Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/18/2001 08:12 AM House EDU
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 239-VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM CHAIR BUNDE announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 239, "An Act establishing a pilot program for a regional learning center." Number 1006 LARRY LaBOLLE, Staff to Representative Richard Foster, Alaska State Legislature, came forth on behalf of the sponsor of HB 239. He stated that along with the sponsor statement, [the committee] should have received a letter from Dr. John Davis, superintendent of the Being Strait School District, who has been working with the community of Nome on the idea of developing a regional learning center utilizing the Nome Beltz Complex. This is a large vocational complex that was built by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and is operated as a vocational boarding school. He stated that the impetus of this came out of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee hearings that were held last summer, which looked at education in Alaska. Part of their finding was that there is a lot of interest in developing specialized regional schools. The interest in Nome seemed to develop at that time, and there have been contacts between the school district and the City of Nome. The City of Nome has also come out in support of the concept and is currently seeking money from the federal level for a pilot program and would like recognition. CHAIR BUNDE asked how this bill would relate to the attempt to eliminate boarding schools during the Molly Hootch era. MR. LaBOLLE responded that he was an administrator in state- operated schools when the program [originally] was in operation. He stated that there were supervision problems and problems with students who were not ready to be away from home. These are issues that still need to be dealt with; however, he said when he looked at the complex, he saw tremendous potential to run a program similar to the concepts that Dr. Davis has brought forward. The vocational facilities are there; life skills could be taught, [in part] because there is a swimming pool; and there is the opportunity for students to go into the community in work-study programs. These would provide opportunities that are not available in small villages. He added that he does not think it is the answer for everybody. For example, if there are only two high school students in Diomede and one goes to Nome for a year, the high school population is cut by 50 percent. CHAIR BUNDE stated that he is personally acquainted with Native leaders who had the opportunity to gain immensely from a larger school and network with other people throughout the state. Number 1254 REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if this would be a boarding school or a regional learning center where people would go for a short amount of time, similar to Chugach School District's Anchorage House. MR. LaBOLLE responded that he has conceptualized that there would be a flexible schedule at Beltz with block scheduling. Students would be able to come in for a nine-weeks' block and have a concentrated course such as welding plus core courses. He explained that from a management standpoint there is no reason why there couldn't be blocks of time that would extend over one year if a student were in an aircraft [concentration]; one semester if a student were dealing with welding; or possibly nine weeks if a student were studying home economics. He added that if students coming out of the program are to be ready for an apprentice program, there would need to be longer blocks of time with more concentration. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if it would be nine weeks to a year for grades 9 through 12. MR. LaBOLLE answered, yes. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS stated that one of her concerns is on page 2, line 2, where it specifies three things that need to be established. She said she doesn't see anything that deals with the reading, writing, and mathematics standards. She said she would be more comfortable if there were discussion of high school curricula or essential skills. MR. LaBOLLE responded that the districts already have their curriculum and graduation requirements. Any student who goes to this program will have to complete all of the graduation requirements of his or her school district. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if [those requirements] will be taught at the regional center. MR. LaBOLLE answered yes, because Beltz High School is there. For example, the carpentry program that was taught when he was superintendent there was a half-day, two-year course. Number 1458 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN stated that page 2, Section 2, mentions an effective date beginning July 1, 2001, and ending June 30, 2005, and an enrollment of at least 1,750 but no more than 2,000. He asked if there is assurance of funding and that there will be that many [students enrolled]. He also asked if this would work if there were less than 1,750 [students]. MR. LaBOLLE responded that this is the size the REAA [Regional Educational Attendance Area] school district must fall within in order to avoid special-interest legislation. He stated that the Bering Strait School District falls within that size category. He added that the number of students probably gives some idea of the core that they have to draw from in terms of funds, students, and the interest in the program. For many years Bering Strait brought students into Nome for special instruction; they were housed in the community for periods of time and had blocks of studies dealing with vocational programs. CHAIR BUNDE inquired about Mr. LaBolle's mention of a 50 percent change in the high school population. MR. LaBOLLE replied that his assumption would be that the money would follow the students. He said part of why this needs to be worked out carefully as a pilot program is because those are issues that need to be addressed. Number 1589 REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS asked what vocational education would be available. MR. LaBOLLE responded that the complex was built to deal with automotive skills, carpentry, home economics, and welding. In the area of business education, early word processing programs were put in place. He said he couldn't tell what is in place today. Number 1651 JOHN DAVIS, Ph.D., Superintendent, Bering Strait School District, testified via teleconference. He stated that [the Bering Strait School District] sees this program as one that would grow over the course of the years, and does not consider it primarily a boarding program but a house program. This would be an effort to supplement current high school programs found in the Bering Strait School District and the Nome School District. Each of the districts has had to pare back its programming over the course of years because of funding. He stated that [these districts] want to meld the available resources in the Nome Beltz facility and the large number of students the two districts have combined by adding additional programs. At this time the Bering Strait School District would not only be in charge of supervising the students but educating the students, whether they be in the Bering Strait schools or in this facility. The Nome School District would maintain control and supervision of its students as well. He stated that the issue of where the money does or does not go could be answered quickly. The program would be expected to be supported by the current ADM (average daily membership) funding; however, there would need to be help with the boarding and traveling portion of the program. DR. DAVIS stated that [this program], hopefully, will provide an opportunity for students to become more interested and engaged in careers that are traditionally not seen as true vocational programs, such as health care, education, aviation, and law enforcement. He said this program is seen as servicing students who are deemed successful in completing their core programs and moving toward successful completion of the High School Competency Exam. Those [core] programs will be offered primarily in [the students'] home site; however they will be supplemented when the students are visiting the Nome facility. He added that he does not see the Nome facility housing 1,700 [students] at a particular time, but believes it will start much smaller. Hopefully, the program will grow to ultimately serve an apprentice-style program. Number 1801 MARY KNODEL, City Council Member, City of Nome, testified via teleconference in favor of HB 239. She stated: The City of Nome ... participated in the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee's Regional Learning Center discussions last summer while they were here in Nome. At that time we discussed the merits of a regional learning center concept and how Nome could help accomplish a successful program. The City of Nome has discussed a Regional Learning Center pilot with [U.S.] Senator Stevens for the past three years. As recently as two weeks ago, during Senator Stevens visit to Nome for our 100th birthday celebration, we informed Senator Stevens of HB 239 and its possible impacts to Nome. Senator Stevens is looking to the state to support operations of a regional learning center. The senator has indicated to us he is excited about the pilot project bill and is waiting on state actions. The City of Nome, the Nome Public School District, and the Bering Strait School District have presented a conceptual plan for a regional learning center to Senator Stevens. Dr. Davis has spoken about our partnership. Nome has the facilities to assist with the successful development of this pilot project. There are a number of things that we see as important to this region. One would be that helping those who have not yet completed their high school education be able to commute to Nome for short periods of time to pick up or complete a particular or specialized course. Maybe they need a [trigonometry] course that can't be offered at Little Diomede. ... Also, it would help those young adults - hopefully with creation of grades 13 and 14 - who are 17 years [old] to 20 years old who have completed their high school education but haven't decided on a career. Maybe it will help to bring them to do some career development and maybe find a direction for them to go on in the vocational area here [or] maybe elsewhere in the state and beyond that. It will also ... create employment of all the people in this region with jobs that are in our region, especially in the fields of health care. Norton Sound Health Corporation employs over 450 people in this region, most of which are not from this region. We need to fill those jobs with people from our area. The other area is education. We need teachers from our area to teach our own children. We need troopers and [village public safety officers] who are from this area, along with the trades people, to help keep our villages, our schools, our cities operating and running. I think one of the other things ... [is] since Nome is the hub for this region, it will help to bring people in at a younger age to get to know the kids in Nome and the community of Nome, take them out of a small environment and bring them into a little bit larger environment, [making] the transition a little bit easier. It will also help the people in Nome to understand the people in the smaller villages. Number 1948 LAVERNE SMITH, City Council Member, City of Nome, testified via teleconference. She stated that she is employed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the Northwest Campus. She said she is also a program director for the Workforce Investment Act and the Communities Schools Program. She explained that she helps with job writing and skill training and brings youths from the different villages into Nome to do job shadowing with Nome businesses to participate with on-campus activities. She stated that one of the things that would happen with this program is that students would get the opportunity to participate in a swimming program. SHARON SWOPE, Ph.D., Interim Superintendent, Nome City School District, testified via teleconference. She stated that it is [the Nome City School District's] position, through the joint approval of this conceptual plan, that it is a good example of collaborative partnership not only between the school districts, but also among Native organizations, the economic development commission, the northwest campus, and the city government. This is an attempt to seek a solution to a complex rural problem, and it is [the Nome City School District's] position that this pilot program should move in that direction. She stated that targeting a specific population of the last two years of public education through the first two years of adulthood serves a particular group of students by transitioning them from a kind of "lost" point to a successful point. BOB MEDINGER, Teacher and Administrator, Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), testified via teleconference. He stated that he is currently the site administrator of the Bethel Alternative Boarding School, which is a small regional boarding Vo-Tech (vocational technical) school. He said that he does have some concerns with some of the language of the bill. Page 1, line 12, references a pilot project utilizing existing facilities at former vocational education centers. He would prefer to have that language deleted because currently, as the bill is written, it is not allowing other areas of the state to participate in this program. On page 2, lines 7, 8, and 9, it references an average daily membership between 1,750 and 2,000. Actually, he said, no one else in the state would be able to fill that bill except the Nome region. He would like to see that number increased to an average daily membership of 4,000 that would then give the entire rest of rural Alaska an opportunity to participate in this pilot program. MR. MEDINGER stated: Just to give you some additional information that would be in support of our area going for that, we do have an area in the delta of 28,000 people - 56 villages out here. And within our school, ... although I served 60 kids this year, we've had 260 applicants since we opened. ... We put a great little program together, but we're really on the edge of being able to show any kind of expansion or even maintain our program. However, we've also had tremendous partnering and expansion plans and have been moving toward a new school ... [known] as People's Learning Center. We have been also in contact with [U.S.] Senator Stevens and have a tremendous partnership that's been built with the regional health corporation, the Kuskokwim campus of the university, [and] the regional tribal profit and nonprofit organizations. Basically, all of the organizations out here are in desperate need for Vo- Tech training for our people. Number 2229 JANELLE VANASSE, Lower Kuskokwim School District, testified via teleconference. She stated that she is in favor of the bill but has some of the same concerns as Mr. Medinger. She said she is not in favor of how narrow the focus is of the bill, pointing directly at Nome. It was earlier mentioned that the ADM line was placed in the bill to avoid special-interest [legislation]; however, she said she would argue that it does just the opposite. It places the pilot program in Nome, with no consideration of the possible value of a pilot program in another area of Alaska. There are several rural Alaska areas that have been investigating the merit of regionally serving vocational learning centers. Many of those regions have gone through a process of developing a plan and have pulled together some programs. She stated that she would argue that they deserve some consideration. TAPE 01-27, SIDE A MS. VANASSE continued, stating that program initiatives are already happening in Bethel and for the Yukon River Delta region. She said she would argue that other programs need to be considered as a pilot program if HB 239 is to go forward. She added that Bethel also has the jobs and initiatives going on in the construction trade, early childhood, health care, and aviation fields. Number 0127 REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if Bruce Johnson or Eddie Jeans from the Department of Education and Early Development (EED) could tell the committee how many districts fall into the 1,750 to 2,000 ADM. EDDIE JEANS, Manager, School Finance and Facilities Section, Education Support Services, Department of Education and Early Development, came forth and stated that the regional education attendance area that had an ADM of 1,750 but less than 2,000 in fiscal year 2000 was the Bering Strait School District. Therefore, this bill would require that the pilot program operate within the boundaries of the Bering Strait School District, which Nome deals with. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS stated that she was surprised to see no fiscal note. MR. JEANS responded that the reason there is no fiscal note is because "we're" just now learning what the intent of the bill is. There will be a fiscal note forthcoming. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS stated that there is no evaluation of the pilot program in the bill. Number 0330 MR. LaBOLLE replied that the reason that is not brought into the bill is because as [the EED] and the districts themselves draw up the working agreement, that would come out of the document that is developed to guide the program. He added that this is very much at the conceptual stage. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS stated that she thinks the concept is great, but the bill seems to be nebulous. She said Bethel has this, Chugach has a house project, and Kotzebue has thought about this. She asked, if districts seem to already be doing this, why this needs to be put in statute. MR. LaBOLLE responded that the programs she mentioned are run within the confines of one school district; this is two school districts. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS remarked that it sounds like a memorandum of understanding agreement between two school districts. He asked why something would need to be put into statute for two school districts to work together. Number 0501 MR. LaBOLLE stated that the districts would like some formal recognition from the [EED], and with that there will probably be some oversight. The reason the bill is nebulous, he said, is because when he requested that a bill be drafted, it was difficult for the drafters to sort out what was being done. Therefore, after many cutbacks, it is now just a directive to the department to recognize a pilot program. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if there is nothing right now stopping Nome and Bering Strait from working together, and whether this would just be a recognition from the state, with some role that is to be determined by the [EED]. MR. LaBOLLE responded that his interpretation is that the districts could move forward despite this. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked, if federal funds are not available for such a project, how this is going to be funded. MR. LaBOLLE answered that the districts are currently operating programs and would use existing funds. Nome also has had a grant for a facility upgrade of $5,269,000 from the legislature in past years, and has also passed a bond for $2,260,000 - its match to the project. Those funds are available for working on the facilities. He added that the federal funds would not be the only source of funding. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if the district that would be administering this would be Nome or Bering Strait. MR. LaBOLLE responded that he would visualize it as being a sharing of responsibility and administration by the two school districts. For example, he said he thinks the graduation requirements would be the districts' responsibility. [As far as the administration of the Regional Learning Center], the dormitories would be administered by Bering Strait, and the classroom buildings would be administered by the City of Nome. REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if there would, then, be no administration oversight, by the EED or the State Board of Education. MR. LaBOLLE answered that he thinks if it is a pilot project there will be some oversight but not by the administrators of the complex. [HB 239 was held over.]
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