HB 240: "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to public schools and school districts; relating to early education programs; relating to funding for early education programs; relating to school age eligibility; relating to reports by the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to school operating funds; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 240 01 "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; 02 relating to public schools and school districts; relating to early education programs; 03 relating to funding for early education programs; relating to school age eligibility; 04 relating to reports by the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to 05 school operating funds; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 14.03.040 is amended to read: 08 Sec. 14.03.040. Day in session. Each day within the school term is a day in 09 session except Saturdays, Sundays, and days designated as holidays by or according to 10 AS 14.03.050. A school board may approve Saturdays as a day in session. The day in 11 session in every school shall be at least four hours long, exclusive of intermissions, for 12 the first, second, and third grades and five hours, exclusive of intermissions, for [ALL 13 OTHER] grades four through 12. The commissioner may approve a shorter day in
01 session for any grade. The period of the day in session shall be devoted to the 02 instruction of pupils or to study periods for the pupils. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.060(e) is amended to read: 04 (e) In addition to the grades enumerated in (a) of this section, an elementary 05 school consists of an early education [A PRE-ELEMENTARY] program approved 06 or supervised by the department under AS 14.07.020(a)(8), including a program 07 operated by a head start agency [THE DEPARTMENT] as a head start program 08 under 42 U.S.C. 9831 - 9852c [AS 14.38.010, OR LOCATED IN A PUBLIC 09 SCHOOL FOR FEDERAL FUNDING PURPOSES. EXCEPT FOR A CHILD WITH 10 A DISABILITY WHO IS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION OR RELATED 11 SERVICES UNDER AS 14.30.180 - 14.30.350, PRE-ELEMENTARY STUDENTS 12 MAY NOT BE COUNTED IN A SCHOOL'S AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP 13 UNDER AS 14.17]. 14 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.060(e), as amended by sec. 2 of this Act, is amended to read: 15 (e) In addition to the grades enumerated in (a) of this section, an elementary 16 school consists of an early education program [APPROVED OR] supervised by the 17 department under AS 14.07.020(a)(8), including a program operated by a head start 18 agency as a head start program under 42 U.S.C. 9831 - 9852c. 19 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.078(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) The department shall provide to the legislature by February 15 of each year 21 by electronic means an annual report regarding the progress of each school and school 22 district toward high academic performance by all students. The report required under 23 this section must include 24 (1) information described under AS 14.03.120(d); 25 (2) progress of the department 26 (A) toward implementing the school accountability provisions 27 of AS 14.03.123; and 28 (B) in assisting high schools to become accredited; 29 (3) a description of the resources provided to each school and school 30 district for coordinated school improvement activities and staff training in each school 31 and school district;
01 (4) each school district's and each school's progress in aligning 02 curriculum with state education performance standards; 03 (5) a description of the efforts by the department to assist a public 04 school or district that receives a low performance designation under AS 14.03.123; 05 (6) a description of intervention efforts by each school district and 06 school for students who are not meeting state performance standards; [AND] 07 (7) the number and percentage of turnover in certificated personnel and 08 superintendents; and 09 (8) the effectiveness and participation rates of the parents as 10 teachers program established under AS 14.03.420, including measures of 11 efficiency and effectiveness that demonstrate the effects of the program on school 12 readiness. 13 * Sec. 5. AS 14.03.078(a), as amended by sec. 4 of this Act, is amended to read: 14 (a) The department shall provide to the legislature by February 15 of each year 15 by electronic means an annual report regarding the progress of each school and school 16 district toward high academic performance by all students. The report required under 17 this section must include 18 (1) information described under AS 14.03.120(d); 19 (2) progress of the department 20 (A) toward implementing the school accountability provisions 21 of AS 14.03.123; and 22 (B) in assisting high schools to become accredited; 23 (3) a description of the resources provided to each school and school 24 district for coordinated school improvement activities and staff training in each school 25 and school district; 26 (4) each school district's and each school's progress in aligning 27 curriculum with state education performance standards; 28 (5) a description of the efforts by the department to assist a public 29 school or district that receives a low performance designation under AS 14.03.123; 30 (6) a description of intervention efforts by each school district and 31 school for students who are not meeting state performance standards; and
01 (7) the number and percentage of turnover in certificated personnel and 02 superintendents [; AND 03 (8) THE EFFECTIVENESS AND PARTICIPATION RATES OF 04 THE PARENTS AS TEACHERS PROGRAM ESTABLISHED UNDER 05 AS 14.03.420, INCLUDING MEASURES OF EFFICIENCY AND 06 EFFECTIVENESS THAT DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTS OF THE PROGRAM 07 ON SCHOOL READINESS]. 08 * Sec. 6. AS 14.03.080(c) is amended to read: 09 (c) A child under school age who is at least four years of age at the 10 beginning of the school year may be admitted to a public school in the school district 11 of which the child is a resident at the discretion of the governing body of the school 12 district if the child meets minimum standards prescribed by the board evidencing that 13 the child has the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to perform satisfactorily for 14 the educational program being offered. A district's educational program must prescribe 15 that, except for students in an early education program, under school age students 16 advance through the curriculum or grade level by the following school year. A 17 governing body may delegate the authority granted under this subsection to the chief 18 school administrator of the school district. 19 * Sec. 7. AS 14.03.080(c), as amended by sec. 6 of this Act, is amended to read: 20 (c) A child under school age [WHO IS AT LEAST FOUR YEARS OF AGE 21 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR] may be admitted to a public 22 school in the school district of which the child is a resident at the discretion of the 23 governing body of the school district if the child meets minimum standards prescribed 24 by the board evidencing that the child has the mental, physical, and emotional capacity 25 to perform satisfactorily for the educational program being offered. A district's 26 educational program must prescribe that [, EXCEPT FOR STUDENTS IN AN 27 EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAM,] under school age students advance through the 28 curriculum or grade level by the following school year. A governing body may 29 delegate the authority granted under this subsection to the chief school administrator 30 of the school district. 31 * Sec. 8. AS 14.03.080 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
01 (g) A child who is five 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 kindergarten. 04 * Sec. 9. AS 14.03 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 Article 4. Early Education. 06 Sec. 14.03.410. Early education programs; grants. (a) The department shall 07 provide training and assistance to develop and improve district-wide early education 08 programs that comply with standards adopted by the board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5). 09 The department shall assess district-wide early education programs and approve 10 programs that comply with the standards adopted by the board under 11 AS 14.07.165(a)(5). The department may review an approved program at any time and 12 may revoke approval of a program if the program is not in compliance with the 13 standards adopted by the board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5). 14 (b) The department may award a grant to provide funding for a three-year 15 period for the development or improvement of a district-wide early education program 16 to a district that has not received a grant under this section, applies in a format 17 prescribed by the department, and is eligible for a grant as specified under (c) of this 18 section. Unless the legislature appropriates another amount, total grant funding 19 awarded to districts under this subsection may not exceed $3,000,000 in a fiscal year. 20 (c) The department shall rank the performance of each district in the state in 21 accordance with the accountability system and performance designations required 22 under AS 14.03.123. When approving grants under (b) of this section, the department 23 shall prioritize eligible districts with lower performance, based on the department's 24 ranking of districts under this subsection. A district is eligible for a grant if the 25 department determines an insufficient number of children in the district attend high 26 quality child care programs, including head start programs, early education programs 27 provided by a local government, and early education programs provided by child 28 development agencies, that 29 (1) meet or exceed the standards adopted by the board under 30 AS 14.07.165(a)(5); and 31 (2) would continue operating after development of a district early
01 education program. 02 (d) If the department does not approve, as provided in (a) of this section, the 03 early education program of a district awarded a grant under (b) of this section by the 04 end of the district's three-year grant period, the department may provide a one-year 05 remediation grant to allow the district one additional fiscal year to meet the early 06 education program standards adopted by the board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5). If the 07 district is unable to meet the early education program standards at the end of that fiscal 08 year, the department may, in the discretion of the commissioner, provide an additional 09 remediation grant to allow the district not more than one additional fiscal year to meet 10 the standards. Nothing in this section prohibits a district from using its own funds to 11 continue the remediation process. 12 (e) A student in an early education program may not be counted in a district's 13 ADM under AS 14.17.500 unless the department has approved the program under (a) 14 of this section. 15 (f) A grant under this section is subject to appropriation, but may not supplant 16 other early education funding available to districts. 17 (g) In this section, 18 (1) "ADM" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990; 19 (2) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990; 20 (3) "early education program" means a program, the primary function 21 of which is educational, for children who are four and five years of age and who have 22 not attended a public school kindergarten. 23 Sec. 14.03.420. Parents as teachers program. (a) The department shall 24 design and implement a statewide parents as teachers program for the benefit of 25 children who are under five years of age. The program must provide a system of early 26 childhood education that 27 (1) is evidence-based; 28 (2) involves parents; 29 (3) is consistent with available research and best practices for high 30 quality early childhood education; 31 (4) incorporates guidelines adopted by the department for early
01 learning that 02 (A) enhance school readiness; 03 (B) increase parent understanding of child development and 04 developmental milestones; 05 (C) reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect; 06 (D) increase identification of health problems and 07 developmental delays through regular screenings; 08 (E) improve child health indicators, including immunization 09 rates; and 10 (F) increase parental involvement; and 11 (5) provides for effective and efficient coordination with or expansion 12 of early education programs operating in the state, to the extent permitted by law. 13 (b) A school district shall, to the extent space is needed and available, provide 14 for the use of a room in a school at no charge to support the program established under 15 this section. 16 (c) The department shall develop and enter into local partnerships to 17 implement the program established under this section. 18 * Sec. 10. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) The department shall 20 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 21 except the University of Alaska; 22 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 23 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 24 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 25 of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 26 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 27 preparatory courses; 28 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 29 governing bodies and personnel; 30 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 31 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is
01 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 02 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 03 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile 04 detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in 05 AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; 06 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 07 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 08 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 09 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 10 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 11 the members of each house; 12 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 13 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe 14 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 15 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 16 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 17 (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs 18 [PRE-ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS] that receive direct state or federal funding, 19 including early education programs provided by a school district for students 20 four and five years of age, and approve early education programs provided by a 21 school district under AS 14.03.410(a); 22 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 23 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 24 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 25 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 26 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 27 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 28 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 29 licensed; 30 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 31 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public
01 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 02 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 03 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 04 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 05 and costs, and final contract documents; 06 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 07 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 08 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 09 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 10 will lead to employment opportunities; 11 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 12 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 13 school bus driver training course; 14 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 15 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 16 behavior; 17 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 18 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 19 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 20 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 21 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 22 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 23 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 24 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 25 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 26 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 27 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 28 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 29 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 30 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 31 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15).
01 * Sec. 11. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 10 of this Act, is amended to read: 02 (a) The department shall 03 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 04 except the University of Alaska; 05 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 06 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 07 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 08 of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 09 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 10 preparatory courses; 11 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 12 governing bodies and personnel; 13 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 14 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 15 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 16 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 17 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile 18 detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in 19 AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; 20 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 21 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 22 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 23 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 24 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 25 the members of each house; 26 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 27 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe 28 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 29 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 30 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 31 (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs that
01 receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by 02 a school district for students four and five years of age [, AND APPROVE EARLY 03 EDUCATION PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY A SCHOOL DISTRICT UNDER 04 AS 14.03.410(a)]; 05 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 06 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 07 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 08 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 09 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 10 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 11 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 12 licensed; 13 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 14 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 15 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 16 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 17 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 18 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 19 and costs, and final contract documents; 20 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 21 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 22 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 23 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 24 will lead to employment opportunities; 25 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 26 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 27 school bus driver training course; 28 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 29 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 30 behavior; 31 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance,
01 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 02 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 03 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 04 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 05 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 06 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 07 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 08 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 09 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 10 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 11 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 12 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 13 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 14 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15). 15 * Sec. 12. AS 14.07.020(c) is amended to read: 16 (c) In this section, "early education program" ["PRE-ELEMENTARY 17 SCHOOL"] means a program [SCHOOL] for children ages three through five years if 18 the program's [SCHOOL'S] primary function is educational. 19 * Sec. 13. AS 14.07.165(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) The board shall adopt 21 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 22 goals that are consistent with local needs; 23 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 24 AS 14.03.125; 25 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 26 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 27 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 28 (5) regulations establishing standards for an early education 29 program provided by a school district for children who are four and five years of 30 age; the regulations must include 31 (A) standards for a locally designed, evidence-based
01 program that meets Head Start Program Performance Standards and 02 other federal standards required for early education programs to receive 03 federal funding; 04 (B) a requirement that a teacher in charge of a program 05 hold a valid teacher certificate issued under AS 14.20 and 06 (i) have satisfactorily completed a minimum of six 07 credit hours in early childhood education or completes the 08 minimum credit hours within one year of the date the teacher's 09 employment with the early education program begins; or 10 (ii) have two or more years of experience teaching 11 kindergarten or another early education program and have 12 completed additional coursework related to reading instruction, as 13 required by the department; 14 (C) developmentally appropriate objectives for children 15 four and five years of age rather than academic standards appropriate for 16 older children; the objectives must allow school districts to adapt the 17 content of an early education program to be culturally responsive to local 18 communities; 19 (D) accommodations for the needs of all early education 20 children and their families regardless of socioeconomic circumstances; 21 and 22 (E) standards for day in session requirements appropriate 23 for children four and five years of age; 24 (6) regulations establishing standards for day in session 25 requirements appropriate for kindergarten students [REPEALED]. 26 * Sec. 14. AS 14.17.500 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 27 (d) Except as provided in (e) and (f) of this section, a student in a district-wide 28 early education program provided by a school district and approved by the department 29 under AS 14.07.020(a)(8) is counted as one-half of a full-time equivalent student. 30 (e) A school district may not include in a school's ADM students who are four 31 and five years of age if the students are enrolled in an early education program that
01 receives state or federal funding other than funding under this chapter. 02 (f) A school district may not include in a school's ADM students who are four 03 and five years of age if inclusion of the students would result in an increase of total 04 state aid attributable to district-wide early education programs approved under 05 AS 14.03.410 of more than $3,000,000 from the previous fiscal year. The department 06 shall prioritize the funding of district-wide early education programs, giving priority to 07 school districts with lower performance, based on the department's ranking of districts 08 under AS 14.03.410(c). When the number of students in a district-wide early 09 education program will result in an increase of total state aid attributable to district- 10 wide early education programs approved under AS 14.03.410 of more than $3,000,000 11 from the previous fiscal year, the department may identify the amount, up to 12 $3,000,000, available for the district's district-wide early education program. 13 * Sec. 15. AS 14.17.500(d), enacted by sec. 14 of this Act, is amended to read: 14 (d) A school district may not include in the school's ADM [EXCEPT AS 15 PROVIDED IN (e) AND (f) OF THIS SECTION,] a student in a district-wide early 16 education program provided by the [A SCHOOL] district [AND APPROVED BY 17 THE DEPARTMENT UNDER AS 14.07.020(a)(8) IS COUNTED AS ONE-HALF 18 OF A FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENT]. 19 * Sec. 16. AS 14.17.505 is amended to read: 20 Sec. 14.17.505. Fund balance in school operating fund. (a) A district may 21 not accumulate in a fiscal year an unreserved portion of its year-end fund balance in its 22 school operating fund, as defined by department regulations, that is greater than 25 23 [10] percent of its expenditures for that fiscal year, unless the department approves 24 a district plan to use the fund balance that is greater than 25 percent of its 25 expenditures for that fiscal year. 26 (b) The department shall review each district's annual audit under 27 AS 14.14.050 for the preceding fiscal year to ascertain its year-end operating fund 28 balance. The amount by which the unreserved portion of that balance exceeds the 29 amount permitted in (a) of this section, or (c) of this section if the district is eligible, 30 shall be deducted from the state aid that would otherwise be paid to the district in the 31 current fiscal year.
01 * Sec. 17. AS 14.17.505 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 02 (c) The department may approve a plan to allow a district to accumulate funds 03 greater than 25 percent of the district's expenditures for that fiscal year if 04 (1) the excess funds are not the result of reduced direct instruction 05 costs; 06 (2) the department determines that the district has requested a 07 reasonable period of time to use the excess funds; and 08 (3) the department determines that the proposed use of the excess 09 funds will cause meaningful improvement to student education outcomes. 10 * Sec. 18. AS 14.17.905(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the determination of the number of schools in 12 a district is subject to the following: 13 (1) a community with an ADM of at least 10, but not more than 100, 14 shall be counted as one school; 15 (2) a community with an ADM of at least 101, but not more than 425, 16 shall be counted as 17 (A) one elementary school, which includes those students in 18 grades kindergarten through six and, except as provided in AS 14.17.500, in 19 an early education program provided by a school district and approved by 20 the department under AS 14.07.020(a)(8); and 21 (B) one secondary school, which includes students in grades 22 seven through 12; 23 (3) in a community with an ADM of greater than 425, each facility that 24 is administered as a separate school shall be counted as one school, except that each 25 alternative school with an ADM of less than 175 shall be counted as a part of the 26 school in the district with the highest ADM. 27 * Sec. 19. AS 14.17.905(a), as amended by sec. 18 of this Act, is amended to read: 28 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the determination of the number of schools in 29 a district is subject to the following: 30 (1) a community with an ADM of at least 10, but not more than 100, 31 shall be counted as one school;
01 (2) a community with an ADM of at least 101, but not more than 425, 02 shall be counted as 03 (A) one elementary school, which includes those students in 04 grades kindergarten through six [AND, EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN 05 AS 14.17.500, IN AN EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAM PROVIDED BY A 06 SCHOOL DISTRICT AND APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNDER 07 AS 14.07.020(a)(8)]; and 08 (B) one secondary school, which includes students in grades 09 seven through 12; 10 (3) in a community with an ADM of greater than 425, each facility that 11 is administered as a separate school shall be counted as one school, except that each 12 alternative school with an ADM of less than 175 shall be counted as a part of the 13 school in the district with the highest ADM. 14 * Sec. 20. AS 14.60.010 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 15 (9) "culturally responsive" means showing respect for and recognition 16 of the traditions, beliefs, languages, values, and practices of the local culture that has 17 historically been present in the geographic area being served. 18 * Sec. 21. AS 47.17.290(12) is amended to read: 19 (12) "organization" means a group or entity that provides care and 20 supervision for compensation to a child not related to the caregiver, and includes a 21 child care facility, pre-elementary school, early education program, head start 22 center, child foster home, residential child care facility, recreation program, children's 23 camp, and children's club; 24 * Sec. 22. AS 14.03.080(d) is repealed. 25 * Sec. 23. AS 14.03.410, 14.03.420; AS 14.17.500(e), and 14.17.500(f) are repealed. 26 * Sec. 24. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27 read: 28 REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE. Not later than the thirtieth day of the First 29 Regular Session of the Thirty-Eighth Alaska State Legislature, the Department of Education 30 and Early Development shall prepare and present to the legislative committees having 31 jurisdiction over education a report evaluating the early education program and the parents as
01 teachers program established under this Act. The report must include 02 (1) data analysis conducted by an independent contractor evaluating the 03 success of each program, including 04 (A) statistics measuring the effectiveness of each program in 05 accomplishing the program mission; 06 (B) the cost-effectiveness of each program; and 07 (2) recommendations from the Department of Education and Early 08 Development addressing whether to extend, expand, contract, or repeal each program. 09 * Sec. 25. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 TRANSITION. The number of district-wide early education programs that the 12 department approves under AS 14.03.410 in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, may not 13 result in more than $3,000,000 of total state aid attributable to early education programs. In 14 the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, the number of district-wide early education programs 15 that the department approves may not result in an increase from the previous fiscal year of 16 more than $3,000,000 of total state aid attributable to early education programs. 17 * Sec. 26. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 18 read: 19 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Education and Early 20 Development and the state Board of Education and Early Development may adopt regulations 21 necessary to implement the changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect under 22 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but a regulation may not take effect before the 23 effective date of the relevant provision of this Act implemented by the regulation. 24 * Sec. 27. Sections 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 15, 19, and 23 of this Act take effect June 30, 2034. 25 * Sec. 28. Except as provided in sec. 27 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2022.