HB0392b -1- CSHB 392(EDC)
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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 392(EDC)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Offered: 4/10/24
Referred: Finance
Sponsor(s): HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to education; relating to charter schools; relating to transportation of 1
public school students; relating to correspondence study funding; relating to the base 2
student allocation; relating to funding for reading improvement plans; and providing 3
for an effective date." 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 5
* Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 6
Sec. 14.03.254. Board-authorized charter schools. (a) The board may 7
authorize a charter school in a school district under regulations adopted by the board. 8
The regulations must include an application procedure and provisions for 9
establishment of an academic policy committee consisting of parents of students 10
attending the school, teachers, and school employees. 11
(b) Before the board authorizes a charter school under this section, a local 12
school board shall review the application for the charter school. Within 60 days after 13
receiving the complete application for review, the local school board shall issue a 14 33-LS1453\I
CSHB 392(EDC) -2- HB0392b
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written decision to the board recommending either approval or denial of the 1
application. The written decision must include all relevant findings of fact and 2
conclusions of law. 3
(c) The board shall contract with a local school board to operate a charter 4
school authorized by the board under (a) of this section. A local school board that 5
contracts with the board to operate a charter school under this subsection shall operate 6
the charter school as provided in AS 14.03.255 - 14.03.290. 7
* Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 8
Sec. 14.03.256. Charter school termination appeal. If a local school board 9
terminates a contract with a charter school, the charter school may appeal the decision 10
to the board under regulations established by the board. The board may request written 11
supplementation from the appellant or local school board. The board shall review the 12
decision of the local school board to determine whether the findings of fact are 13
supported by substantial evidence and whether the decision is contrary to law. The 14
board shall issue a written decision within 90 days after the appeal is filed and may 15
(1) remand the appeal to the local school board for further review; 16
(2) reapprove the charter school with or without added conditions; or 17
(3) uphold the decision terminating the charter school contract. 18
* Sec. 3. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 19
Sec. 14.03.277. Charter school coordinator. A position dedicated to charter 20
school support is established in the department. This position is responsible for the 21
development of a repository of charter school resources in the department. The charter 22
school coordinator shall provide support to charter schools, including 23
(1) providing charter schools with policy and regulation expertise and 24
guidance; 25
(2) providing groups assistance preparing charter school applications; 26
(3) coordinating with school districts and the Association of Alaska 27
School Boards to support charter school academic policy committees and local school 28
boards; and
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(4) coordinating with and providing expertise to legal services 30
provided by the state. 31 33-LS1453\I
HB0392b -3- CSHB 392(EDC)
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* Sec. 4. AS 14.07.165(a) is amended to read: 1
(a) The board shall adopt 2
(1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written 3
goals that are consistent with local needs; 4
(2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under 5
AS 14.03.125; 6
(3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014(b); 7
(4) regulations requiring approval by the board before a charter school, 8
state boarding school, or a public school may provide domiciliary services; 9
(5) regulations establishing standards for an early education program 10
provided by a school district for children who are four and five years of age; the 11
regulations must include 12
(A) standards for a locally designed, evidence-based program 13
that meets Head Start Program Performance Standards and other federal 14
standards required for early education programs to receive federal funding; 15
(B) a requirement that a teacher in charge of a program hold a 16
valid teacher certificate issued under AS 14.20 and 17
(i) have satisfactorily completed a minimum of six 18
credit hours in early childhood education or complete the minimum 19
credit hours within two years of the date the teacher's employment with 20
the early education program begins; or 21
(ii) have two or more years of experience teaching 22
kindergarten or another early education program and have completed 23
additional coursework related to reading instruction, as required by the 24
department; 25
(C) developmentally appropriate objectives for children four 26
and five years of age rather than academic standards appropriate for older 27
children; the objectives must allow school districts to adapt the content of an 28
early education program to be culturally responsive to local communities; 29
(D) accommodations for the needs of all early education 30
children and their families regardless of socioeconomic circumstances; and 31 33-LS1453\I
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(E) standards for day in session requirements appropriate for 1
children four and five years of age; 2
(6) regulations establishing standards for day in session requirements 3
appropriate for kindergarten students; 4
(7) regulations regarding the authorization of charter schools 5
under AS 14.03.254. 6
* Sec. 5. AS 14.09.010(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 7
(a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the 8
transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to 9
receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation 10
system for students to and from the schools within the student's transportation service 11
area. Subject to appropriation, the amount of funding provided by the state for 12
operating the student transportation system is the amount of a school district's ADM, 13
less the ADM for the district's correspondence programs during the current fiscal year, 14
multiplied by the per student amount for the school district as follows, for the school 15
years beginning July 1, 2024: 16
DISTRICT PER STUDENT AMOUNT 17
Alaska Gateway $2,536 18
Aleutians East 378 19
Anchorage 531 20
Annette Island 222 21
Bering Strait 60 22
Bristol Bay 3,257 23
Chatham 342 24
Copper River 1,934 25
Cordova 409 26
Craig 515 27
Delta/Greely 2,019 28
Denali 2,203 29
Dillingham 1,484 30
Fairbanks 995 31 33-LS1453\I
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Galena 310 1
Haines 763 2
Hoonah 364 3
Iditarod 258 4
Juneau 735 5
Kake 331 6
Kashunamiut 6 7
Kenai Peninsula 1,115 8
Ketchikan 886 9
Klawock 712 10
Kodiak Island 974 11
Kuspuk 797 12
Lake and Peninsula 468 13
Lower Kuskokwim 338 14
Lower Yukon 1 15
Matanuska-Susitna 1,109 16
Nenana 716 17
Nome 757 18
North Slope 1,365 19
Northwest Arctic 30 20
Pelican 88 21
Petersburg 457 22
Saint Mary's 235 23
Sitka 522 24
Skagway 44 25
Southeast Island 1,408 26
Southwest Region 728 27
Tanana 581 28
Unalaska 790 29
Valdez 897 30
Wrangell 854 31 33-LS1453\I
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Yakutat 907 1
Yukon Flats 322 2
Yukon/Koyukuk 365 3
Yupiit 2. 4
* Sec. 6. AS 14.17.430 is amended to read: 5
Sec. 14.17.430. State funding for correspondence study. Except as provided 6
in AS 14.17.400(b), funding for the state centralized correspondence study program or 7
a district correspondence program, including a district that offers a statewide 8
correspondence study program, includes an allocation from the public education fund 9
in an amount calculated by multiplying the ADM of the correspondence program by 10
the special needs funding factor as provided in AS 14.17.420(a)(1) [90 PERCENT]. 11
* Sec. 7. AS 14.17.470 is amended to read: 12
Sec. 14.17.470. Base student allocation. The base student allocation is $6,640 13
[$5,960]. 14
* Sec. 8. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 15
Sec. 14.30.773. Support for reading improvement plans. Subject to 16
appropriation and in addition to the state aid received under AS 14.17, the state shall 17
provide to a school district, for each student in grades kindergarten through three, 18
$180 to provide the support, intervention, and services the student needs to reach 19
reading proficiency by the end of grade three. The state shall provide to a school 20
district an additional $100 for each student in grades kindergarten through three at 21
each school in the school district that receives funds under 20 U.S.C. 6311 - 6339. 22
* Sec. 9. This Act takes effect July 1, 2024. 23