HB 165: "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to correspondence study programs; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 165 01 "An Act relating to charter schools; relating to correspondence study programs; and 02 providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 05 Sec. 14.03.251. Charter schools established by the board. (a) The board may 06 establish a charter school in a school district under procedures established by the board 07 in regulation. The procedures must include provisions for establishment of an 08 academic policy committee consisting of parents of students attending the school, 09 teachers, and school employees. 10 (b) A local school board shall operate a charter school established by the 11 board under this section as provided in AS 14.03.255 - 14.03.290. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.310(a) is amended to read: 13 (a) Except as provided in (e) of this section, the department or a district that 14 provides a correspondence study program shall [MAY] provide an annual student
01 allotment to a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the correspondence study 02 program for the purpose of meeting instructional expenses for the student enrolled in 03 the program as provided in this section. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.310 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 05 (f) If a student enrolled in a correspondence study program is not a 06 correspondence intensive student, the annual student allotment is equal to the amount 07 calculated by 08 (1) multiplying the number obtained for the correspondence program 09 under AS 14.17.430(a)(1) by the base student allocation set out in AS 14.17.470; and 10 (2) dividing the number obtained under (1) of this subsection by the 11 ADM of the correspondence study program. 12 (g) If a student enrolled in a correspondence study program is a 13 correspondence intensive student, the annual student allotment is equal to the amount 14 calculated by multiplying the number obtained for the correspondence program under 15 (f) of this section by 11. 16 (h) In this section, "correspondence intensive student" has the meaning given 17 in AS 14.17.430(b). 18 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 15, ch. 40, SLA 2022, 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 that 18 receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by 19 a school district for students four and five years of age, approve an early education 20 program provided by a school district that complies with the standards adopted by the 21 board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5), and revoke approval of an early education program if 22 the program does not comply with the standards adopted by the board under 23 AS 14.07.165(a)(5); 24 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 25 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 26 educational attendance areas; [THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO OFFER AND 27 MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY ALASKAN THROUGH A CENTRALIZED 28 OFFICE A CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAM;] 29 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 30 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 31 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be
01 licensed; 02 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 03 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 04 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 05 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 06 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 07 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 08 and costs, and final contract documents; 09 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 10 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 11 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 12 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 13 will lead to employment opportunities; 14 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 15 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 16 school bus driver training course; 17 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 18 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 19 behavior; 20 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 21 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 22 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 23 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 24 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 25 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 26 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 27 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 28 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 29 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 30 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 31 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention;
01 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 02 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 03 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); 04 (18) establish a reading program to provide direct support for and 05 intervention in the reading intervention programs of participating schools as described 06 in AS 14.30.765 and 14.30.770; 07 (19) annually convene, either in person or electronically, a panel to 08 review and comment on the effectiveness of the programs created by the department 09 and the regulations adopted by the board to implement AS 14.03.410, 14.03.420, 10 AS 14.30.760 - 14.30.770, and 14.30.800; the panel 11 (A) shall provide recommendations and guidance to the board, 12 the department, and the legislature on how to integrate early education and 13 reading programs created under this title with tribal compacting or programs 14 focused on cultural education within the department; 15 (B) shall discuss support for reading in Alaska Native 16 languages and other non-English languages; 17 (C) must collectively represent the regions of the state and 18 include teachers of grades kindergarten through three, school administrators, 19 parents of students in grades kindergarten through three, stakeholders from 20 indigenous language immersion programs, representatives from early 21 education stakeholder groups, and researchers of best practices for improving 22 literacy performance, including best practices for instruction of indigenous 23 students and students whose first language is not English; 24 (20) offer and make available to any Alaskan through a 25 centralized office a correspondence study program if required to do so by the 26 board. 27 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 28 (a) The department shall 29 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 30 except the University of Alaska; 31 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state,
01 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 02 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 03 of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to 04 develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college 05 preparatory courses; 06 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 07 governing bodies and personnel; 08 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 09 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 10 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 11 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 12 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile 13 detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in 14 AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; 15 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 16 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 17 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 18 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 19 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 20 the members of each house; 21 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 22 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe 23 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 24 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 25 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; 26 (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs that 27 receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by 28 a school district for students four and five years of age; 29 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 30 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 31 educational attendance areas; [THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO OFFER AND
01 MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY ALASKAN THROUGH A CENTRALIZED 02 OFFICE A CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAM;] 03 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 04 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 05 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 06 licensed; 07 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 08 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 09 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 10 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 11 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 12 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 13 and costs, and final contract documents; 14 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 15 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 16 are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor 17 unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that 18 will lead to employment opportunities; 19 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 20 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 21 school bus driver training course; 22 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 23 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 24 behavior; 25 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 26 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 27 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include 28 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 29 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; 30 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 31 AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three
01 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 02 increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language 03 arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and 04 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 05 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 06 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 07 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or 08 redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); 09 (18) offer and make available to any Alaskan through a 10 centralized office a correspondence study program if required to do so by the 11 board. 12 * Sec. 6. AS 14.07.165(a), as amended by sec. 21, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 13 (a) The board shall adopt 14 (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 15 goals that are consistent with local needs; 16 (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 17 AS 14.03.125; 18 (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 19 (4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 20 state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 21 (5) regulations establishing standards for an early education program 22 provided by a school district for children who are four and five years of age; the 23 regulations must include 24 (A) standards for a locally designed, evidence-based program 25 that meets Head Start Program Performance Standards and other federal 26 standards required for early education programs to receive federal funding; 27 (B) a requirement that a teacher in charge of a program hold a 28 valid teacher certificate issued under AS 14.20 and 29 (i) have satisfactorily completed a minimum of six 30 credit hours in early childhood education or complete the minimum 31 credit hours within two years of the date the teacher's employment with
01 the early education program begins; or 02 (ii) have two or more years of experience teaching 03 kindergarten or another early education program and have completed 04 additional coursework related to reading instruction, as required by the 05 department; 06 (C) developmentally appropriate objectives for children four 07 and five years of age rather than academic standards appropriate for older 08 children; the objectives must allow school districts to adapt the content of an 09 early education program to be culturally responsive to local communities; 10 (D) accommodations for the needs of all early education 11 children and their families regardless of socioeconomic circumstances; and 12 (E) standards for day in session requirements appropriate for 13 children four and five years of age; 14 (6) regulations establishing standards for day in session requirements 15 appropriate for kindergarten students; 16 (7) regulations regarding establishment of charter schools by the 17 board. 18 * Sec. 7. AS 14.17.430 is amended to read: 19 Sec. 14.17.430. State funding for correspondence study. Except as provided 20 in AS 14.17.400(b), funding for the state centralized correspondence study program or 21 a district correspondence program, including a district that offers a statewide 22 correspondence study program, includes an allocation from the public education fund 23 in an amount calculated by 24 (1) multiplying the ADM of the correspondence program by 150 [90] 25 percent; 26 (2) multiplying the correspondence intensive student count by 11; 27 and 28 (3) adding the number obtained under (1) of this section to the 29 number obtained under (2) of this section. 30 * Sec. 8. AS 14.17.430 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 31 (b) In this section,
01 (1) "correspondence intensive student" means a special education 02 student who 03 (A) needs and receives intensive services; and 04 (B) is enrolled in the state centralized correspondence study 05 program or a district correspondence program, including a district that offers a 06 statewide correspondence study program, on the last day of the student count 07 period as described in AS 14.17.600; 08 (2) "intensive services" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.420(c). 09 * Sec. 9. Section 6 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 10 2022. 11 * Sec. 10. Except as provided in sec. 9 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2023.