts, and opportunities to
promote LAM to diverse audiences. She proceeded to slide 11,
titled "Component: Broadband Assistance Grants (BAG)," which was
developed to assist schools increase Internet download speeds.
8:24:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked about the broadband assistance grants
and if LAM is working with any other government departments, and
if not, he asked if LAM should be. He confirmed he was
referring to the broadband access office.
8:25:05 AM
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN explained that the broadband program does not
directly interface with the broadband access office.
8:27:16 AM
LACY SANDERS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development, expanded on the answer and explained DEED is
working at a broader level, and there is a statewide broadband
council that DEED is a part of in how the education piece meets
the needs for broadband across the state.
8:28:31 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE asked what other entity held the OWL program
previously.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN explained the program began by being funded
with federal monies provided through the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009. Ultimately, in 2013, the State of
Alaska took over funding for the program which is now managed by
the Alaska State Library under LAM.
8:30:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT requested more information on how the
needs of the visually impaired are being met and brought up
talking books as an example.
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN replied there is the Talking Book Center in
Juneau, Alaska, and offered to provide data on the number of
users to the committee on a later date.
8:32:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX noted a requirement in the Executive Budget
Act to ask about specific "missions, goals, measurable," and
asked where to find the information on LAM.
MS. JAVIER stated the information can be obtained on the Office
of Management & Budget's website by clicking on DEED, and
budget, and outlines for each component.
8:33:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY brought up the increase in broadband
assistance grants to help districts reach 25 megabits per second
(Mbps) and asked if 25 Mbps should be the minimum, being the
ideal is to help districts have more and better broadband access
statewide.
8:35:10 AM
MS. PHILLIPS-CHAN responded that LAM would follow whatever the
legislature proposes that is signed into law by the governor.
8:35:36 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:35 a.m. to 8:36 a.m.
^OVERVIEW(S): MT. EDGECUMBE HIGH SCHOOL
OVERVIEW(S): Mt. Edgecumbe High School
8:36:28 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD announced that the next order of business would
be the Mount Edgecumbe High School presentation.
8:37:04 AM
SUZZUK HUNTINGTON, Director/Superintendent, Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS), joined the presentation via Teams and provided a
brief personal background. She began the PowerPoint
presentation, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High School," [hard copy
included in the committee packet], and showed slide 2, titled
"Mission, Vision, and Purpose," and stressed that MEHS takes
Alaska's education challenge to heart. She moved to slide 3,
titled "Strategic Priorities: Alaska's Education Challenge," and
noted Mt. Edgecumbe's full support of students reading at grade
level. She proceeded to slide 4, titled "Budget Organizational
Chart," and noted that Mt. Edgecumbe High School is a division
within DEED, but somewhat stand-alone in most areas. She
pointed out where MEHS sits in the organizational chart that is
shown, and its role with other divisions.
8:40:04 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON moved to slide 5, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Fun Facts," where she provided summaries of school
enrollment, annual scholarships awarded, courses and class size,
and costs of attendance. She continued to slide 6, titled "Mt.
Edgecumbe High School (MEHS) Student Composition 2022-2023,"
which shows breakdowns in the number of students, communities,
and types of districts. She noted MEHS's students come from 38
school districts across Alaska.
8:43:45 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON moved to slide 7, titled Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Admissions." Application timelines - where it is
also noted MEHS accepts about 50 percent of the roughly 350
applications each year; criteria and process are also
highlighted on the slide. She continued to slide 8, titled "Mt.
Edgecumbe High School (MEHS) Aquatic Center Highlights." She
noted among the classes offered is lifeguard training, and that
student workers often guard open swims. She also emphasized
that community partnerships blossomed to contribute to self-
sufficiency; the pool is able to take care of its own expenses.
8:47:47 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON moved to slide 9, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Sports Highlights," where she gave a quick
highlight of sports and activities, with the slide showing 2022-
2023 participation rates in various sports. She explained slide
10, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High School (MEHS) Activities,"
highlighted the many non-sports activities and noted - not shown
on the slide - is also the honor society.
8:50:37 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON continued to slide 11, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Academic Highlights." She explained MEHS does not
hold to the minimum state requirements - MEHS has requirements
beyond the minimums in many areas that she synopsized. She
moved to slide 12, titled "Industry Certificates." Many of the
certificates come through partnerships with the University of
Alaska Southeast, and the certificates range from the medical
field to welding.
8:54:28 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON moved to slide 13, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Recreation Highlights," where numerous activities
dedicated to recreation are listed. She reiterated the emphasis
on developing leadership, and on slide 14, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe
High School (MEHS) Student Leadership Highlights," the many
opportunities for students to serve as leaders was shown. She
proceeded to slide 15, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High School (MEHS)
Wellness Highlights," that included counseling departments,
partnerships with mental health resources, and the proactive
responsiveness to various student needs.
8:58:50 AM
MS. HUNTINGTON continued to slide 16, titled "Mt. Edgecumbe High
School (MEHS) Cultural Highlights." Native Alaska languages are
highlighted as dual credit courses, and new this year are a
cultural integration specialist and a language leadership club
designed to revitalize languages.
9:01:07 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD relayed the committee had many questions, and
would have her staff reach out and schedule a special Q&A
9:01:35 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:02 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 1. DEED LAM FY23 School Broadband Assistance Grants (BAG) Districts and Schools.pdf |
HEDC 2/13/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HEC - School Broadband Assistance Grants DEED Presentation |
| 02.13.2023 House Education Committee LAM and MEHS Follow-up Responses.pdf |
HEDC 2/13/2023 8:00:00 AM |