SCS CSHB 57(FIN): "An Act relating to education reports; relating to charter schools; relating to student transportation funding; relating to the base student allocation; relating to wireless telecommunications devices in public schools; relating to the duties of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; establishing the Task Force on Education Funding; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 57(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to education reports; relating to charter schools; relating to student 02 transportation funding; relating to the base student allocation; relating to wireless 03 telecommunications devices in public schools; relating to the duties of the Department of 04 Labor and Workforce Development; establishing the Task Force on Education Funding; 05 and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 08 (k) The department shall collaborate with the Department of Labor and 09 Workforce Development under AS 44.31.020 to gather data on the progress of each 10 high school graduating class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary 11 education, and residency data on each student in the graduating class. The departments 12 shall gather the data every five years for 20 years after the high school graduation date 13 of the class.
01 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.250(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) A local school board shall prescribe an application procedure for the 03 establishment of a charter school in that school district. The application procedure 04 must include provisions for an academic policy committee consisting of parents of 05 students attending the school, teachers, and school employees and a proposed form for 06 a contract between a charter school and the local school board, setting out the contract 07 elements required under AS 14.03.255(c). The application procedure must allow an 08 application to be submitted at any time during a school year for the following 09 school year. A local school board shall announce the deadline to submit an 10 application for establishment of a charter school for the following school year. 11 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.255 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12 (e) A local school board may establish simplified procedures and standards for 13 a renewal of a contract in good standing, as defined by the local school board, between 14 the local school board and a charter school. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 14.09.010(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 16 (a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the 17 transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to 18 receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation 19 system for students to and from the schools within the student's transportation service 20 area. Subject to appropriation, the amount of funding provided by the state for 21 operating the student transportation system is the amount of a school district's ADM, 22 less the ADM for the district's correspondence programs during the current fiscal year, 23 multiplied by the per student amount for the school district as follows, for the school 24 years beginning July 1, 2025: 25 DISTRICT PER STUDENT AMOUNT 26 Alaska Gateway $2,529 27 Aleutians East 377 28 Anchorage 529 29 Annette Island 221 30 Bering Strait 59 31 Bristol Bay 3,247
01 Chatham 341 02 Copper River 1,928 03 Cordova 408 04 Craig 514 05 Delta/Greely 2,013 06 Denali 2,197 07 Dillingham 1,480 08 Fairbanks 992 09 Galena 309 10 Haines 761 11 Hoonah 363 12 Iditarod 257 13 Juneau 733 14 Kake 330 15 Kashunamiut 6 16 Kenai Peninsula 1,112 17 Ketchikan 883 18 Klawock 710 19 Kodiak Island 971 20 Kuspuk 794 21 Lake and Peninsula 466 22 Lower Kuskokwim 337 23 Lower Yukon 1 24 Matanuska-Susitna 1,106 25 Nenana 714 26 Nome 755 27 North Slope 1,361 28 Northwest Arctic 30 29 Pelican 88 30 Petersburg 455 31 Saint Mary's 234
01 Sitka 520 02 Skagway 44 03 Southeast Island 1,404 04 Southwest Region 726 05 Unalaska 788 06 Valdez 894 07 Wrangell 851 08 Yakutat 904 09 Yukon Flats 321 10 Yukon/Koyukuk 364 11 Yupiit 2. 12 * Sec. 5. AS 14.17.470 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 14.17.470. Base student allocation. The base student allocation is $6,660 14 [$5,960]. 15 * Sec. 6. AS 14.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 16 Article 5. Wireless Telecommunications Devices. 17 Sec. 14.33.300. Wireless telecommunications device policy. (a) Each school 18 district shall adopt a policy that regulates the possession and use of nonschool-issued 19 wireless telecommunications devices during regular school hours, including lunch and 20 passing periods. Each school district shall share this policy with parents or guardians, 21 students, volunteers, and school employees. If a school district's policy prohibits the 22 use of nonschool-issued wireless telecommunications devices, the policy must allow 23 exceptions for students to use a wireless telecommunications device for medical or 24 translation purposes, in the event of an emergency, or when a teacher or administrator 25 of the school grants permission to a student to use a wireless telecommunications 26 device for educational purposes. 27 (b) This section does not authorize a person to monitor, collect, or access 28 information related to a student's use of a wireless telecommunications device. 29 (c) In this section, "wireless telecommunications device" means any portable 30 wireless device that has the capability to provide voice, messaging, or other data 31 communication between two or more parties.
01 * Sec. 7. AS 44.31.020 is amended to read: 02 Sec. 44.31.020. Duties of department. The Department of Labor and 03 Workforce Development shall 04 (1) enforce the laws and adopt regulations under them concerning 05 employer-employee relationships, including the safety, hours of work, wages, and 06 conditions of workers, including children; 07 (2) accumulate, analyze, and report labor statistics; 08 (3) operate systems of workers' compensation and unemployment 09 insurance; 10 (4) gather data reflecting the cost of living in various locations of the 11 state upon request of the director of personnel under AS 39.27.030; 12 (5) operate the federally funded employment and training programs 13 under 29 U.S.C. 2801 - 2945 (Workforce Investment Act of 1998); 14 (6) administer the state's program of adult basic education and adopt 15 regulations to administer the program; and 16 (7) administer the programs of the Alaska Vocational Technical Center 17 and adopt regulations to administer the programs, including regulations that set rates 18 for student tuition and room and board and fees for the programs and services 19 provided by the department regarding the Alaska Vocational Technical Center; 20 (8) gather data on the progress of each high school graduating 21 class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary education, and residency 22 data on each student in the graduating class; the department shall gather the 23 data required under this paragraph every five years for 20 years after the high 24 school graduation date of each high school graduating class; the department shall 25 publish a biennial report on the data gathered under this paragraph; in this 26 paragraph, "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990. 27 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 28 read: 29 TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION FUNDING. (a) The Task Force on Education 30 Funding is established as a joint task force of the Alaska State Legislature. 31 (b) The task force shall
01 (1) analyze the state of public education funding and the current accountability 02 provisions for schools and districts in the state; 03 (2) evaluate internal and external factors leading to school absenteeism and 04 identify district and state level intervention and incentive tools relating to school absenteeism; 05 (3) analyze and make recommendations on effective policies relating to school 06 major maintenance and school construction; 07 (4) evaluate and recommend health insurance, group insurance, and ways to 08 reduce property and building insurance for public school facilities; 09 (5) make recommendations relating to public education funding and 10 accountability provisions for schools and districts in the state; and 11 (6) submit a report of findings and recommendations of the task force to the 12 senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives not later than the first day 13 of the First Regular Session of the Thirty-Fifth Alaska State Legislature and notify the 14 members of the legislature that the report is available. 15 (c) The task force consists of six members as follows: 16 (1) three members of the senate, at least one of whom is a member of the 17 minority, appointed by the president of the senate; the president of the senate shall select one 18 of the members to serve as co-chair of the task force; 19 (2) three members of the house of representatives, at least one of whom is a 20 member of the minority, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; the speaker 21 of the house of representatives shall select one of the members to serve as co-chair of the task 22 force. 23 (d) A vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original 24 selection or appointment. 25 (e) The task force shall meet at the call of the co-chairs. The task force may meet 26 between and during legislative sessions. A majority of the members of the task force 27 constitute a quorum. The task force may conduct meetings in person, telephonically, or by 28 electronic means, as directed by the co-chairs. 29 (f) The task force may request data and other information from the Department of 30 Education and Early Development. 31 (g) The legislative staff of the members of the task force shall serve as staff for the
01 task force. The task force may hire staff and contract for services necessary to carry out the 02 duties of the task force under the procedures adopted by the legislative council governing 03 procurement of services, subject to the approval of the legislative council and the legislative 04 council making funds available for that purpose. 05 (h) The task force expires on January 31, 2027. 06 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 07 read: 08 APPLICABILITY. Section 3 of this Act applies to a contract that becomes legally 09 binding on or after the effective date of this Act. 10 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect July 1, 2025.