HB 183-EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS  8:12:31 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 183, "An Act relating to district-wide early education programs; and providing for an effective date." 8:12:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE ANDI STORY, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, presented HB 183 to the committee. She briefly remarked the importance of pre-kindergarten education and welcomed invited testifiers to speak on the proposed legislation. 8:14:11 AM JOSHUA COUGHRAN, Superintendent, Skagway School District, gave invited testimony on HB 183. He said that he wanted to see the opposite of a "top down approach" to public education and said that the Skagway School District (SSD) is a good example of that. He explained how the pre-kindergarten programs in his school district positively benefit its students and said that he is "fortunate to live in a community" that supports and allows for pre-kindergarten education as a common opportunity for all students. 8:18:31 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked Mr. Coughran if his school district administered full day pre-kindergarten instruction. MR. COUGHRAN answered that pre-kindergarten education in the SSD district was delivered in a half day format. 8:19:25 AM CO-CHAIR STORY asked Mr. Coughran to elaborate further on his school district's budgeting for its pre-kindergarten program and asked what about the Alaska Reads Act of 2022 makes pre- kindergarten education "tedious." MR. COUGHRAN answered that the SSD put in an application for the 25 Average Daily Membership (ADM) funding after learning from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) that some deal of the funding it had been utilizing was illegal and explained that the SSD does not have a federal head start program, which has made the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act policies difficult. 8:24:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked Mr. Coughran how the SSD has been able to fund its pre-kindergarten program for the past 20 years. MR. COUGHRAN answered that his school district's pre- kindergarten program was fully funded by the Municipality of Skagway until 2024. He emphasized how the SSD was put in a difficult position by changes to how special revenue funding was to be utilized. 8:28:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked how the SSD distributed staff and class time to its pre-kindergarten program. MR. COUGHRAN explained that the SSD is a single-site school district and said that it has never gone over 12 or 13 total students in a graduating class. 8:31:11 AM REPRESENTATIVE DIBERT asked Mr. Coughran how long the SSD has hosted its pre-kindergarten program and asked if there is a waitlist for the program. MR. COUGHRAN explained that the SSD has offered pre-kindergarten curriculum for over 20 years and said that there is no waitlist for it. 8:37:59 AM REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked Mr. Coughran for his estimation of how many hours were spent on the creation of his school districts pre-kindergarten funding application. MR. COUGHRAN replied that it took probably 200 hours between him and his Alaska Reads Act coordinator. 8:40:15 AM REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked about the landscape of daycare and early childcare in Skagway. MR. COUGHRAN said that the daycare situation in Skagway is "pretty bleak" and explained that the seasonal nature of the Skagway's populous has a great impact on the needs of the community. 8:44:19 AM CYNDY FRY, Special Education Director, Petersburg School District, gave invited testimony on HB 183. She read from a prepared statement on behalf of Heather Kahn, which described her experience working in special education and how that career brought her home to the Petersburg School District (PSG). The statement detailed the 17 head start programs that currently exist in Alaska and outlined how the PSG benefits from Alaska Reads Act grants. The statement emphasized the need for a full ADM of preschool students in Alaska and detailed how an early learning program would address physical wellbeing, social & emotional development, different approaches to learning, general knowledge & cognition, communication, language, and literacy in Alaska's early education students. 8:50:`49 AM REPRESENTATIVE DIBERT asked about the early learning landscape in Petersburg. MS. FRY answered that Petersburg needs a more holistic early learning program and said that the PSG is "extremely thankful" that its early learning programs were available to its students. 8:54:37 AM REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked why the application for Alaska Reads Act funding is so arduous and asked if there could be any way to reduce the amount of man hours spend writing that application. 8:55:50 AM DEBORAH RIDDLE, Operations Manager, Division of Innovation & Education Excellence, Department of Education & Early Development, answered committee questions on HB 183. She explained that new legislation passed in the previous legislative session mandated a new set of accountability standards and said that administrative staff within the DEED has been working to assist school districts in creating Alaska Reads Act grant applications. 8:59:55 AM BECKY MOREN, Early Learning Administrator, Department of Education & Early Development, answered committee questions on HB 183. She explained that the policy proposal of HB 183 would change two standards of grant application in the next fiscal year. 9:01:44 AM CO-CHAIR STORY asked Ms. Moren to further detail the two proposed changes in HB 183. MS. MOREN answered that legislation before the committee put forward two proposed changes to the dual language learner standard and the early childhood mental health consultant standard. 9:06:07 AM CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked how many school districts in Alaska have received early education funding or are on a conditional funding status and asked how a school might start an early education program if it is to hear the results of its grant application on September of the given year. MS. MORAN explained that the Alaska Reads Act grant is a one- time application that stands for three years once the application approved. She answered that 12 school districts have requested application forms and explained that the September 1 notification date of early education funding for the same year is statutory. 9:14:41 AM REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked Ms. Moren to describe the existing accountability standards in place related to Alaska Reads Act Funding and asked if early education program grants would be "discontinued if they were not successful". MS. MOREN answered that value and criteria of accountability practices lie within academic testing standards and explained that early education program grants would stay in place as long as legislation determines so. 9:19:58 AM MS. RIDDLE added "when we talk about accountability, there's a lot of accountability" and explained how the grant applicants work to meet the standards of accountability outlined by the early education program grant, such as monthly meetings, early learning progress data, and check-ins with the DEED. 9:23:31 AM CO-CHAIR STORY gave wrap-up comments on HB 183 and thanked the committee for hearing the proposed legislation.