ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE  February 27, 2009 8:04 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Paul Seaton, Chair Representative Cathy Engstrom Munoz, Vice Chair Representative Bryce Edgmon Representative Wes Keller Representative Peggy Wilson Representative Robert L. "Bob" Buch MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative Berta Gardner COMMITTEE CALENDAR  OVERVIEW(S): CORRESPONDENCE AND HOME SCHOOL PROGRAMS - HEARD PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  No previous action to record   WITNESS REGISTER EDDY JEANS, Director School Finance and Facilities Section Department of Education and Early Development (EED) Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided EED information during the overview on Alaska's correspondence and home schools. JACK PHELPS, Representative Alaska Private and Home Educators Association (APHEA) Palmer, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Described the APHEA program during the overview of Alaska's correspondence and home schools. BARBARA HEINRICHS, Member Board of Directors Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA) Kodiak, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Outlined the services provided by AHEA during the overview of Alaskan correspondence and home schools. GLEN BIEGEL, Member Board of Directors Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA) Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaskan correspondence and home schools. STEVEN MUSSER, Assistant Superintendent Galena School District Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on the Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) program, during the overview of Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. KELLY FOREMAN, Chairman Eagle River Christian Home School Association (ERCHA) Eagle River, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. DEBBIE JOSLIN, President Eagle Forum Alaska Delta Junction, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. ANNIE DOUGHERTY, Advisory Teacher Chugach Extension School Fairbanks, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. ANDREA BERG, Assistant Superintendant Yukon Koyukuk School District Raven Correspondence School Fairbanks, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview on Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. ACTION NARRATIVE 8:04:27 AM CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Education Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Representatives Seaton, Munoz, Buch, Edgmon, Keller, and Wilson were present at the call to order. 8:05:14 AM ^OVERVIEW(S): CORRESPONDENCE AND HOME SCHOOL PROGRAMS CHAIR SEATON announced that the only order of business would be an overview of Alaska's correspondence and home school programs. 8:05:48 AM EDDY JEANS, Director, School Finance and Facilities Section, Department of Education and Early Development (EED), said that, for funding purposes, home school support and traditional correspondence study programs are categorized together. He defined correspondence programs, paraphrasing from the EED regulations [original punctuation provided]: 4 AAC 09.990. Definitions (a) In AS 14.17 and this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, (3) "correspondence study program" means any educational program, including a charter school program or a state supported home-schooling program, that provides (A) for each secondary course, less than three hours per week of scheduled face-to-face interaction, in the same location, between a teacher certificated under AS 14.20.020 and each class; (B) for elementary students, less than 15 hours per week of scheduled face-to-face interaction, in the same location, between a teacher certificated under AS 14.20.020 and each full-time equivalent elementary student. MR. JEANS summarized that the department determines correspondence by the number of hours/courses that a child is engaged in face-to-face contact, at a central location, with a certified teacher. 8:07:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE BUCH asked for clarification on the minimum hourly requirements. MR. JEANS responded that it became difficult to define correspondence in Alaska, when the public school system began providing support to home school students. The criteria is based on the hourly time that a student is in the presence of a certified teacher, or the number of courses overseen by a certified teacher. If the hours exceed the defined requirements, then the funding is provided through the school formula size adjustment table. 8:08:50 AM CHAIR SEATON reminded the committee that the point of discussion relates to how these independent programs are funded. MR. JEANS said the department requires minimal interaction by a home school student/family and a certified teacher, but at least once per month. He reported that Alaska has 27 defined correspondence programs encompassing charter schools, traditional correspondence programs, and home school support. CHAIR SEATON called attention to the committee packet to indicate the list of these programs. 8:09:57 AM MR. JEANS pointed out that the information also includes the average daily membership (ADM) for correspondence programs, which totals approximately 10,300 students statewide. Prior to this year, he said, the department did not regulate in-district correspondence initiatives, and only regulated the statewide programs that serve students outside of district boundaries. At the regular State Board of Education meeting, in August 2008, it was decided that for programs that offer family allotment accounts, the regulations should apply the same for statewide and in-district programs. The allotment accounts are primarily home school families receiving reimbursement for the cost of instructional materials/supplies. Restrictions have been placed on what the districts reimburse families for, such as out of state travel, clothing/uniforms, pet purchases, furniture, or entertainment. He clarified that the decision, became effective in the 2008-2009 school year. 8:12:39 AM CHAIR SEATON asked if it is possible to ascertain which programs are strictly correspondent versus home school support. MR. JEANS highlighted the schools on the list which are home school support programs: Family Partnership Charter School (Anchorage), Frontier Charter School (Anchorage), Chugach Extension Correspondence (Chugach School), PACE Correspondence (Craig City), Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) (Galena), Connections (Kenai Peninsula), CyberLynx Correspondence Program (Nenana), and Raven Correspondence School (Yukon Koyukuk). Three are blended programs: Delta Cyber School (Delta-Greely), Fairbanks B.E.S.T. (Fairbanks), and Correspondence Study School (Matanuska-Susitna). 8:15:26 AM JACK PHELPS, Representative, Alaska Private and Home Educators Association (APHEA), provided a brief history of the association in developing home school educational goals and legal rights, since its inception in 1986. The year 1995 saw Governor Tony Knowles sign a resolution acknowledging the value of privately educated home school students to the state. He described how many of the students, having attended universities outside of the state, return to Alaska to hold important positions, and are rearing a second generation of home schooled children. Also, many have served, with distinction, in the military forces. He cited AS 14.30.010, the compulsory attendance statute, which was amended in 1996 to include provision 010(b)(12), language allowing an attendance exemption to students who are home schooling. This ensures parents the opportunity to choose home schooling without fear of legal recourse. The association mission is to help assert and protect the rights of parents to make appropriate educational decisions for their children. To meet this goal, APHEA advocates choice, including opportunities for public school, correspondence programs, or home school. Every state sanctions some aspect of home schooling, he maintained, which is making a significant contribution to our society. 8:21:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how many children in the state are being schooled in this manner. MR. PHELPS replied that a census has not been taken to provide a statistical base. With the advent of state assistance money, many families are taking a different educational route. However, he hazarded a guess in the low thousands. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON queried if standardized tests are administered to establish similar bench marks parallel to what is required in the public schools. MR. PHELPS answered that many parents utilize the IOWA Basic Skills test. He added that the home school community seniors are routinely accommodated by local high schools to take college entrance exams. 8:24:17 AM BARBARA HEINRICHS, Member, Board of Directors, Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA), explained the role of AHEA as a liaison between home educators and the various program opportunities. The organization monitors legislative action that effects home school families. On the legislature's behalf, they hold parents accountable for appropriate expenditure of state allocated funding. 8:27:06 AM GLEN BIEGEL, Member, Board of Directors, Alaska Home Educators Alliance (AHEA), added that one of the founding principles of AHEA has been the Safety Performance Equity and Cost (SPEC) program. Further, correspondence programs are funded at the 80 percent level and do not benefit from a multiplier, in the funding formula. About 44 of the districts do not have in- district correspondence programs, and the statewide services are utilized, in that absence. The statewide program availability is the guarantor for equity in the system, offering a buffer against local district program/policy changes. He described the oversight effort AHEA maintains to be alert to regulatory changes, or other government actions, which would directly effect home school programs. 8:31:45 AM CHAIR SEATON requested clarification regarding the dynamic between in-district versus statewide programs. MR. BIEGEL explained that suggestions have been made to end statewide correspondence programs, particularly in areas where an in-district program is available. However, the ability for a district to restrict home school programs is immense, he reported. Decision making at the PTA and local authority level can have significant impacts and effectively erode the system. In-district freedoms are essentially guaranteed by statewide correspondence programs, that have a home school basis, he opined. REPRESENTATIVE KELLER suggested this as a topic for a radio program, The Fastest Radio Show on Earth [hosted by Mr. Biegel]. 8:34:34 AM REPRESENTATIVE WILSON requested clarity on the acronym SPEC. MR. BIEGEL stated that statewide correspondence programs are subject to different treatment in regulation, hence the "E" for "equity." 8:35:17 AM STEVEN MUSSER, Assistant Superintendent, Galena School District, directed attention to the committee packet and the handout titled "Interior Distance Education of Alaska IDEA". Describing the program he paraphrased from the handout, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: IDEA (Interior Distance Education of Alaska) was created by the Galena City School District in 1997 to support homeschooling families. The enrollment that first year surprised us all when it went to 1,157 and then tripled the following year. Of the students enrolled in the first year of IDEA, 88% of them had never attended public or private school, which confirmed to us that IDEA was meeting a need among Alaskan students. Our mission is to provide resources and support to parents who have elected to educate their children at home; to achieve a partnership with families that honors the efforts and dedication of homeschooling parents. Presently our enrollment stays steady at around 3,500 students in kindergarten th through 12 grade. We operate offices in Juneau, Soldotna, Anchorage, Wasilla, and Fairbanks. Our enrollment at the end of the count period this fall was 3,449.65 FTE [full time enrollment]. This represented a drop of 95.45 students from the previous school year. We are presently involved with our reenrollment process for current students and we have opened our online forms for enrollment for new families for next year. The 08-09 school year represented the first year that we were required to remain open for enrollment year around. Presently we have enrolled 107 new students since the end of the count period. In the past we had closed enrollment after the count period. 8:37:53 AM MR. MUSSER pointed out the demographic table, page 2 of the handout, and explained that many families are in the military, creating a variable enrollment number. Continuing to page 3, he indicated the enrollment totals listed by region: Region A (Anchorage area) 872; Region F (Fairbanks area) 903; Region MS (Mat-Su Valley) 894; Region K (Kenai Peninsula) 441; Region SE (Southeast) 297; and Region G (off the road system) 216. He continued paraphrasing: Based upon employment and economic trends and military deployments our enrollment by regions varies. To more clearly understand the movement of students within the various districts and programs throughout the state I have attached the enrollment comparison that we do each year based upon the numbers reported by DEED [Department of Education and Early Development] after the fall count period is complete. Funding for correspondence programs is governed by AS 14.17.430 which states that we receive 80% of the base student allocation and we do not receive funds for special education or federal programs. The IDEA program works very hard to meet the needs of all enrolled students. We follow all federal and state guidelines to provide appropriate special education services. Each student has an IEP [individual education program] team that meets to determine the Least Restrictive Environment. We strive to meet the individual needs of the student through co-operative agreements with the local school district or by specialized training by our special education staff. We presently serve 140 special education students with 7 certified and 1 classified staff member and also employ speech services through SERRC [Southeast Regional Resource Center] to meet our needs outside of our staffing ability. Presently we provide service to 11 of the 13 disability categories within special education; we respect the boundaries of the local school districts and do not provide direct services to our students. To meet the needs of our student body, we employ 30 certified teachers and 28 classified support staff. All of our certified teachers are highly qualified [HQ] in one or more areas and a few are highly qualified in as many as 8 areas. Having a strong and varied staff allows us to meet the HQ requirement. Families enter into homeschooling for a variety of reasons and with a student turnover rate of close to 1/3 some years our performance has its ups and downs. The most important factor that contributes to our success is parental involvement. This one factor has the most impact on our continued high student performance. To compare our students against other schools' performance is problematic. It is very difficult to find a program with similar demographics. As the largest program in the state, we have a Herculean task to see that all IDEA students participate in the state testing in the spring. Last year we tested 2,076 students at 72 different testing sites around the state. The following graphs display our student performance in the SBA's [standard based assessments] for grades 3-10 over the last four years, showing the comparison between IDEA test scores and the state average in each subject area. As a program we strongly encourage the families to use the GLE's [grade level expectations] and state standards as we work with them to develop their students' Individual Learning Plan (ILP) each school year. We have discovered that materials favored by the one-on-one teaching environment of the homeschooling family often presents information in a different order than is laid out in the state guidelines, particularly in the primary years. However, as the students progress through the years, student achievement levels increase. Graduation rates and dropout rates are a topic of much conversation lately. Last year we started a program within IDEA which we call I-Grad. I-Grad helps students finish their high school education by taking online classes and through credit recovery. Presently we have 105 students enrolled in I-Grad. This past year we found that our graduation rate had fallen. After analysis of the reasons for this, we put some changes into effect within IDEA to address the problem. nd IDEA is currently at level 5 2 year for AYP. Because of our size we have found this a difficult target to reach in all areas. We are currently providing tutoring opportunities and workshops to the families around the state where we have identified lower performing students. The Galena City School Board has supported and been actively engaged in the development and operation of the IDEA program from its inception. They believe in diversity and educational opportunities for all students. In addition to providing oversight and direct involvement in program decisions, the school board brings a group of IDEA parents to Galena itself for [a] few days each year, with the goal of increased communication and understanding between the parents in IDEA and the school board members. The IDEA program will continue to recognize and validate the families in their belief in choice and their desire/ability to home school their children. We have found that most parents who commit to homeschooling also commit themselves to their own education and apply themselves to learning about the materials and teaching techniques that will best meet the needs of their students. We offer a huge range of materials that parents can use, and provide educational events such as Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, Academic Decathlon, Close Up in both our state and nation's capitals, and others. As a matter of fact, we just finished the state Battle of the Books yesterday. IDEA students took first in high school and grades 5-6, were part of the three-way tie for second in grades 7-8, and were third in grades 3-4. Homeschooling is not the answer for everyone, but it is a viable alternative with proven success. Tailoring education to each student's needs provides for a great deal of flexibility, which allows each student to excel in his or her own way while still meeting the expectations of the state. We are proud of our support of homeschoolers these past twelve years and look forward to our continuing partnership with them. 8:44:33 AM CHAIR SEATON noted the dramatic increase in the drop-out rate reported for the 07-08 school year. MR. MUSSER explained that 2007 was the first year that the I- Grad program was launched, allowing high school drop-outs to enter the program. The activity of incorporating these students and seeing them through a year-round course of study, meant that graduation for them occurred at different times of the year and skewed the statistics. 8:48:45 AM KELLY FOREMAN, Chairman, Eagle River Christian Home School Association (ERCHA), paraphrased from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: We are a local home school support association in the Chugiak/Eagle River area serving families from Anchorage, Eagle River, and the Mat-Su Valley. We offer encouragement, advice, and fellowship for families who have made the decision to educate their children at home and have been in existence for about the past 20 years. Thank you for this opportunity to share about ERCHA this morning. ERCHA members and, I am certain, homeschoolers across the state are grateful to live in the great state of Alaska where parents may choose to exercise their constitutionally recognized rights to educate their children at home. It is a huge responsibility that each of us take very seriously. Thank you for all that you are doing to help us preserve that freedom. ERCHA members use a variety of approaches to homeschooling. Some of our member's home school independent of any government funding or programs and some of our families are enrolled in a correspondence program or charter school program. Regardless of approach, the following kinds of activities are available for our members: We offer monthly support group meetings with topics relating to homeschooling to encourage families We publish monthly newsletters that inform our families of educational and entertaining events either sponsored by ERCHA or organizations in the community such as Anchorage Concert Association, the Imaginarium Science Center and the Anchorage Public Library to just name a few. We facilitate enrichment activities to support what children are learning at home…such as field trips, workshops, and clubs. We are currently hosting Career Exploration meetings for older children to hear from adults in the community about their careers and education or training needed for specific career fields. Because of member involvement in the past 12 months or so we have offered a Geography Club, a Math Club, a Presidential elections class, ballroom dancing and contra dancing classes, writing seminars with an internationally known instructor, field trips to the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, the Division of Elections and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Each year one of our members participates in the Alaska Geographic Bee. In 2007, an ERCHA 8th grader placed third in the state. We plan monthly bowling, ice skating, and game days for families to get together for socialization and networking. We maintain a resource lending library Because we are a support association, we do not give grades, keep academic records, or create transcripts for our members. I am a former public school teacher and have been homeschooling for the past 11 years. Being members of the House Education Committee, I am sure that you can agree with me, that the homeschooling freedoms and choices available in Alaska are working for families and children. Protecting homeschooling freedoms in Alaska is a win- win situation for the children of Alaska. When I taught, if a child had difficulty the goal was to get some one-on-one time as soon as possible to help them. In a homeschooling environment, that one-on-one time happens each day. The flexibility in tailoring each child's education to the academic strengths and weaknesses of that child is another bonus. I observe again and again that home school children stay engaged and excited about learning. Learning is not limited to a normal school day, but often takes place during all the waking hours. As has been stated in many of your hearings this session, parents are the first and best teachers that a child has. The freedom that homeschoolers in Alaska enjoy continues to allow that loving parent to direct their child's education. 8:52:54 AM CHAIR SEATON asked what social contacts are experienced by a typical home school student outside of the planned home school network activities. MS. FOREMAN named a variety of outlets for social encounters including the library and an e-mail loop. She underscored that this is a support association, that operates without government funding. 8:53:53 AM DEBBIE JOSLIN, President, Eagle Forum Alaska, outlined the forum as a pro-family group, with approximately 1,000 members. Although less than half of the families home school their children, all of the members support the option. She described the home school that she houses, and her history with the home school program. She outlined the Bob Jones curriculum that the forum purchased and how the prescribed tests are administered by hired outside participants. Many home school children are not highly academic, she espoused, and many have special needs, who do better at home than in a public environment. Delta Junction does not have a support group, but the freedom to home school is a priority. 9:00:24 AM ANNIE DOUGHERTY, Advisory Teacher, Chugach Extension School, began with a brief history of correspondence programs in Alaska, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: In the 1980's, Chugach School District began a correspondence program as a way to provide an appropriate education to students residing in remote locations inside our district boundaries. The advisory teacher traveled by boat, plane, and snowshoes to visit our families and provide them with support, material, assessment, and encouragement. In 1994, our advisory teacher responded to the request of families residing outside of Cordova City School District city limits, and extended her boat and plane rides to include them in her family visits. This was the beginning of our current cross-district correspondence model, statewide correspondence programs. It is a model that began in a spirit of cooperation and respect between districts as an efficient and cost effective way to meet the needs of Alaskan students. Statewide correspondence programs have grown over the past 20 years from a single district serving a handful of students to our present day scenario of 27 districts serving over 10,000 students. It is important to understand why this model of education has been so successful in meeting the needs of Alaskan students. It is first imperative to dispel a common misconception about statewide correspondence programs. This misconception is the opinion that statewide correspondence programs exist to harvest students from other districts domains. Much rather, statewide correspondence programs began and continue to exist to fill a need in the mission of educating Alaskan students. I would like to discuss three of the underlying principles that allow the statewide correspondence programs to be effective, efficient, and highly successful forms of education. The first and most critical component of correspondence programs is parental involvement. Research abounds with evidence indicating superior performance of students in situations where parents are involved in the education of their children. There is no other model that can claim to have a higher degree of parental involvement than that of home schooling. Parents who sacrifice time and resources to accept the responsibility of educating their own children are the highest motivated teachers. Because of parents love for their children, they will invest whatever it takes to help their children succeed. Parents have the flexibility to individualize instruction to develop each child's interests, teach to the child's strengths, and to build up areas of weakness. Parents can vary instruction to teach to each child's learning style. As legislators, you are often presented with the need to lower the parent teacher ratio. Even the larger home school families offer a lower parent teacher ratio than the average classroom. You also are familiar with the importance of allowing local control of education policy. Home schooling epitomizes local control, as each involved parent is in control of making decisions most appropriate for the locale of the home. Statewide correspondence programs also introduce competition into the arena of education. Prior to statewide correspondence programs, there was no competition in education. Every district was guaranteed access to students within its bounds regardless of the results they produced. With the introduction of competition comes accountability, a natural byproduct, as districts now are responsible to those they serve, or else those stakeholders will enroll in other districts. There are those who fear competition, but it is because they do not understand its benefits. It is competition that motivates us to do our best. It is competition, which allows us to succeed at accomplishing our best. To understand how competition has benefited students consider the following examples from statewide programs. Chugach Extension program has been a leader among statewide programs in the activities and trainings it has offered parents and students. In order to keep up with Chugach, other programs have begun to offer supplemental educational opportunities to their students as well. IDEA, among many other positive components has long been at the forefront of offering a technological advantage to its students. We have all modeled ourselves after them when it comes to providing technology to students. From the beginning, Raven's Fairbanks office had a resource room which was the envy of all. Once again, in order to be competitive, all the programs have built up the resources they have available for students and families. Competition between programs has forced each program to improve. As programs improve, students benefit. Competition has caused local districts to make positive changes as well. Because of concerns of loosing students to statewide programs, districts in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Nome have become more responsive to their communities. They have all begun offering correspondence programs which allow parents to use the curriculum of their choice, provide allotments to purchase educational materials, and organize educational activities for students to participate in. Prior to the existence of the statewide programs each of these districts turned a deaf ear to the pleas from parents and students to allow them to pick appropriate curriculum materials. Lastly, I would like to present how through the principle of choice, statewide programs have benefited education in Alaska. By removing geographic boundaries as a limiting factor in where a student is enrolled in school, statewide correspondence programs allow students to match the school they enroll in to their needs. For example, students interested in the I-Grad program will enroll in IDEA. Students interested in the Voyage to Excellence program will enroll in Chugach Extension School. Students are no longer in a school because they live there, but they are in a specific school because they want to learn and that school has something to offer them. In each of its varieties, home schooling is a win-win situation. But who are the real winners? It is Alaska's students. And as a by product, when our students win, our state and all its residents benefit. Thank you for your taking interest, which is obvious by your planning this meeting to learn about home schooling. We ask for your support in providing quality educational options for Alaskan students by protecting home schooling in Alaska. Our models and students will thrive with minimal regulations and necessary accountability. 9:15:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked if the Chugach school philosophy "Empowering Student Ownership of Learning and Success" is applied to the home school community. MS. DOUGHERTY answered, "Yes, very much so." The site school and home schools have parallel programs including the same developmental report card system, expectations, and outcome requirements. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON queried whether the same benchmark locators are maintained. MS. DOUGHERTY explained that the developmental report card follows, and exceeds, the state GLE (grade level expectation). A home school student must demonstrate the same mastery in order to advance from one level to the next. CHAIR SEATON interjected that his family members, who home school in California, do not enjoy the same level of support that is available to Alaska. 9:19:17 AM ANDREA BERG, Assistant Superintendant, Yukon Koyukuk School District, Raven Correspondence School, said the correspondence school is a statewide program established in 2002. It was originally created to serve the in-district students living outside of the river school boundaries. Today, these home school students are part of the 1,100 plus statewide enrollees who benefit from this program, administered from offices located in Anchorage, Delta, Fairbanks, Juneau, Soldotna, and Wasilla. Program administrators include 11 certified teachers, 2 counselors, 2 special education teachers, and contracted specialists that are hired as needed. As a statewide program, funding is provided at the 80 percent level. The state requires that the program service special education students, whose needs are met through a network including the Raven School. Although the program has overall good student performance, as evidenced by the statewide testing data, challenges are experienced in certain sub categories, low participation due to student transition, and in the area of student coordination. Students are allowed to participate on a flexible part-time or full-time basis. Extra curricular activities are provided including: art, career, and other workshops, a virtual science fair, and battle of the books. Postsecondary training and transition counseling is available to assist students in planning for careers or continued education. Travel opportunities are provided, along with technological support, for enhanced learning. Eligibility requirements include monthly family contact with the teachers, quarterly progress reviews, and state testing participation, she reported. 9:23:43 AM CHAIR SEATON directed attention to the Raven School brochure, included in the committee packet, and read: Students receive state funding based on the following formula: Kindergarten-3 Grades $1,600, 4-8 Grades $1,800, 9-12 Grades $2,000. At least 50% of classes must be core classes. CHAIR SEATON asked about the distribution of these allotments. MS. BERG responded that the amounts may be individually adjusted from this preliminary number. Funds are approved for purchasing of curriculum, school supplies, and supplemental instructional material, but excludes costs associated with technological support. 9:25:13 AM CHAIR SEATON reviewed the upcoming committee calendar. 9:26:12 AM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:26 a.m.