Legislature(2003 - 2004)
01/16/2004 08:05 AM House W&M
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
January 16, 2004
8:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mike Hawker, Chair
Representative Bruce Weyhrauch, Vice Chair
Representative Vic Kohring
Representative Dan Ogg
Representative Ralph Samuels
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Max Gruenberg
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Norman Rokeberg
Representative Carl Moses
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL FUNDING REFORM CONTROLLING STATE COSTS
TAPES
04-01, SIDE(S) A & B
CHAIR MIKE HAWKER convened the meeting of the House Special
Committee on Ways and Means at 8:05 a.m. Representatives
Hawker, Samuels, Kohring, Weyhrauch, Wilson, and Ogg were
present at the call to order. Representative Gruenberg arrived
as the meeting was in progress.
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION
CHAIR MIKE HAWKER stated that the meeting today was in response
to a December 29, 2003, ADN article that discussed concerns and
complaints regarding school districts that operate statewide
correspondence study schools.
SHEILA PETERSON, Staff for Senator Gary Wilken, spoke on Senator
Wilken's behalf about National Forest Receipts and how that
federal funding source is related to correspondence schools.
EDDIE JEANS, Manager, School Finance, Department of Education
and Early Development (EED), summarized the chronology of
district operated statewide correspondence programs and answered
questions pertaining to the recent concern about questionable
expenditures and recruitment of students. He stated that there
is a process in place whereby schools, parents, and EED will
dialogue in order to continue to develop guidelines and provide
this information to the legislature.
RONALD ERICKSON, Superintendent, Craig City Schools, described
Craig School District's correspondence program and stated that
he wanted to cooperate with EED and the legislature to correct
some of the problems.
BOB WICKER, Superintendent, Denali Borough Schools, explained
how Denali School District's correspondence programs worked and
stated that he had attended the EED meetings to help develop
guidelines to address some of the concerns.
STEVE MUSSER, Assistant Superintendent, Galena City Schools,
described his school district's correspondence school and stated
strong concerns about funding students due to the large number
of correspondence students in his district.
ERLING HOFSETH, Principal, Connections, Kenai Peninsula Borough
School District, stated that he wanted to see a distinction made
between statewide and in-district correspondence schools. He
expressed the need for educational allotments to be uniform and
tied to the students' individual education plans. He also
answered questions regarding the large increase in his program's
enrollment.
THOMAS KLEVER, Raven Correspondence School, Fairbanks North Star
School District, explained that his school helped
disenfranchised students by providing jobs. In response to
questions, he stated that his school does provide service to
students with disabilities. He agreed that more meetings were
needed to set policies regarding correspondence schools.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
There were no announcements.
COMMITTEE ACTION
The committee took no action.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Ways and Means meeting was adjourned at
9:25 a.m.
NOTE: The meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes were
taken. A copy of the tape(s) and log notes may be obtained by
contacting the House Records Office at State Capitol, Room 3,
Juneau, Alaska 99801 (mailing address), (907) 465-2214, and
after adjournment of the second session of the Twenty-Third
Alaska State Legislature this information may be obtained by
contacting the Legislative Reference Library at (907) 465-3808.
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