HB 98: "An Act relating to a maximum pupil-teacher ratio in public schools; relating to the duties of school districts and governing bodies of school districts; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 98 01 "An Act relating to a maximum pupil-teacher ratio in public schools; relating to the 02 duties of school districts and governing bodies of school districts; and providing for an 03 effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.03.065. Maximum effective class size. (a) Except for an art, library, 07 music, computer science, vocational-technical, honors-level, or physical education 08 course, the ratio of pupils to a teacher in a classroom in a public school may not 09 exceed 24 to one for grades kindergarten through three, 26 to one for grades four 10 through eight, and 28 to one for grades nine through 12. 11 (b) The pupil-teacher ratio required under this section does not apply 12 (1) during a fiscal year in which the governing body of a district 13 determines in writing that the legislature has not appropriated sufficient money to the 14 district to implement the requirements of this section; a decision of a governing body
01 under this paragraph is final and may not be appealed to the superior court; 02 (2) if the governing body of a district determines in writing that 03 compliance with the ratios under (a) of this section would hinder the ability of the 04 district to best educate its pupils, given available funding; or 05 (3) in a district with an average daily membership of 40,000 or fewer 06 students. 07 (c) A district shall, by February 1 of each year, provide notice to the public of 08 the average number of students in each classroom across each grade level at each 09 school in the district for the current school year on the district's Internet website. 10 (d) In this section, 11 (1) "average daily membership" has the meaning given in 12 AS 14.17.990; 13 (2) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990; 14 (3) "teacher" means a person who is certificated under AS 14.20.020 15 and who is a classroom teacher in a regular instructional program. 16 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 17 (k) A district shall, by February 1 of each year, report to the department the 18 district's ratio of pupils to a teacher in each grade for the current school year. The 19 district shall calculate the ratio using the average of the daily ratio taken over the same 20 period in October that is used to determine average daily membership under 21 AS 14.17.600 for the district. 22 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 23 read: 24 TRANSITION: RATIOS. Before July 1, 2028, notwithstanding AS 14.03.065, 25 enacted by sec. 1 of this Act, the ratio of pupils to a teacher in a class may be higher than the 26 ratio required under AS 14.03.065, enacted by sec. 1 of this Act, if the actual number of 27 pupils in the present classroom has declined by two or more when compared to pupils in the 28 same classroom and grade in the previous school year. 29 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect July 1, 2025.