Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
04/12/2023 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB139 | |
| HB106 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 139 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 106 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 139-CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAM FUNDING
8:00:57 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 139, "An Act relating to funding for
correspondence study programs."
8:01:19 AM
JAMES SEXTON, Staff, Representative Justin Ruffridge, Alaska
State Legislature, presented HB 139 on behalf of Representative
Ruffridge, prime sponsor, via PowerPoint, titled "House Bill 139
Correspondence Study Program Funding." He proceeded to slide 2,
titled "Correspondence Programs," which stated that Alaska
provides publicly funded homeschool options through its
correspondence programs, including options to educate children
at home, and to access state-approved curriculum, certified
teachers, and funding for materials. On slide 3, titled
"Statewide statistics," he explained that currently, there are
34 correspondence programs across Alaska serving approximately
20,000 students representing just over 15 percent of students
statewide for accessing this option, which is what many consider
to be homeschooling. He continued to slide 4, titled "Special
Needs multiplier," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• Vocational education, special education (except
intensive special education), gifted/talented
education, and bilingual/bicultural education are
block funded.
A district must file a plan with the department
indicating the special needs services that will be
provided, per AS 14.17.420 (b), to qualify for special
needs funding.
Special needs multiplier is 1.20
MR. SEXTON pointed out that currently, correspondence students
do not receive the special needs multiplier.
8:03:23 AM
MR. SEXTON explained that slide 5, titled "Funding," showed
correspondence programs currently receive 90 percent of the
Average Daily Membership (ADM) funding, and he noted it had been
adjusted over time. He briefly highlighted the bullet points on
slide 6, titled "Brick and mortar space needed for
Correspondence Programs," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• Monthly lease agreements
• Libraries
• Resource rooms
• Office space
• Rental space for testing
• Equipment, internet, set up/tear down
• IT equipment and support services
MR. SEXTON continued on slide 7, titled "Funding change under HB
139," where he clarified the bill proposed an increase to 100
percent of the ADM, and correspondence programs would also
receive the 1.20 multiplier. He recommended the committee hear
next from the invited testifiers, who could provide more context
and information on how the specific programs would be impacted.
8:05:56 AM
DEAN O'DELL, Director, Interior Distance Education of Alaska
(IDEA), provided invited testimony in support of HB 139. He
began a PowerPoint, titled "IDEA Homeschool Interior Distance
Education of Alaska Galena City School District." He proceeded
to the second slide, which highlighted the role (IDEA) has in
the public schools and about its service to Alaska. He noted he
would be sharing some of IDEA's challenges and opportunities.
8:06:50 AM
DEB MACKIE, Assistant Director, Interior Distance Education of
Alaska, as an invited testifier, joined the presentation on a
slide, titled "IDEA exists to serve Alaska students," where she
stressed IDEA's support of parents in their homeschooling
endeavors by partnering with them and providing resources, as
well as becoming a network of support. She continued onto a
slide, titled "Service to Alaska," and explained that IDEA is a
public school, and a school of choice - meaning the approximate
6,700 students choose IDEA willingly. The slide also featured a
map showing how far students are spread throughout the state.
She proceeded to a slide, titled "Service to Alaska," which
highlighted what is provided to students in each IDEA facility
in the six regions. She noted there would be more discussion on
the facilities later in the presentation.
8:09:27 AM
MR. O'DELL continued to present on a slide, titled "Challenges &
Opportunities," where he established that conversations
surrounding the education funding model have been beneficial,
specifically shedding light on the fact correspondence programs
do not receive all the multipliers in the model. He confirmed
that IDEA receives only 90 percent of the Base Student
Allocation (BSA) and currently, IDEA is working with less than
the minimum. He touched on unfunded obligations, which would be
discussed in more detail as the presentation moved along. He
continued to the next three slides, titled "Special Education,"
and explained that IDEA and other correspondence schools do not
receive special education funding from the state. Despite not
having a special needs funding factor, IDEA serves 450 special
needs students. This is an important responsibility for a very
large population of students, and IDEA provides special
education staff, pathologists, therapists, and significant
ongoing support from regular education staff.
8:14:27 AM
MR. O'DELL proceeded on the next two slides, titled "Testing
Expenses," and he pointed out the "serious difference" between
testing in a brick-and-mortar program, and testing in a
correspondence school. Testing is logistically challenging and
expensive, he said. He paraphrased the second slide titled
"Testing Expenses," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
•IDEA serves 111 communities, with dozens that have
test-age students.
•Very few local schools are still in a position to
welcome IDEA students for testing.(Staffing shortages,
for one.)
•IDEA must then also find, hire and train qualified
individuals. In some cases, our staff must travel.
Equipment will be shipped; rental agreements signed;
internet connections established.
•In larger communities, an IDEA office may be closed
for weeks to accommodate regular ed. and special ed.
testing needs. Some regions cannot accommodate the
hundreds of students during the testing window, and
need to rent large, often expensive venues. Additional
proctors will be hired and trained. Internet
connections will be established, and equipment will be
set up and torn down on a daily basis for days or
weeks.
MR. O'DELL then moved to a slide, titled "Facilities -
throughout Alaska," that highlighted what is provided in
facilities around the state. He stated it takes large
facilities to house even basic services for over 6,000 students,
and provided are libraries, offices, tech departments, special
education services and more. He noted it takes $1.3 million per
year to keep IDEA facilities open, which does not include costs
to maintain the facilities.
8:18:33 AM
MR. O'DELL continued on a slide, titled "Expected Unfunded
Obligations," where he briefly summarized components of
"Mandated Map Growth Testing," and "Alaska Reads Act."
MS. MACKIE rejoined the discussion while the next slide was
shown, titled "Our promise to Alaska..." She reiterated that
IDEA believed in all of its students and stressed the need to
serve them well.
8:21:40 AM
MR. O'DELL concluded on slide 15, titled "And a Call to Action,"
and stated "We do plead for financial relief to be able to
support these important responsibilities and these important
people - these students." He thanked the committee members for
their consideration of HB 139.
8:22:38 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD thanked the presenters for their service to
Alaska and "filling the void" during the COVID-19 pandemic and
continuing to do so.
8:23:05 AM
DOUGLAS HAYMAN, Principal, Connections Homeschool Program, gave
invited testimony on HB 139, via a PowerPoint, titled
"Connections Homeschool Correspondence Program" [hard copy
included in the committee packet]. He advanced to slide 2,
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
There are ways to verify student learning other than
state testing.
• MAPS
• Curriculum based assessments
• Quarterly grades/report cards
• Promotion rate upsilon Graduation rate
• As long as testing is an option, many homeschool
families will opt out
• 1/3 of school aged students on the Kenai Peninsula are
homeschooled. Their education needs to be funded.
MR. HYMAN noted that as long as testing is an option, many
homeschool families will opt out. He proceeded to slide 3,
titled "Expenses in Brick and Mortar vs Correspondence," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Brick and Mortar
• Facilities- high
• Utilities- high
• Staffing- high
• Activities- high
• Administration- high
• Transportation- medium
• Zero allotment to families
• Correspondence
• Facilities- low
• Utilities- low
• Staffing- low
• Activities- low
• Administration- low
• Transportation very low
• Allotment- over of total
MR. HAYMAN stated that only generalities are shown on slide 3,
but he could provide the committee with specific numbers by
district if it wished.
8:26:06 AM
MR. HAYMAN continued to slide 4, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• Allotment= $2700 per student (K-12)
• Advisors- PTR of 90/1 approximately
• Facilities; Partial Enrollment in neighborhood school
if wanted (2 classes)
• Allotments for late enrollments (Oct 10-Jan 1)
• Curriculum for "non-allotment" students so they can
earn credit
• SPED (IEP) facilitation and partnership with
neighborhood schools
• Administration.
MR. HAYMAN pointed out that Connections does not incur the "huge
costs" that IDEA had discussed. He proceeded to slide 5, which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Assessment facilitation upsilon
• AKStar upsilon
• Maps upsilon
• ACT/SAT- (partner with KPBSD High Schools) upsilon
• High level math upsilon Other reporting data upsilon
Weighted GPA calculation (not on our
transcripts) upsilon
APS Calculation (Admission Point Score) upon
request
8:30:57 AM
MR. HAYMAN concluded on slide 6, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Theoretically, what would we do if BSA increased from
90% to 100% and/or 1.2 multiplier was added?
• This is a district level decision
• My recommendations
Increase allotment (we recently raised to
$2700 k-12)
Change policy to allow for transportation
costs for parents
Provide remote Vocational Programing
Improve systems (software, financial,
delivery, information, etc.)
Increase Coop support
Support facilities for activities
MR. HAYMAN reminded the committee that this would be district
level decision making, which is outside the scope of his
expertise.
8:34:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY referred to the individual education plan
that is mandated from the federal government, and asked how much
is used on special education staff. She directed her question
to both Connections, and IDEA.
MR. HAYMAN replied that Connections' specialists, including
psychologists, are with the district. He also confirmed that
Individualized Education Plans (IEP) are written by Connections'
certified special education staff.
MR. O'DELL confirmed IDEA is responsible for the IEP and, by
law, the responsibility falls to the district of residence. In
reality, he explained it becomes a bit more complicated by the
fact IDEA is a certified school working within the boundaries of
another district.
8:38:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if a fee is paid to the district for
partial use of specialists.
MR. O'DELL replied that since IDEA does not have cooperative
agreements, everything is done through its own program, and all
specialists are IDEA's responsibility; therefore, IDEA does not
pay fees.
MR. HAYMAN replied that since Connections is part of a local
program, it is less expensive.
8:41:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY sought clarification that fees are not paid
to the district if the district is part of the cooperative
agreement, and that there is a [payment] in kind to the speech
and occupational therapists.
MR. HAYMAN replied Connections does not need a [payment] in kind
because it is part of a district that accesses a team of
psychologists and specialists, and Connections is part of "that
contributing district-wide."
MR. O'DELL stated that with the few cooperative agreements that
IDEA has, fees are not paid.
8:43:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked Mr. O'Dell if there is a school
psychologist at each of the sites to do testing, or if the
psychologists must be transported to where the testing is
needed.
MR. O'DELL confirmed IDEA does have school psychologists that
fly to each of its locations.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked Mr. Sexton, of the 34
correspondence programs, how many are statewide and have the
need for the brick-and-mortar spaces similar to IDEA's needs, as
opposed to Connections, which doesn't have the need due to being
imbedded.
MR. SEXTON replied that there are members from the Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED) present that could
address the topic.
8:44:47 AM
HEIDI TESHNER, Acting Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development, replied to Representative Himschoot that
about half are district-wide programs, and half are statewide.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked for confirmation that means about
17 are district imbedded, and 17 serve students across the
state.
MS. TESHNER affirmed that is correct.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT referred to the Alaska READS Act
funding needs that Mr. O'Dell had previously discussed, and
asked if the needs IDEA has are different from the needs of
other schools.
MS. O'DELL replied that for the most part, they are the same,
but there could be significant cost difference in the testing
expense.
8:46:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked if the allotment is set locally
or if there is there some directive on how much the allotment to
families is.
MR. O'DELL replied that IDEA sets the amount in response to
listening to stakeholders and doing as much as possible to honor
what their needs are. He stated that inflation has an impact,
and the allotment has increased the past two years including
next year. He reiterated it is within IDEA's control, but in
response to the need that is presented by its stakeholders.
MS. MACKIE added that IDEA does its best to give the largest
portion of the funding directly to the families to use for their
educational needs.
MR. HAYMAN explained that Connections is not quite parallel with
IDEA; Connections' allotment is fixed locally.
8:49:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked to understand why the allotment
to the families couldn't be reduced to cover expenses, or
provide iPads needed for testing.
MR. O'DELL replied that theoretically IDEA could, but it would
cause parents issues; everything the student needs costs money.
8:51:14 AM
MR. HAYMAN explained that Connections provides tech support for
computers and printers to families at no cost.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT stated that she had received a
resolution about changing funding to accommodate special needs
and correspondence programs that came in from seven school
districts. She asked why IDEA and Connections did not sign on
to this request.
MS. MACKIE stated she believed the said resolution is in the
appendix, and she confirmed IDEA had signed on.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT affirmed she saw a signature now, but
it did not say IDEA.
MR. HAYMAN stated he would get confirmation from his district
office and get back to the committee.
8:54:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY directed her question to IDEA, regarding
its responsibility towards any grievances or legal issues. She
also commented in regard to the levels of special education, and
if there were any intensive students.
8:55:15 AM
MR. O'DELL replied that by the time a student is in special
education it is a tier 3, and he confirmed there are currently
no students in the intensive needs program.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked Mr. O'Dell to confirm that Galena,
Alaska, is his school district of record, and if so, Galena
would be legally responsible if there was a grievance with an
individual education plan.
MR. O'DELL replied that is the "de facto situation," and the law
says the responsibility falls to the district of residence as
opposed to the district of record.
9:00:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked Mr. O'Dell if students who do not
reside in Juneau could attend Career Technical Education (CTE)
and other classes in Juneau.
MR. O'DELL replied the only way for students to attend CTE in
Juneau is to "dual enroll" with Juneau. At that point, Juneau
receives partial or all of the funding from the state of Alaska.
9:03:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY directed her next concern to DEED, in
reference to regulations for testing and screening.
MS. TESHNER replied that DEED has procured with Amplify for the
literacy screener tied to the Alaska READS Act. In response to
a follow-up question, offered her understanding that it is
computer-based screening and that she could check to verify that
at a later date. To another questions regarding connectivity,
she replied that for all of the assessment testing, DEED works
with district test coordinators to find out what the bandwidth
capabilities are.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if the correspondence programs within
the districts are included.
MS. TESHNER replied yes.
9:05:14 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD, regarding IEPs, asked whether IDEA and
Connections believe most parents are coming to the
correspondence courses because they are not getting what they
should be getting in the brick-and-mortar schools.
MR. O'DELL replied absolutely, parents come to IDEA routinely
and in many cases - mainly special education - the parents'
perception is that the child's needs are not being met.
MR. HAYMAN responded that flexibility is a key point in the
decision making to lean towards correspondence programs.
9:08:10 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked aside from getting the BSA, if any federal
or city grants are received.
MR. O'DELL responded IDEA does not get local contributions or
special education funding from the state. All schools do,
however, get some title funds from the federal government.
MR. HAYMAN replied that Connections does not get any federal
funds directly, but his district does get federal funds through
Title 1.
CO-CHAIR ALLARD asked both Mr. O'Dell and Mr. Hayman if it is an
accurate statement that they are asking for free and equitable
opportunity for all students regardless if they are in brick and
mortar or correspondence courses. She asked for confirmation on
record.
MR. O'DELL replied yes.
MR. HAYMAN replied yes.
9:11:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCORMICK asked for an explanation as to the
disparity in amounts between the two fiscal notes to HB 139.
9:12:21 AM
ELWIN BLACKWELL, School Finance Manager, School Finance and
Facilities Section, Finance and Support Services Division,
Department of Education and Early Development, explained that
there are always two fiscal notes when dealing with a foundation
program, and since DEED pays out of the public education fund,
the foundation program fiscal note shows zero. The
"capitalization" is then shown in the public education fund
fiscal note.
9:13:06 AM
MR. SEXTON pointed out that the dollar amount is listed in the
analysis portion of the DEED fiscal note [included in the
committee packet], on the second page, at the end of the first
paragraph.
9:13:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if the money goes to the district of
record, and then the district of record decides how much money
goes to the correspondence program.
MR. BLACKWELL confirmed that the funding would go only towards
the districts that have correspondence program students. He
noted the allotment is a district decision on how much the
allotment would increase, based on the increase in funding.
9:15:35 AM
CO-CHAIR ALLARD announced that HB 139 was held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB106 - Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB0106A.PDF |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB0106-Fiscal Note.PDF |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| HB106 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| IDEA Presentation 4-2023.v1.3 041023 edit.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
IDEA Presentaiton |
| HB106- House Education Hearing Request.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 106 |
| Appendix - AS 14.17.430 State Funding For Correspondence Study Letter.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
Appendix - AS 14.17.430 |
| HB 139 Fiscal Note DEED_K12 Aid to Schools as of 3.29.23.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 139 |
| HB 139 Fiscal Note_Fund Capitalization as of 3.29.23.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 139 |
| HB 139 presentation.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 139 |
| HB 139 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 139 |
| HB 139- Connections Homeschool Correspondence Program.pdf |
HEDC 4/12/2023 8:00:00 AM |
HB 139 |