00 SENATE BILL NO. 259 01 "An Act relating to children attending school; amending provisions relating to 02 compulsory school attendance; relating to truancy and punctuality; relating to 03 permanent fund dividend program notice requirements and to ineligibility for 04 permanent fund dividends for violations of school truancy and attendance laws or for 05 expulsions from school; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07  * Section 1. AS 14.30.010(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) Every child between seven and 16 years of age shall attend school at the 09 public school in the district in which the child resides during each school term. Every 10 parent, guardian, or other person having the responsibility for or control of a child 11 between seven and 16 years of age shall maintain the child in attendance at a public 12 school in the district in which the child resides during the entire school term, except as 13 provided in (b) and (d) of this section. 01  * Sec. 2. AS 14.30.010(b) is amended to read: 02 (b) This section does not apply if a child 03 (1) is provided an academic education comparable to that offered by 04 the public schools in the area [, EITHER] by 05 (A) attendance at a private school in which the teachers are 06 certificated according to AS 14.20.020; 07 (B) tutoring by personnel certificated according to 08 AS 14.20.020; or 09 (C) attendance at an educational program operated in 10 compliance with AS 14.45.100 - 14.45.200 by a religious or other private 11 school; 12 (2) attends a school operated by the federal government; 13 (3) has a physical or mental condition that a competent medical 14 authority determines will make attendance impractical; 15 (4) is in the custody of a court or law enforcement authorities; 16 (5) is temporarily ill or injured; 17 (6) has been suspended or expelled under AS 14.03.160 or suspended 18 or denied admittance under AS 14.30.045; 19 (7) resides more than two miles from either a public school or a route 20 on which transportation is provided by the school authorities, except that this 21 paragraph does not apply if the child resides within two miles of a federal or private 22 school that the child is eligible and able to attend; 23 (8) is excused by action of the school board of the district at a regular 24 meeting or by the district superintendent subject to approval by the school board of the 25 district at the next regular meeting; 26 (9) has completed the 12th grade; 27 (10) is enrolled in 28 (A) a state boarding school established under AS 14.16; or 29 (B) a full-time program of correspondence study approved by 30 the department; in those school districts providing an approved correspondence 31 study program, a student may be enrolled either in the district correspondence 01 program or in the centralized correspondence study program; 02 (11) is equally well-served by an educational experience approved by 03 the school board as serving the child's educational interests despite an absence from 04 school, and the request for excuse is made in writing by the child's parents or guardian 05 and approved by the principal or administrator of the school that the child attends; 06 (12) is being educated in the child's home by a parent or legal 07 guardian;  08 (13) is excused by the principal of the school in which the child is  09 enrolled; a principal may excuse a child's absence, late arrival, or early  10 departure from school if the excused absence, late arrival, or early departure  11 (A) does not interfere with the child's progress at school;  12 and  13 (B) is consistent with the definition of "excused absence,"  14 "excused late arrival," or "excused early departure" adopted by the  15 school district under AS 14.30.030(b)(4). 16  * Sec. 3. AS 14.30.010 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 17 (d) A parent, guardian, or other person having the responsibility for or control 18 of a child between seven and 16 years of age who is a runaway or missing minor is not 19 required to maintain the child in attendance at a public school if the parent, guardian, 20 or other person having the responsibility for or control of the runaway or missing 21 minor has made a report to a law enforcement agency, as authorized by 22 AS 47.10.141(a), that the minor has run away or is missing. In this subsection, 23 "runaway or missing minor" means a minor who a parent, guardian, or other person 24 having the responsibility for or control of the minor reasonably believes is absent from 25 the minor's residence for the purpose of evading a parent, guardian, or other person 26 having the responsibility for or control of the minor, or who is otherwise missing from 27 the minor's usual place of abode without the consent of the parent, guardian, or other 28 person having the responsibility for or control of the minor. 29  * Sec. 4. AS 14.30.020 is repealed and reenacted to read: 30 Sec. 14.30.020. Violations. (a) A person who knowingly fails to comply with 31 AS 14.30.010 is guilty of a violation. 01 (b) A separate violation under AS 14.30.010 consists of 02 (1) each 10 days of unexcused absence, as defined by the school 03 district under AS 14.30.030(b)(4); or 04 (2) each 14 days of unexcused late arrival or unexcused early 05 departure, as defined by the school district under AS 14.30.030(b)(4). 06  * Sec. 5. AS 14.30.030 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 07 (b) The procedures established under (a) of this section must include 08 (1) a specified time period in which the student shall be counted as 09 absent from a class or a day in session or counted as a late arrival to or early departure 10 from a class or day in session; 11 (2) a system for disseminating information related to truancy and 12 punctuality to each student enrolled in a public school in the school district and to each 13 parent or guardian of the student; 14 (3) a system of record keeping for truancies, unexcused late arrivals, 15 and unexcused early departures in the school district and a system for reporting 16 violations under AS 14.30.020 to the student, each parent of the student or the 17 guardian of the student, the superintendent of the school district, and the Department 18 of Revenue; the report to the Department of Revenue must include the name and 19 address of each parent or the guardian of the student who is in violation of 20 AS 14.30.020; and 21 (4) definitions of the terms "excused absence," "unexcused absence," 22 "excused late arrival," "unexcused late arrival," "excused early departure," and 23 "unexcused early departure"; the definitions may include the absence, late arrival, or 24 early departure from school and from a class in which the student is enrolled at the 25 school. 26  * Sec. 6. AS 43.23.005(g) is amended to read: 27 (g) For purposes of applying (d)(1), (i), and (j) of this section, the date the 28 court imposes a sentence or suspends the imposition of sentence shall be treated as the 29 date of conviction. For purposes of applying (d)(2)(B) of this section, multiple 30 convictions arising out of a single criminal episode shall be treated as a single 31 conviction. 01  * Sec. 7. AS 43.23.005 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 02 (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of (a) - (c) of this section, an individual is 03 not eligible for a permanent fund dividend for a dividend year when, during the 04 qualifying year, 05 (1) the individual 06 (A) is a person required under AS 14.30.010 to be enrolled in 07 school and is 12 years of age or older; 08 (B) was adjudicated delinquent in this state for violating 09 compulsory school attendance requirements under AS 14.30.020; and 10 (C) was not homeless on the date of the violation; as used in 11 this subparagraph, "homeless" means lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate 12 nighttime residence; or 13 (2) the individual was expelled from a public elementary or secondary 14 school. 15 (j) Notwithstanding the provisions of (a) - (c) of this section, an individual is 16 not eligible for a permanent fund dividend for a dividend year when, during the 17 qualifying year, the individual is a parent, legal guardian, or person having 18 responsibility for a child who is otherwise required under AS 14.30.010 to enroll in 19 school and the child 20 (1) is less than 12 years of age and the individual was sentenced as a 21 result of conviction relating to the child of violating, or the individual's child was 22 adjudicated delinquent or otherwise found guilty of violating, the compulsory school 23 attendance requirements under AS 14.30.020; or 24 (2) was expelled from a public elementary or secondary school. 25  * Sec. 8. AS 43.23.028(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) By October 1 of each year, the commissioner shall give public notice of 27 the value of each permanent fund dividend for that year and notice of the information 28 required to be disclosed under (3) of this subsection. In addition, the stub attached to 29 each individual dividend disbursement advice must 30 (1) disclose the amount of each dividend attributable to income earned 31 by the permanent fund from deposits to that fund required under art. IX, sec. 15, 01 Constitution of the State of Alaska; 02 (2) disclose the amount of each dividend attributable to income earned 03 by the permanent fund from appropriations to that fund and from amounts added to 04 that fund to offset the effects of inflation; 05 (3) disclose the amount by which each dividend has been reduced due 06 to each appropriation from the dividend fund, including amounts to pay the costs of 07 administering the dividend program and the hold harmless provisions of 08 AS 43.23.075; 09 (4) include a statement that an individual is not eligible for a dividend 10 when,  11 (A) during the qualifying year, the individual was convicted of 12 a felony; 13 (B) during all or part of the qualifying year, the individual was 14 incarcerated as a result of the conviction of a 15 (i) felony; or 16 (ii) misdemeanor if the individual has been convicted of 17 a prior felony or two or more prior misdemeanors; 18 (C) during the qualifying year, the individual is a child who  19 is disqualified under AS 43.23.005(i);  20 (D) during the qualifying year, the individual was a parent,  21 guardian, or person having responsibility for a child and the individual is  22 disqualified under AS 43.23.005(j); 23 (5) include a statement that the legislative purpose for making 24 individuals listed under 4(A) and (B) [(4)] of this subsection ineligible is to 25 (A) obtain reimbursement for some of the costs imposed on the 26 state criminal justice system related to incarceration or probation of those 27 individuals; 28 (B) provide funds for services for and payments to crime 29 victims and for grants for the operation of domestic violence and sexual assault 30 programs; 31 (6) disclose the total amount that would have been paid during the 01 previous fiscal year to individuals who were ineligible to receive dividends under 02 AS 43.23.005(d) if they had been eligible; 03 (7) disclose the total amount appropriated for the current fiscal year 04 under (b) of this section for each of the funds and agencies listed in (b) of this section. 05  * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 06 read: 07 APPLICABILITY. The amendments to AS 43.23.005 made by secs. 6 and 7 of this 08 Act apply only to individuals 09 (1) convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for, violating AS 14.30.010, as 10 amended by secs. 1 - 3 of this Act, after December 31, 2006, except that a conviction or 11 adjudication before December 31, 2006, may disqualify a parent, legal guardian, or person 12 having responsibility for a child under AS 43.23.005(j), added by sec. 7 of this Act, if a 13 subsequent conviction or adjudication occurs after December 31, 2006; or 14 (2) expelled from a public elementary or secondary school, or a person who 15 has the responsibility for a child who is expelled from a public elementary or secondary 16 school, after December 31, 2006. 17  * Sec. 10. Section 8 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2007.