SB 266: "An Act relating to standards-based assessments; relating to correspondence study programs; relating to student fund accounts for correspondence study programs; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 266 01 "An Act relating to standards-based assessments; relating to correspondence study 02 programs; relating to student fund accounts for correspondence study programs; and 03 providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 14.03.016(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A local school board shall, in consultation with parents, teachers, and 07 school administrators, adopt policies to promote the involvement of parents in the 08 school district's education program. The policies must include procedures 09 (1) [RECOGNIZING THE AUTHORITY OF A PARENT AND 10 ALLOWING A PARENT TO OBJECT TO AND WITHDRAW THE CHILD FROM 11 A STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT OR TEST REQUIRED BY THE STATE; 12 (2)] recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to 13 object to and withdraw the child from an activity, class, or program; 14 (2) [(3)] providing for parent notification not less than two weeks
01 before any activity, class, or program that includes content involving human 02 reproduction or sexual matters is provided to a child; 03 (3) [(4)] recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to 04 withdraw the child from an activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or 05 test required by the state for a religious holiday, as defined by the parent; 06 (4) [(5)] providing a parent with an opportunity to review the content 07 of an activity, class, performance standard, or program; 08 (5) [(6)] ensuring that, when a child is absent from an activity, class, or 09 program [, OR STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT OR TEST] required by the 10 state under this section, the absence is not considered an unlawful absence under 11 AS 14.30.020 if the child's parent withdrew the child from the activity, class, or 12 program [, OR STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT OR TEST] or gave 13 permission for the child's absence. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.300 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 15 (c) The department or a district that provides a correspondence study program 16 shall submit an annual report to the department that includes 17 (1) the number of students enrolled in the program; 18 (2) the demographic information of the students enrolled in the 19 program; 20 (3) an accounting of funds disbursed from student fund accounts under 21 AS 14.03.310; 22 (4) assessment and proficiency scores of the students enrolled in the 23 program; and 24 (5) administrative costs of the program. 25 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.310 is repealed and reenacted to read: 26 Sec. 14.03.310. Student fund accounts. (a) Except as provided in (e) of this 27 section, the department or a district that provides a correspondence study program may 28 provide a student fund account to a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the 29 program for the purpose of meeting instructional expenses for the student enrolled in 30 the program as provided in this section. 31 (b) A student fund account may not be used by the district or the parent or
01 guardian of a student enrolled in the correspondence study program to supplant district 02 funds or obligations for individualized education program services. 03 (c) The board shall adopt regulations requiring the department or a district that 04 provides a correspondence study program to approve expenditures from a student fund 05 account. The regulations must 06 (1) allow the department or a district to require prior authorization of 07 the purchase of items identified in regulation; and 08 (2) require that textbooks, services, and other curriculum materials 09 (A) be approved by the department or school district that 10 provides the correspondence study program; 11 (B) be appropriate for the student; 12 (C) comply with state standards; 13 (D) comply with AS 14.03.090 and AS 14.18.060 and (e) - (g) 14 of this section. 15 (d) The department or a district that provides a student fund account shall 16 (1) annually return the unexpended balance of a student fund account 17 to the budget of the department or district; 18 (2) immediately return the unexpended balance of a student fund 19 account provided to a student to the budget of the department or district when the 20 student is no longer enrolled in the correspondence study program; 21 (3) maintain a record of approved expenditures from student fund 22 accounts; and 23 (4) implement a routine monitoring of audits and expenditures. 24 (e) A student fund account may not be used to pay for 25 (1) services provided to a student by a family member; in this 26 paragraph, "family member" means the student's spouse, guardian, parent, stepparent, 27 sibling, stepsibling, grandparent, stepgrandparent, child, uncle, or aunt; 28 (2) services or materials provided by a private or religious educational 29 institution; 30 (3) family travel, including transportation, food, lodging, or expenses 31 during the family travel, or any travel out of state, unless the department, school
01 board, or superintendent of the district approves the expenses incurred in the out-of- 02 state travel associated with direct instructional activities; in this paragraph, "family 03 travel" does not include travel in which a student is accompanied by the student's 04 family for assessments or other required activities initiated by the department or 05 district; 06 (4) annual passes or family memberships to a sports or recreational 07 facility; however, an annual pass or membership for a student may be purchased for 08 entry into a sports or recreational facility in which the student is provided lessons 09 under the student's individual learning plan if the cost of the pass or membership is 10 prorated to include only the cost of the student's instructional time; 11 (5) fees that allow entrance to a facility in which no instruction directly 12 connected to a student's individual learning plan is given; 13 (6) religious, partisan, sectarian, or denominational textbooks or other 14 curriculum materials; 15 (7) clothing, uniforms, physical education equipment, or personal 16 items; 17 (8) pets and other animals; 18 (9) furniture; 19 (10) taxes, testing other than educational assessments required by the 20 department or district, or parking fees; 21 (11) entertainment; 22 (12) permanent items that adhere to or enhance the value of a 23 nonschool facility; or 24 (13) items that exceed the needs of the student's individual learning 25 plan under AS 14.03.300 as determined by the chief school administrator. 26 (f) A statewide correspondence study program or a parent or guardian of a 27 student enrolled in the program may use a student fund account to contract with a 28 private individual to provide tutoring in fine arts, music, or physical education if the 29 tutoring is part of the student's individual learning plan under AS 14.03.300. A 30 certificated teacher who is employed by the correspondence study program and who is 31 qualified to teach the subject or grade level has the primary responsibility to plan,
01 instruct, and evaluate the student's learning of the subject. Tutoring paid for under this 02 subsection may not be provided by a private or religious educational institution. 03 (g) Textbooks and other curriculum materials purchased with student fund 04 account funds are property of the department or district. A parent or guardian of a 05 student enrolled in the correspondence study program shall return materials that are 06 not consumables to the district when the student exits the program for any reason. 07 (h) Any unexpended balances in student fund accounts shall be included in the 08 calculation of the unreserved portion of a district's year-end fund balance in its school 09 operating fund under AS 14.17.505. 10 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.168 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 12 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present in 13 person to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 14 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 15 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 16 bylaws of the board. The report must include 17 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 18 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 19 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 20 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 21 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 22 maintain the public education system; 23 (4) a summary of implementation and utilization of the consortium 24 established under AS 14.30.800, including a review of consortium effectiveness and 25 the participation rates of districts, teachers, and students; 26 (5) the information reported to the department under 27 AS 14.03.300(c). 28 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.168, as amended by sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 29 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 30 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present in 31 person to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual
01 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 02 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 03 bylaws of the board. The report must include 04 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 05 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 06 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 07 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 08 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 09 maintain the public education system; 10 (4) the information reported to the department under 11 AS 14.03.300(c). 12 * Sec. 6. AS 14.03.300(b) is repealed. 13 * Sec. 7. Section 5 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 14 2022. 15 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in sec. 7 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under 16 AS 01.10.070(c).