Legislature(2025 - 2026)
2026-05-13 House Journal
Full Journal pdf2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2530 SB 143 The following was read the second time: CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 143(CRA) "An Act relating to the terms of office of municipal school board members; relating to the size of the city council in second class cities; and providing for an effective date." with the: Journal Page EDC RPT 7DP 2215 FN2: ZERO(EED) 2215 FN3: ZERO(CED) 2215 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2531 Amendment No. 1 was offered by Representative Coulombe: Page 1, line 1, following "Act" (title amendment): Insert "relating to ethics and budget training for school board members;" Page 1, following line 3: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Section 1. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: (a) The department shall (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state except the University of Alaska; (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college preparatory courses; (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school governing bodies and personnel; (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Family and Community Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of the members of each house; (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2532 ensure healthful and safe conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs that receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by a school district for students four and five years of age, approve an early education program provided by a school district that complies with the standards adopted by the board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5), and revoke approval of an early education program if the program does not comply with the standards adopted by the board under AS 14.07.165(a)(5); (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be licensed; (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption and costs, and final contract documents; (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor unions to develop a program to prepare students for apprenticeships or internships that will lead to employment opportunities; 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2533 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a school bus driver training course; (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent behavior; (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and (C) a process for districts to petition the department for continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); (18) establish a reading program to provide direct support for and intervention in the reading intervention programs of participating schools as described in AS 14.30.765 and 14.30.770; (19) annually convene, either in person or electronically, a panel to review and comment on the effectiveness of the programs created by the department and the regulations adopted by the board to implement AS 14.03.410, 14.03.420, AS 14.30.760 - 14.30.770, and 14.30.800; the panel (A) shall provide recommendations and guidance to the board, the department, and the legislature on how to integrate early education and reading programs created under this title with tribal compacting or programs focused on cultural education within the department; 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2534 (B) shall discuss support for reading in Alaska Native languages and other non-English languages; (C) must collectively represent the regions of the state and include teachers of grades kindergarten through three, school administrators, parents of students in grades kindergarten through three, stakeholders from Indigenous language immersion programs, representatives from early education stakeholder groups, and researchers of best practices for improving literacy performance, including best practices for instruction of Indigenous students and students whose first language is not English; (20) provide school board ethics and budgeting training to school board members who are required to receive the training under AS 14.08.041(g) and AS 14.12.045. * Sec. 2. AS 14.07.020(a), as amended by sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: (a) The department shall (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state except the University of Alaska; (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement of the public schools; the department may consult with the University of Alaska to develop secondary education requirements to improve student achievement in college preparatory courses; (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school governing bodies and personnel; (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Family and Community Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in juvenile detention facilities or juvenile treatment facilities, as those terms are defined in AS 47.12.990, in the state during the period of detention or treatment; (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; these 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2535 regulations shall be adopted by the department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of the members of each house; (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will ensure healthful and safe conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools; (8) exercise general supervision over early education programs that receive direct state or federal funding, including early education programs provided by a school district for students four and five years of age; (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be licensed; (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption and costs, and final contract documents; (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who are no longer attending school; the department may consult with businesses and labor unions to develop a program to prepare students for 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2536 apprenticeships or internships that will lead to employment opportunities; (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a school bus driver training course; (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent behavior; (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or (15); the regulations must include (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department; (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in AS 14.07.030(a)(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent increases in student proficiency on standards-based assessments in language arts and mathematics, as provided in AS 14.03.123(f)(1)(A); and (C) a process for districts to petition the department for continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(a)(14) or redirecting public school funding under AS 14.07.030(a)(15); (18) provide school board ethics and budgeting training to school board members who are required to receive the training under AS 14.08.041(g) and AS 14.12.045. * Sec. 3. AS 14.08.041 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (g) Within 30 days after beginning a term, each regional school board member shall receive training provided by the department on the topics of school board ethics and budgeting. * Sec. 4. AS 14.12 is amended by adding a new section to read: Sec. 14.12.045. Required training for school board members. Within 30 days after beginning a term, each school board member shall receive training provided by the department 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2537 on the topics of school board ethics and budgeting." Page 1, line 4: Delete "Section 1" Insert "Sec. 5" Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 2, line 11: Delete all material and insert: "* Sec. 9. Section 2 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 16, ch. 40, SLA 2022. * Sec. 10. Except as provided in sec. 9 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c)." Representative Coulombe moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 1 be adopted. Objection was heard and withdrawn. There being no further objection, Amendment No. 1 was adopted and the new title follows: CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 143(CRA) am H "An Act relating to ethics and budget training for school board members; relating to the terms of office of municipal school board members; relating to the size of the city council in second class cities; and providing for an effective date." Amendment No. 2 was offered by Representative Bynum: Page 1, line 1, following "members;" (title amendment): Insert "relating to the powers of the commissioner of education and early development; requiring borough school boards to adopt and maintain a balanced budget;" Page 1, following line 6: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Sec. 2. AS 14.14.050 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (e) The commissioner shall review an audit filed under (a) of this section to assess whether the fiscal management of the school 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2538 district is effective and responsible. After reviewing the audit, the commissioner may implement corrective measures necessary to correct fiscal management deficiencies in a school district. Before implementing a corrective measure in a school district, the commissioner shall notify the school district of the corrective measure. The school district may, within 15 days after receiving the notice, submit responsive comments or evidence to the commissioner. The commissioner shall consider evidence submitted by a school district before implementing corrective measures. * Sec. 3. AS 14.14.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: (j) A borough school board shall adopt and maintain a balanced budget." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Representative Bynum moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 2 be adopted. Representative Holland objected. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 2 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: CSSB 143(CRA) am H Second Reading Amendment No. 2 YEAS: 19 NAYS: 20 EXCUSED: 1 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Allard, Bynum, Costello, Coulombe, Elam, Johnson, Kopp, McCabe, Moore, G.Nelson, Prax, Ruffridge, Saddler, Schwanke, St. Clair, Stapp, Tomaszewski, Underwood, Vance Nays: Carrick, Dibert, Edgmon, Eischeid, Fields, Foster, Frier, Galvin, Gray, Hall, Hannan, Himschoot, Holland, Jimmie, Josephson, Mears, Mina, Schrage, Story, Stutes Excused: D.Nelson And so, Amendment No. 2 was not adopted. 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2539 Amendment No. 3 was offered by Representative Coulombe: Page 1, line 2, following "cities;" (title amendment): Insert "relating to elections for school board seats in municipalities with a population of 200,000 or more;" Page 1, following line 6: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 2. AS 29.10.200 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: (68) AS 29.20.300(a) (school board elections)." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 2, line 5: Delete "Members" Insert "In a municipality with a population of less than 200,000, members [MEMBERS]" Page 2, line 7, following "election.": Insert "A municipal school district in a municipality with a population of 200,000 or more shall provide for the election of members to the school board by election from election districts established by the municipality. A seat on a school board in a municipality with a population of 200,000 or more may not be elected by the voters at large." Representative Coulombe moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 3 be adopted. There was objection. Representative Coulombe moved and asked unanimous consent to withdraw Amendment No. 3. There being no objection, it was so ordered. Representative Kopp moved and asked unanimous consent that CSSB 143(CRA) am H be considered engrossed, advanced to third reading, and placed on final passage. 2026-05-13 House Journal Page 2540 There was objection. CSSB 143(CRA) am H will advance to third reading on the May 14 calendar.