00 HOUSE BILL NO. 7 01 "An Act establishing a secondary school counselor pilot program; and providing 02 for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that 05 (1) there is a need for information regarding the effect of providing counselors 06 in public secondary schools; 07 (2) preliminary research has shown that school counselors have a positive 08 effect on test scores, school discipline, and parent involvement in schools; and 09 (3) a four-year pilot program would allow the state to collect necessary 10 information on the effects of providing counselors in public secondary schools. 11 (b) The purpose of this Act is to establish a program under which certain public 12 secondary schools would provide increased counseling services, and over a four-year period 13 the state would monitor the effect of the increased counseling services on test scores, school 14 discipline, teacher innovation, and parent involvement in education. 01 * Sec. 2. SECONDARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR PROGRAM. (a) The secondary school 02 counselor program is established in the Department of Education. The program shall include 03 (1) additional state aid provided under (e) of this section for a school in a 04 district that is selected under (c) of this section; 05 (2) a program application and selection process determined by the department; 06 (3) the objectives of the secondary school counselor program; 07 (4) a method to monitor and review the effects of increased counseling services 08 on students in a school selected to participate in the program; a district selected to participate 09 in the program shall report to the department annually by June 30 while participating in the 10 program; and 11 (5) a certification by the chief school administrator that program funds will be 12 separately accounted for. 13 (b) A district eligible under (c) of this section may apply to participate in the program 14 by submitting an application on a form provided by the department. The application must 15 include 16 (1) the objectives of the program and the district's plan for meeting those 17 objectives; 18 (2) the district's plan for using increased state funds for the purpose of 19 increasing counseling services in certain secondary schools; 20 (3) the existing counseling services in each secondary school in the district that 21 the district is proposing for participation in the program; 22 (4) if available, the most recent standardized test scores for each grade in each 23 school that is proposed for participation by the district; and 24 (5) a program to train teachers to participate in the secondary school 25 counseling program. 26 (c) A district is eligible to propose a secondary school in the district for participation 27 in the program described in this section if, prior to participation in the program, the school 28 does not provide counseling services or only provides counseling services on a part-time basis. 29 (d) The department may not select more than five secondary schools for participation 30 in the program required under this section. A school selected to participate in the program 31 required under this section shall participate until June 30, 1997. 01 (e) Each secondary school selected to participate in the program required under this 02 section shall constitute a separate funding community for purposes of AS 14.17.031 and 03 14.17.041(b)(1). Money required to be expended under this subsection shall be included in 04 the annual operating budget prepared by the department. 05 (f) The department shall include a report on the program established under this Act, 06 as a part of the department's annual report. 07 (g) In this section, 08 (1) "counselor" means a person who is certified in school counseling; 09 (2) "department" means the Department of Education; 10 (3) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.250; 11 (4) "teacher" means a person who is certified under AS 14.20.020 and who is 12 an actual classroom instructor in a regular instructional program. 13 * Sec. 3. It is the intent of the legislature that funding for the program established under 14 sec. 2 of this Act not be reduced if AS 14.17 is amended to change the formula providing 15 state aid for education. 16 * Sec. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act are repealed June 30, 1997. 17 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect July 1, 1993.