Legislature(2021 - 2022)DAVIS 106
04/14/2021 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: School District Perspectives and Updates; Looking Ahead by Anchorage, Lower Kuskokwim, and Unalaska School Districts | |
| HB25 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 14, 2021
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Harriet Drummond, Co-Chair
Representative Andi Story, Co-Chair
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky
Representative Grier Hopkins
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Mike Cronk
Representative Ronald Gillham
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: School District Perspectives and Updates; Looking
Ahead by Anchorage~ Lower Kuskokwim~ and Unalaska School
Districts
- HEARD
HOUSE BILL NO. 25
"An Act relating to the duties of the state Board of Education
and Early Development; relating to statewide standards for
instruction in social-emotional learning; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED FROM COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 19
"An Act relating to instruction in a language other than
English; and establishing limited language immersion teacher
certificates."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 25
SHORT TITLE: PUBLIC SCHOOLS: SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) HOPKINS
02/18/21 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/8/21
02/18/21 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/18/21 (H) EDC, STA
03/29/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106
03/29/21 (H) Heard & Held
03/29/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC)
04/12/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106
04/12/21 (H) Heard & Held
04/12/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC)
04/14/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106
WITNESS REGISTER
DEENA BISHOP, PhD, Superintendent
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Took part in a presentation on School
District Perspectives and Updates.
KIMBERLY HANKINS, Superintendent
Lower Kuskokwim School District
Bethel, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Took part in a presentation on School
District Perspectives and Updates.
JOHN CONWELL, Superintendent
Unalaska City School District
Unalaska, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Took part in a presentation on School
District Perspectives and Updates.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:14 AM
CO-CHAIR ANDI STORY called the House Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Representatives
Drummond, Hopkins, Prax, Gillham, Cronk, Zulkosky, and Story
were present at the call to order.
^PRESENTATION: School District Perspectives and Updates; Looking
Ahead by Anchorage, Lower Kuskokwim, and Unalaska School
Districts
PRESENTATION: School District Perspectives and
Updates; Looking Ahead by Anchorage, Lower Kuskokwim,
and Unalaska School Districts
8:02:17 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the first order of business would
be a presentation entitled, "School District Perspectives and
Updates; Looking Ahead by Anchorage, Lower Kuskokwim and
Unalaska School Districts."
8:04:49 AM
DEENA BISHOP, PhD, Superintendent, Anchorage School District
(ASD), took part in the presentation on School District
Perspectives and Updates. In response to a prompt to describe a
current school day for students in ASD, she said Anchorage had
fully opened [in relation to the COVID-19 shut-down] on January
19, 2021, for elementary schools, and on March 15, 2021, for
secondary schools. She said 85 percent of elementary parents
chose for their children to return to face-to-face learning; the
rest chose an online option. She said at the secondary level,
[in person] attendance is about 70 percent. She said ASD is
using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommendation of "cohorting" students, therefore the students
aren't all going to recess at the same time. She said the
school has been using other mitigation techniques within the
school, and although it has been successful, it has also been "a
lot of work" for the full staff of the schools.
DR. BISHOP discussed changes in enrollment. She said at the
beginning of the school year, ASD saw a significant decrease of
4,000 students who either went to statewide correspondence, had
moved out of state, or chose a local private school. She
explained that private schools "started up right away," and
shared that over 1,000 ASD students entered into private
education.
8:07:27 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND asked if the enrollment numbers had increased
since the beginning of the school year when the district was
down 4,000 students.
DR. BISHOP answered that each year there is some variation, and
ASD wasn't sure if this year's change was due to students not
choosing to come back, or students moving out because of
military or Alaska's lack of economic growth. She suggested it
was a change of children, rather than a change in enrollment.
She said there has not been a major influx back.
8:09:12 AM
KIMBERLY HANKINS, Superintendent, Lower Kuskokwim School
District (LKSD), took part in the presentation on School
District Perspectives and Updates. She shared that LKSD was
currently in a hybrid model for all of its schools, pre-
kindergarten through sixth grade, with the exception of a few
village schools with active COVID-19 cases. She explained that
those schools are in remote learning status. She shared that
LKSD has continued to work closely with the tribal councils in
each community and the regional health care provider Yukon-
Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) in monitoring cases and
hopes to return to in person learning when the cases have been
resolved.
MS. HANKINS said that for seventh through twelfth grade, LKSD
has prioritized seniors and students who are most at risk, which
looks different across LKSD's 29 schools. She explained that
some villages have small student populations where all students
have returned to school, which is different than from Bethel
Regional High School (BRHS), which has a student enrollment of
475.
MS. HANKINS shared that the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta region
had the highest rates of COVID-19 per capita in the state for
over four months, which she said was challenging. The district
has had many students and staff test positive with COVID-19 this
past school year, and lost two employees to COVID-19, she said.
She explained that beginning last November all schools in LKSD
and the five neighboring districts were remote only at the
request of YKHC. She informed the committee that the region's
cases have declined due to the efforts of YKHC's vaccine
distribution.
MS. HANKINS said that on a typical school day students arrive
and receive a health screening. She noted that a portion of the
school population received BynaxNOW COVID-19 testing each day.
She said LKSD has focused on targeted, in person instruction
heavily in literacy and math, with a strong emphasis on credit
retainment and credit recovery at the high school level. She
said LKSD has strong mitigation measures in place including
required masking by students and staff, a required social
distance of six feet, the practice of hand-sanitizing, increased
facility sanitization, and the aforementioned cohorts. She
explained that cohorts stay together, including eating lunch in
the classroom, which helps with contact tracing. She said
roughly 90 percent of pre-kindergarten through sixth grade have
returned from remote learning, and she hopes the district can
return to full in person learning come August. She noted a
decrease in enrollment of 47 students which was as a result of
families moving out of the district or region, or families
opting to enroll in full-time homeschool.
8:14:33 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY expressed sympathy on the loss of the two
employees. She asked Ms. Hankins about LKSD's hybrid model, and
also asked what percentage of the student body was lost in the
decreased enrollment.
MS. HANKINS replied that with the hybrid model, "Group A" comes
to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and is in remote on
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. She said "Group B" is in
person on Thursdays and Fridays, and is remote on Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. She said total enrollment is about
4,000 students, so 47 is not a great number given total student
enrollment.
8:15:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX, regarding Ms. Hankins' comment about the
region being a "high risk" area, asked if the risk level of the
Y-K Delta is measured by a local or statewide metric.
MS. HANKINS answered that LKSD works closely with YKHC, which
has guidelines for the region's school districts that are in
alignment with CDC guidance for operational zones. When asked
if the criteria were published anywhere, she replied that it is
published by YKHC and on LKSD website.
8:16:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY asked Ms. Hankins to speak to the
challenges for remote students caused by the inequity of access
to reliable Internet.
MS. HANKINS answered that approximately 10 percent of students
have access to home Internet service. She said it is cost-
prohibitive in the region, as an average package runs $200-$300
a month. She offered that LKSD used the Coronavirus Aide,
Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to build an
intranet. This has allowed students to access a learning
management system, access PowerSchool, and use Zoom. She
pointed out that students do not have access to the Internet
through the system. She emphasized that it was a large effort,
requiring a modem and device for every family, along with a
router and antenna in villages.
8:19:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY asked if student's lack of access to
reliable Internet would have implications to student
achievement.
MS. HANKINS agreed that it would. She said the district could
be doing more with reliable in-home Internet.
8:20:22 AM
JOHN CONWELL, Superintendent, Unalaska City School District
(UCSD), took part in the presentation on School District
Perspectives and Updates. He said UCSD is a city school
district with two schools, a pre-kindergarten through fourth
grade school and a fifth through twelfth grade building with a
total enrollment of 387 students as of October 2020. He
informed the committee that UCSD has been back full-time in
person since the end of spring break, March 22, 2021. The last
time the district was full-time, in person was before December
1, 2020. The school year began in person for the first 70 days,
he explained, but when the city risk level shifted to "high" the
school moved to home-based learning. He said Unalaska, similar
to LKSD, has Internet and connectivity issues. While the
district was still able to operate in person, it deployed its
"local remote student learning network." He explained this was
developed with the local telecom provider, which installed
modems in students' homes through landlines. While this didn't
allow for videoconferencing, students all were equipped with
Chromebooks that allowed access to the district's online
learning platforms, he shared. He said UCSD also installed
audio conference technology in each classroom, so groups of
students could call in to access their teacher together.
MR. CONWELL said the schools did home-based learning up through
February 1, 2021, when they were able to shift into a hybrid
model. He explained this was voluntary and four days a week in
the afternoon. He said students were strictly cohorted, and
social distancing was increased from 6 feet to 10 feet. He said
it allowed students who were struggling with the homebased model
to meet face-to-face with teachers.
8:24:46 AM
MR. CONWELL said the current school day "looks about as typical
as we can get with all the mitigation protocols, the masking,
the physical distancing, the hand hygiene." He said students
were still cohorting for meals, still utilizing plastic
barriers, and every classroom had high-efficiency particulate
air (HEPA) air filtration systems installed. He said there was
recently a potential widespread exposure caused by some COVID-19
positive fishermen who knowingly broke quarantine, which has
returned the city to "high" risk. He said the school has
remained in person, because the criteria had been adjusted based
on the prevalence of vaccinations in the community.
MR. CONWELL said students' moral has improved as they have been
back in school with friends and teachers. He said the district
is offering after school programs but noted that there have not
been athletics this year because of travel issues and quarantine
requirements [with COVID-19]. He shared that the district is
hoping to participate in Native Youth Olympics virtually state-
wide and is also hoping to have the Missoula Children's Theatre
produce a play.
8:27:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked if UCSD was working with a local
organization to develop its risk level criteria, or if the
district was adopting something published by the state or the
federal government.
MR. CONWELL answered that UCSD worked closely with Unalaska's
local emergency operations command, which comprised the city
manager, the Iliuliuk Family & Health Service (IFHS) director,
and the mayor, along with the unified incident command, which is
a group of stakeholders representing the fishing industry and
city department heads. He said UCSD doesn't make decisions
without consulting the medical team and has closely followed the
city's emergency operation plan. He said UCSD brought a
proposal based on CDC recommendations to the incident command
and found a way to operate schools even with up to five
community cases.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked if the criteria were available online.
MR. CONWELL answered that it had just been established, and he
intended to put it on the school's website and Facebook page.
He explained that most communication had been done via email
with parents.
8:31:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY informed the committee that the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) had
provided "smart start guidance" for all schools across the
state. She said this was so schools could develop culturally
and socially relevant plans for convening education safely
throughout the pandemic. The guidance, she explained,
encouraged them to work with local health organizations and
communities to develop those standards.
8:31:45 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Dr. Bishop about inequities to home
Internet services for ASD's students.
DR. BISHOP answered that Anchorage had access issues, but not
for infrastructure reasons like in rural Alaska. She said ASD
provided Chromebooks to students and worked with American
Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) to provide limited Wi-Fi to about
1,500 families who needed assistance. She said, "[The Internet
data] should have lasted two weeks; [but it] lasted about a day
because everyone in the family who had not had access joined in
on the wi-fi, watched movies ..." She said many of the families
had Internet in the past, but because of unpaid [Internet]
bills, many could no longer sign up. The school board, she
explained, put over $1.5 million of CARES Act funds into
accessibility for Internet and provided families with routers.
8:34:42 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY moved discussion to the next topic: student
needs at the end of the pandemic school year.
MS. HANKINS said LKSD was seeing needs in several areas.
Academically, she said the district was working to assess and
address learning loss. She said the district wanted to provide
specific, targeted instruction in literacy and math, support for
credit attainment and recovery at the high school level, and
support for pre-kindergarten programs. Socially, she continued,
LKSD needed to make sure it was providing as much mental health
support as it could. She said the district was concerned about
the impact of COVID-19 on students' mental health and had been
throughout the pandemic. The district has itinerant social
workers and councilors, she explained, but their travel has been
limited because of the pandemic, so most of their work has been
done by Zoom or over the phone. She noted that travel
restrictions in the region have eased recently, so students have
been able to meet with support face-to-face. Culturally, she
said one of the positives [the pandemic] has provided families
is more time to be together and to practice subsistence
activities. She shared that moving forward, the district wanted
to provide more opportunities to incorporate culture into the
classroom. She offered that as students returned, LKSD wanted
to support them being in school in any way it could.
8:38:11 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Mr. Conwell what he saw as the greatest
needs of his students at the close of the school year during the
pandemic.
MR. CONWELL replied that his district's needs were similar to
Ms. Hankins's district's. Academically, he offered that UCSD
would be aggressively assessing potential learning loss. He
observed that students who had remained engaged throughout the
various learning delivery methods did well when the district
resumed in person learning, but he shared that the district is
concerned about the students who became disengaged and were not
participating. He said during January and February the district
identified students, particularly high school seniors, who were
at risk of not graduating. He said of the about 25-person
graduating class, the district was concerned about 5-6 of the
students and made an effort to get those individuals on course
and back in person, and they are now almost all caught up.
MR. CONWELL said students suffered from anxiety and depression
when isolated at home. He said the behavioral and mental health
supports are critical and informed the committee that UCSD has a
partnership with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
(APIA) which has behavioral health counselors who can help
students, and there is also a school counselor. He said if
there was one need going into next year, it would be to increase
counseling staff. With 1 counselor to 400 students, there is
too large a workload, he opined.
MR. CONWELL said the district plans to offer a summer school
program. He explained that in a typical year, this would be
targeted to students who are performing in the lowest quartile,
but this year it is opened to all students, with doubled
staffing. He said the district was looking to develop after-
school tutoring programs for the coming year, in addition to the
Saturday "learning lab" that is offered to students.
MR. CONWELL said unlike at LKSD, home-based students in Unalaska
created a burden for parents who needed to be at work. He
described the city as a "type A, workaholic type community where
folk work long hours," so when there were childcare issues and
parents had to stay home, it caused financial burdens to some
families.
8:42:37 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Dr. Bishop what some of the greatest needs
of ASD's students were.
DR. BISHOP commented that Anchorage was seeing the same
challenges that her colleagues had just discussed. Rather than
speaking about learning loss, her district is calling it
"unfinished learning, because of the issues in engaging with
students. She cited a lack of access to learning, high-quality
pedagogy, or face-to-face instruction. She offered that this
summer ASD would provide a robust summer school. Approximately
14,000 students would enter school and be provided bussing and
lunches, in what she described as an extension of the school
year. She said there would be both a June and July session at
four weeks each.
DR. BISHOP said the district saw this coming from day one. She
said middle school students who struggled received incompletes,
rather than failing grades. She said elementary students were
behind on their reading skills. She shared that when early
learning is impacted, there is a "trickle up" into each grade as
a child moves through the system. She said the district was
creating choice programs for all students in response to the
issue, and that her highest concern was reading access.
8:45:49 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS referenced a section of the spending
guidelines from the American Rescue Plant Act that addressed
homeless youth. He asked Dr. Bishop if she had seen an increase
in students having homeless needs.
DR. BISHOP replied that there had been an increase. She
commented that ASD works closely with Covenant House and other
programs to support students "in transition," and has put
operational dollars towards the support of families and students
in transition. She said the issue was more about access to
food, Internet, and other things associated with school. She
stated that having families out of work and without food or
other necessities accessible is the biggest area ASD is trying
to serve students.
8:47:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS asked if there were new programs being
put in place this summer and in the upcoming school year to
assist with families in need, or if ASD would be bolstering
current programs.
DR. BISHOP replied that ASD works closely with United Way of
Anchorage to support some of the activities. She commented that
the Anchorage Assembly, through Volunteers of America and other
entities, has collaborated with ASD to support high school
students, especially those who are living by themselves. She
said it was a collaborative approach with the city through
United Way of Anchorage helpline. She shared that ASD also
provided a helpline for issues such as an electrical bill, food,
and transportation. She said over 10 agencies are collaborating
on this work. The biggest issue was food, and ASD had provided
over 1,500 daily meals outside of student lunches for families.
8:49:25 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND said that last May, money was provided by the
state for child nutrition. She asked if this is what was being
applied to nutrition services.
DR. BISHOP answered that ASD and its partners did use this
money, but there are different rules for different monies. She
said the school lunch program is based directly on providing
school lunches, so it is a little different. She said the
Anchorage Assembly awarded an additional $400 per child to
families.
8:50:42 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Mr. Conwell for an update on his district's
financial standing.
MR. CONWELL replied that UCSD is a city school district, so
about half of the school funding comes from the City of
Unalaska. He said for the 27 years he had been in Unalaska, the
city had funded the schools to the allowable cap, or close to
it. He shared that the city has a strong local economy, though
it is a little more tenuous now. He commented that there is
some concern that if businesses and fish plants don't get up off
the ground after the pandemic, it will affect the city's tax
base. He said the city received a small amount through the
CARES Act, but not a lot. The money received from the federal
government was used to purchase Chromebooks, install plastic
barriers, supplement meals, and install the previously mentioned
HEPA air filtration systems. In addition to the CARES Act, the
State of Alaska gave about $200,000 to the school district,
which was utilized to implement the remote learning computer
network and audio conference lines.
MR. CONWELL said the UCSD is concerned in the drop in
enrollment. He said the school district depends on a small
influx of immigrant students each year from the Philippines and
Mexico, which has been more difficult because of tightening
immigration restrictions. He said the school was down to 366
students from the October count of 387, and he believed it would
take 3 to 4 years before the district would be back up to its
previous fiscal year 2020 (FY 20) numbers of 410 to 415. He
said in a typical year a drop like this would lead to cutting
faculty. He added that classroom instruction was best done in
person, not through a computer screen.
8:55:54 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked how the district was planning to use the
money from the American Recovery Plan Act.
MR. CONWELL answered that his recommendation would be for the
district to target the funds for learning recovery efforts next
year. He suggested this could be additional staffing for after
school, tutorial programs or study hall, as well as additional
materials to help with learning recovery.
8:57:03 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Dr. Bishop where ADS stood financially.
DR. BISHOP answered that prior to any money being received, each
year ASD experiences an $11 to $14 million shortfall from the
previous year in a pro forma based budget, which is about 2
percent of the district's operational budget. She said about 92
percent of Anchorage's funds are for support staff and are built
into collective bargaining agreements (CBA's) which have a
natural progression.
DR. BISHOP said that this year ASD utilized the CARES Act to
support new infrastructure like personal protective equipment
(PPE) and the Chromebooks. She said it was also used to retain
staff. She explained ASD experienced between an eight to nine
percent decrease in enrollment, but the district was able to
utilize "hold harmless" which assisted the district in growing
smaller naturally. She explained that the district's enrollment
numbers were due to DEED by November to help build the future
state budget, which was difficult to predict during the
pandemic. She said ASD foresaw about a 25 percent decrease, but
believes students will return, however, there are economic
issues at play. She shared that the district decreased staffing
going into FY 22, because it believes there will be fewer
students at first. She affirmed that the CARES Act money did
support the district, and the additional Recovery Act money has
yet to be spent.
9:02:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS asked if there was a percentage estimate
regarding how many students are expected to return.
DR. BISHOP replied that the district estimates out of 4,000
students that left, about 75 percent will return. She said many
of them are in private schools, which are cost inhibitive for
many parents long-term. She said many students may not come
back because many families found that online programs met their
needs.
9:04:45 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND commented that social distancing was achieved
by lowering class sizes and having fewer children in the rooms.
She said this put a burden on the teachers who would have to
teach the same subject twice to teach the multiple distanced
factions of a class. She asked how this worked.
DR. BISHOP replied that ASD used three to six foot distancing,
which was taken from CDC guidelines for masked individuals. She
said ASD utilized additional classrooms and specialty teachers
to create additional classes. She said the district utilized
gyms, libraries, and rooms that are intended to be used for pre-
school in future.
9:07:21 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked how LKSD had faired financially during the
pandemic
MS. HANKINS first replied to Co-Chair Drummond's previous
question. She explained that LKSD saw the updated guidance for
three feet of social distance and conferenced with YKHC, but
because the region is still at the high-risk level, the school
is continuing with six feet. She offered that this works
because of the cohort model with students coming in person for
two days a week. She stated that LKSD was hopeful that the case
rates would lower the next fall and allow for three feet of
social distance. She offered that LKSD had also utilized other
spaces in schools for instructional space such as gyms and
cafeterias.
MS. HANKINS said that in terms of finances, LKSD is able to work
with what they have. She said flat funding results in the
district having to cut costs every year in order to absorb
increased costs in wages and benefits. She said the district
works to find savings because of increases and other
unanticipated costs. She said LKSD was able to absorb the loss
of funds from the 47 students [who left the district or opted to
attend homeschool] by looking at department cuts at the district
office level. The district utilized CARES Act funding primarily
for technology ("tech"), mostly to put the intranet system in
place, she offered. It was also used to acquire PPE, to
increase custodial hours, and for the routine costs of service
fees such as maintenance through General Communications
Incorporated (GCI).
9:10:41 AM
MS. HANKINS said that for Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ESSER II) funds, the district has put money
into summer school and extended day programs, which is happening
at most sites where in person learning is happening. She said
LKSD is utilizing funds to be certain it is able to offer credit
recovery opportunities for students and a summer school program.
She said one of the challenges LKSD faces every year in regard
to offering summer school programs is staffing. Many certified
staff leave over summer, so this summer, the district is
planning to utilize the video conferencing system that is
already in place. She mentioned the vocational training center
(VTC) offerings and said there are six full-time, district-wide
high school teaches who are housed in Bethel and broadcast
classes districtwide.
MS. HANKINS said the ESSER II was also used to purchase air
purifier systems for every classroom with HEPA filters. She
offered that the previous spring, the district did an initial
assessment of all of its air circulation systems and addressed
two schools that needed assistance, but the district wanted to
take the extra step moving forward. She said LKSD anticipates
providing further tech support for the intranet, continuing to
provide PPE for its sites, and increased hours for staff. She
mentioned that LKSD wanted to expand its bus fleet for improved
social distancing. She said she anticipates utilizing these
funds for several years.
9:14:09 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Dr. Bishop if she anticipated significant
systemic or instructional changes next year or the years
hereafter.
DR. BISHOP responded that while online, at-home learning hasn't
worked for many, ASD has learned about many benefits it
provides, such as access for students and helping teachers with
targeted learning. She commented that the district would be
utilizing devices to allow students equity. Regarding cultural
equity, she shared that it was a great learning experience for
teachers, because online courses provided insight into student's
lives. She shared that the majority of teachers in Anchorage
are white, but the students are diverse, with many different
languages and cultures. She said ASD plans to capture the
understanding that the teachers now have in order to grow the
staff's understanding of learning and families. She said ASD is
now partnering more with families and providing more equitable
access for them. She asserted there where many instructional
platforms that were very beneficial which ASD will continue to
utilize, but [online learning] also has provided opportunity for
internal choice, and she offered that there can be online
flexibility while still having face-to-face instruction.
9:16:50 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Ms. Hankins what systemic or structural
changes she anticipated for the next year.
MS. HANKINS answered that LKSD is looking to learn from the
systems that had been in place during the pandemic and see if
there had been any best practices or positive takeaways that
could be put into place. She said LKSD will continue remote
learning in some fashion and wants to be sure its intranet
system continues. She also referred to the district's distance
delivery program and said LKSD wants to strengthen its course
offerings because it helps the district reach many students.
MS. HANKINS shared that rural Alaska has struggled with teacher
recruitment and retention, particularly in the past year. She
said because of this, the distance delivery system is essential
in order to provide highly qualified teachers to instruct
students, particularly in villages with unfilled positions. Ms.
Hankins said the district will continue to assess unfinished
learning and is looking at "beefing up" course offerings. She
said one thing LKSD hopes to address is having adequate mental
health support for students. She commented that some students
already suffer from childhood trauma and now have pandemic-
related trauma. She also mentioned [the need for] continued
adequate professional development for teachers, so they may
continue to provide the best learning opportunities for
students. She commented that technology is key and said LKSD
will continue to be innovative in how to approach meeting the
needs of the students.
9:20:01 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked Mr. Conwell if he anticipated significant
systemic or structural changes next year or in the years ahead.
MR. CONWELL commented that he echoed what Dr. Bishop and Ms.
Hankins said, particularly about parent partnership. He
emphasized that the district in Unalaska learned just how
important it is to form and cultivate those partnerships,
particularly with parents who do not speak English as a first
language. He shared that teachers have approached UCSD asking
for opportunities to help parents better assist their children
at home. He stated that parents felt they didn't have the
skills or the education [to help their children with school],
but he argued they could, if shown how.
MR. CONWELL said the district wanted to work on cocurricular
programs that "fell by the wayside." He commented that
educators were focused on the essentials this past year, and
because of lockdown, it was difficult to operate after-school
programs such as sports, music, or art. He opined that the
district needed to start bringing those back in a meaningful
way.
MR. CONWELL said this year was hampered by quarantine
requirements. He explained that Unalaska is remote, and a
medical emergency required an 800-mile medivac to Anchorage. He
explained that students may need to leave [for a variety of
medical reasons] and the district needs to keep the students'
continuity of education intact. Therefor, he explained that
UCSD intends to keep its local/remote learning network in place
and hopes to strengthen remote education for families who need
to travel. He concluded by commenting that the district needed
to "build back," and he reiterated, "So many things just fell by
the wayside."
9:23:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY commented that not all schools seem to
"start at the same starting line with respect to the types of
resources and opportunities that are made available to our
students." She asked all three superintendents about external
systemic challenges to delivering education.
MR. CONWELL replied that for Unalaska, it was "the necessary
evils" of having to do mitigation protocols, particularly
quarantine. He explained that because the city took an
aggressive stance [in combating COVID-19] it was a very low bar
before the schools began shutting down, with one community-
spread case. He explained that he agreed with the approach,
because of Unalaska's remote location and distance from medical
facilities, but it hampered the ability to conduct school in a
meaningful way, especially in person. He said it was disruptive
when navigating risk levels and dealing with quarantines. He
commented that he believes "we will be living with this for a
while longer," but UCSD can continue to evolve and improve its
operations.
9:27:34 AM
MS. HANKINS replied that one of the challenges LKSD faces is
access to Internet and being able to have equity in what
students can access from home. She commented that one of the
challenges this past year was the work with all of the tribes in
the region. She explained that each tribe crafted its own
mandates, in terms of requirements for quarantine and travel.
She shared that there was an operation center that tried to stay
current with what was happening in all 24 communities. She said
even getting teachers in and out of villages took great effort,
particularly in returning teachers to villages last summer. She
said most staff had to quarantine for two weeks, which resulted
in the district changing its professional development structure.
She commented that this has resulted in great partnerships,
which the district wants to continue during post-pandemic
operations.
MS. HANKINS said often the community shuts down and goes into
lockdown, and then school goes to remote. She explained that in
rural Alaska, many families live in multi-generational homes,
and that access to healthcare in limited. She commented that
this year has strengthened partnerships within the region's six
school districts through YKHC.
9:30:50 AM
DR. BISHOP cited access to healthcare as the largest systemic
issue ASD faces outside of school. She shared that ASD set up
the first mass-vaccination clinic in the state and did so
internally to help teachers and those 65 and older. She
commented that while those 65 and older have Medicare, the
access issue is in knowing the systems to utilize it. She
shared that ASD has given over 30,000 vaccines. She explained
that when there is a case in a school, and a child has to go
home, ASD will vaccinate the entire family in that home. She
offered that recently 19 family members showed up who lived in a
single home with a second grader. She mentioned the cultural
capital needed to understand the manner in which the systems
work and said this was the largest insight ASD has learned
during the pandemic as a school system.
9:32:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CRONK relayed a personal experience with new
teachers in rural areas and said, "It just didn't seem like they
had a real reality of what they were actually getting into." He
commented that there were people who were ready to turn around
in Bethal and fly back to Anchorage to leave. He asked Ms.
Hankins what the district's "selling point" was to new teachers.
MS. HANKINS said that LKSD strives to provide excellent
professional development for teachers and has worked to
implement a dual-language enrichment model program in 20
schools. She said the district wants an outcome of bilingualism
and biliteracy, has done work with place-based curriculum, and
wants learning to be meaningful and culturally relevant. She
offered that this is discussed at length with new teachers. She
said LKSD also provides opportunities for staff to participate
in culture camps the summer prior to arriving in the district
and provides additional professional development for new
teachers that often involves learning about the culture. She
asserted that teaching in rural Alaska is "what you make of it,"
and suggested that being involved in the local community is very
meaningful and enriches the experience.
MS. HANKINS referenced a previous question and noted LKSD's
partnership with YKHC. She said throughout the pandemic, the
Alaska Superintendent Association (ASA) has been incredibly
helpful.
9:37:17 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY thanked all three superintendents for speaking
before the committee.
9:38:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GILLHAM asked for the speakers' contact
information, which Co-Chair story offered to share with him.
HB 25-PUBLIC SCHOOLS: SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING
9:38:48 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the final order of business would
be HB 25, "An Act relating to the duties of the state Board of
Education and Early Development; relating to statewide standards
for instruction in social-emotional learning; and providing for
an effective date."
9:39:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS, as prime sponsor of HB 25, noted the
relevance of the previous panel discussion. He said each
superintendent discussed the need to address students' social
and emotional concerns and the impacts from that last twelve
months. He offered that HB 25 would create guidelines to help
districts implement new programs or expand what was already in
place.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS suggested that many of these plans are
going to have to be implemented over the next two years using
American Rescue Plan Act funds. He said [the proposed
legislation would help educators] teach things like coping
skills, resiliency, self-restraint, cooperation, how to overcome
obstacles, how to set and achieve goals, how to identify and
adjust one's own emotions, and how to understand others'
reactions and emotions. He stated [these are skills] that
industry wants and employers seek. He noted that the
legislation does not create any mandates, but school districts
want these standards in place.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS said social and emotional skills are one
third of Alaska's Education Challenge under which the Dunleavy
Administration has been working. He noted that the committee
had heard from DEED that this is the most requested topic
regarding professional development for educators. He said this
would include working with families, and supplement and support
the home environment. He concluded, saying HB 25 is what
districts want, what DEED was working towards, and what parents
worried about during the school closures of COVID-19. He stated
that the proposed legislation had a small fiscal note and would
be partially paid for by the American Rescue Plan Act.
9:44:10 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked for clarification on the fiscal note.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS answered that the fiscal note includes
$6,000 for legal work to implement the regulations, a $1,500
stipend to pay educators from around the state who would travel
to develop standards, and $30,000 to hire a consultant to guide
the discussion.
9:45:33 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:45 a.m. to 9:46: a.m.
9:45:53 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND moved to report HB 25 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. .
9:46:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX objected.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX said he agreed that the skills emphasized
are important to learn; however, he said he was unsure about a
number of things. He said the proposed legislation reminded him
of "missionary work," and referenced Article VII, Section 1, of
the Constitution of the State of Alaska, which includes the
passage, "Schools and institutions so established shall be free
from sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public
funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private
educational institution." He acknowledged that this likely
referenced licensed religious institutions but argued that this
was functional, and the legislature would be imposing cultural
changes. He opined that the state should not establish
standards, rather, [the standards] should develop organically
and locally within families and communities.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX said in recent Alaska history a "new culture
was being imposed on an existing culture." He said he was
involved with this work in the 1980s, and he felt it was a
mistake to implement rapid cultural change. He said he noticed
that very resilient people were "becoming less resilient by
focusing deliberately on these standards, instead of just
letting these skills develop organically." He argued that when
it started to be a deliberate effort, people became "sanitized,"
and work was "less enjoyable; we were more apprehensive and
afraid of each other and not as able to respond to the little
challenges."
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX argued that trying to change culture too
rapidly from the top down is the wrong approach. He referenced
testimony from a previous meeting and argued that the ideas in
the proposed legislation are already being implemented without
top-down direction. He said he felt Alaska would be better in
the long run if this were to develop organically. He asserted
that it would be a requirement, even if it were not mandated,
and referenced the enactment of COVID-19 safety protocols.
9:52:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY commented that she supports moving HB 25
from committee. She considered the proposed legislation to be
both timely and age appropriate and said that it considers the
diversity of environments outside of the classroom from which
students originate. She disputed Representative Prax's claim
that this was similar to missionary work and shared her
experience as an Alaska Native woman whose family was impacted
by colonization. She said, "I take umbridge with the fact that
... this is being classified as imposing any sort of cultural
changes." She countered that HB 25 looked to develop a set of
skills for students to utilize throughout their lives and felt
it would be inaccurate to classify it as cultural integration
from the top down.
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY said that the need in Alaska is great
[for social/emotional learning (SEL) support] and commented that
there is a big gap in behavioral health support at the state
level. She stated her belief that by investing in resources
that provide tools as part of prevention, the state will save
money on the "back end" of treating Alaskans that are going to
be in most need of critical behavioral health crisis resources,
or even correctional resources.
9:56:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CRONK stated he had received numerous emails
against HB 25. He opined that "the number one thing we can do
is get our kids back in school." He argued that kids need to be
around other kids, without plexiglass, and back to normal. He
said his experience as a rural educator taught him to listen to
local needs but pointed out that HB 25 would be top-down
guidance, which he opposes. He said that although he supported
school districts locally, he opposed the proposed legislation,
because he believed the state shouldn't be making these
decisions. He summarized his argument that he is a firm
believer in local control because different communities have
different beliefs.
9:58:24 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY commented that her understanding was that
learning requires dealing with social and emotional needs, but
many districts do not have guidelines in place for instruction.
She shared that she saw the proposed legislation as a mechanism
to provide that. She argued that with local control, districts
would have a set of guidelines from best practices that the
districts could choose how to use.
9:59:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS reiterated that the proposed legislation
was not a mandate, rather it would set standards that are meant
to be flexible for school districts at the local level. He said
it was districts at the lower level that requested the standards
be put in place, in order to help with expanding curriculums and
providing professional development.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS said that he agreed that getting students
back in school is one of the most important things that could be
done. He commented that students spend most of their days in
school settings, and that knowing how to interact is critical,
especially after a year away. He argued that HB 25 would make
those interactions better, healthier, and more productive. He
stated this was not a top-down directive; it was guidelines for
districts to use, which is a bottom-up approach that allows for
local control.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS nodded to a previous conversation with
Representative Prax and acknowledged that it is difficult to
teach older adults in the workforce new skills and to have a
cultural shift in a workplace overnight. He argued that those
skills must be taught earlier. He said helping school districts
know how to guide educators and teach those skills to children
is the best way to ensure it is not a "fast shift" and to ensure
that students have the skills when they reach the workplace.
10:03:09 AM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Zulkosky, Hopkins,
Drummond, and Story voted in favor of the motion to report HB 25
out of committee with individual recommendations and the
attached fiscal notes. Representatives Prax, Cronk, and Gillham
voted against it. Therefore, HB 25 was reported out of the
House Education Standing Committee by a vote of 4-3.
10:05:06 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:05 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Topics & Questions.pdf |
HEDC 4/14/2021 8:00:00 AM |