HB 52: "An Act relating to providing a pre-elementary program within a school district; and providing for the certification of early childhood education plans."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 52 01 "An Act relating to providing a pre-elementary program within a school district; and 02 providing for the certification of early childhood education plans." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.03.060(e) is amended to read: 05 (e) In addition to the grades enumerated in (a) of this section, an elementary 06 school consists of a pre-elementary program supervised by the department under 07 AS 14.07.020(a)(8), operated by the department as a head start program under 08 AS 14.38.010, provided by a school district for students three through five years 09 of age, or located in a public school [FOR FEDERAL FUNDING PURPOSES. 10 EXCEPT FOR A CHILD WITH A DISABILITY WHO IS RECEIVING SPECIAL 11 EDUCATION OR RELATED SERVICES UNDER AS 14.30.180 - 14.30.350, PRE- 12 ELEMENTARY STUDENTS MAY NOT BE COUNTED IN A SCHOOL'S 13 AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP UNDER AS 14.17]. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
01 (g) A child who is three years of age on or before September 1 following the 02 beginning of the school year and who is under school age may enter a public school 03 pre-elementary program. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.020(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) In this section, "pre-elementary school" means a school for children 06 [AGES] three through five years of age if the school's primary function is educational, 07 and a pre-elementary program that is provided by a school district. 08 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.165(a) is amended to read: 09 (a) The board shall adopt 10 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 11 goals that are consistent with local needs; 12 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 13 AS 14.03.125; 14 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 15 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 16 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 17 (5) regulations for the certification and implementation of a 18 statewide plan to establish an effective means for providing early childhood 19 education using the model curriculum developed by the department under 20 AS 14.07.030(13); the plan must provide for a cost-efficient alternative to a pre- 21 elementary program provided by a school district under AS 14.17.905(a)(2)(A) 22 [REPEALED]. 23 * Sec. 5. AS 14.17.905(a) is amended to read: 24 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the determination of the number of schools in 25 a district is subject to the following: 26 (1) a community with an ADM of at least 10, but not more than 100, 27 shall be counted as one school; 28 (2) a community with an ADM of at least 101, but not more than 425, 29 shall be counted as 30 (A) one elementary school, which includes those students in 31 grades kindergarten through six, and, except as provided in (c) of this
01 section, a pre-elementary program provided by a school district for 02 students three through five years of age; and 03 (B) one secondary school, which includes students in grades 04 seven through 12; 05 (3) in a community with an ADM of greater than 425, each facility that 06 is administered as a separate school shall be counted as one school, except that each 07 alternative school with an ADM of less than 175 shall be counted as a part of the 08 school in the district with the highest ADM. 09 * Sec. 6. AS 14.17.905 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10 (c) A school district may not include in the average daily membership of a 11 school students who are three through five years of age if the students are enrolled in a 12 program that 13 (1) complies with a statewide plan for implementing the model 14 curriculum for early childhood education under AS 14.07.165(5); and 15 (2) receives funding other than funding under this chapter.