Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official page posted by the Alaska State Legislature, fetched 2026-09-21. Where this bill amends existing law, language marked for deletion in the official page appears here in brackets. This is the enrolled version. The official bill page.
00Enrolled HB 57 01Relating to maximum classroom sizes in public schools; relating to education reports; relating 02 to charter schools; relating to student transportation funding; relating to secondary school 03 vocational and technical instruction funding; relating to the base student allocation; relating to 04 reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to wireless telecommunications devices in 05 public schools; relating to the use of tax revenue from highly digitized businesses; relating to 06 the duties of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; establishing the Task 07 Force on Education Funding; and providing for an effective date. 08 _______________ 09 * Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 10 Sec. 14.03.065. Maximum classroom size. Each school district shall establish 11 and make available to the public a target average class size policy for each grade level. 12 The target average class size for pre-kindergarten through grade six may not exceed 23 01and the target average class size for grades seven through 12 may not exceed 30. The 02 policy may exclude mixed grade classes and courses in art, library, music, computer 03 science, vocational-technical, and physical education. The policy must include 04 procedures to reduce class sizes when the school district determines a reduction is 05 appropriate. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.120(g) is amended to read: 07 (g) To the extent allowable under state and federal privacy laws, each district 08 shall annually report to the department information from the previous school year 09 regarding 10 (1) the number of students and teaching staff assigned to each 11 classroom in grades kindergarten through 12 [THREE]; 12 (2) the number and percentage of students 13 (A) in grades kindergarten through three who demonstrated 14 improvement on expected grade-level skills on the statewide screening tool; 15 (B) in grades kindergarten through three who performed below 16 expected grade-level skills on the statewide screening tool, by grade; 17 (C) in grades kindergarten through three who did not progress 18 to the next grade and the reasons the students did not progress; 19 (D) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 20 progress to grade four based on the statewide screening tool; 21 (E) in grade three who progressed to grade four based on a 22 waiver under AS 14.30.765(f); 23 (F) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 24 progress to grade four based on an alternative standardized reading screening; 25 (G) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 26 progress to grade four based on a student reading portfolio; 27 (3) the performance on the statewide screening tool of students in a 28 grade above grade three who did not progress to grade four or who progressed to grade 29 four based on a waiver under AS 14.30.765(f). 30 * Sec 3. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 31 (k) The department shall collaborate with the Department of Labor and 01Workforce Development under AS 44.31.020 to gather data on the progress of each 02 high school graduating class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary 03 education, and residency data on each student in the graduating class. The departments 04 shall gather the data every five years for 20 years after the high school graduation date 05 of the class. 06 * Sec. 4. AS 14.03.250(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) A local school board shall prescribe an application procedure for the 08 establishment of a charter school in that school district. The application procedure 09 must include provisions for an academic policy committee consisting of parents of 10 students attending the school, teachers, and school employees and a proposed form for 11 a contract between a charter school and the local school board, setting out the contract 12 elements required under AS 14.03.255(c). The application procedure must allow an 13 application to be submitted at any time during a school year for the following 14 school year. A local school board shall announce the deadline to submit an 15 application for establishment of a charter school for the following school year. 16 * Sec. 5. AS 14.03.253(b) is amended to read: 17 (b) In an appeal to the state Board of Education and Early Development of a 18 denial of a charter school application under (a)(3) of this section, the state board shall 19 determine, based on the record, whether the commissioner's findings are supported by 20 substantial evidence and whether the decision is contrary to law. The state board shall 21 issue a written decision within 45 [90] days after the state board receives an appeal. 22 * Sec. 6. AS 14.03.255(c) is amended to read: 23 (c) A charter school shall operate under a contract between the charter school 24 and the local school board. A contract must contain the following provisions: 25 (1) a description of the educational program; 26 (2) specific levels of achievement for the education program; 27 (3) admission policies and procedures; 28 (4) administrative policies; 29 (5) a statement of the charter school's funding allocation from the local 30 school board and costs assignable to the charter school program budget; 31 (6) the method by which the charter school will account for receipts 01 and expenditures; 02 (7) the location and description of the facility; 03 (8) the name of the teacher, or teachers, who, by agreement between 04 the charter school and the teacher, will teach in the charter school; 05 (9) the teacher-to-student ratio; 06 (10) the number of students served; 07 (11) the term of the contract, not to exceed a term of 10 years; 08 (12) a termination clause providing that the contract may be terminated 09 by the local school board for the failure of the charter school to meet educational 10 achievement goals or fiscal management standards, or for other good cause; 11 (13) a clause providing that the local school board may only 12 terminate a contract under the standards and procedures established in 13 AS 14.03.256; 14 (14) a statement that the charter school will comply with all state and 15 federal requirements for receipt and use of public money; 16 (15) [(14)] other requirements or exemptions agreed on [UPON] by the 17 charter school and the local school board. 18 * Sec. 7. AS 14.03.255 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (e) A local school board may establish simplified procedures and standards for 20 a renewal of a contract in good standing, as defined by the local school board, between 21 the local school board and a charter school. 22 * Sec. 8. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 23 Sec. 14.03.256. Charter school termination. (a) A local school board may 24 terminate a contract between the local school board and a charter school only if the 25 charter school has 26 (1) failed to comply with a condition or material term of the contract or 27 AS 14.03.250 - 14.03.290; or 28 (2) intentionally or fraudulently misrepresented, in whole or in part, 29 material facts or circumstances upon which the contract was made. 30 (b) Before termination of a contract under this section, the local school board 31 shall give the charter school written notice of the local school board's intent to 01terminate the contract. The local school board may also provide the charter school 02 with a reasonable opportunity, as determined by the local school board, to cure any 03 deficiency that is the basis for the termination if the local school board determines that 04 curing the deficiency is appropriate under the circumstances. 05 (c) A charter school whose contract is terminated under this section may file 06 an appeal with the superior court under the Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure. 07 * Sec. 9. AS 14.09.010(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 08 (a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the 09 transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to 10 receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation 11 system for students to and from the schools within the student's transportation service 12 area. Subject to appropriation, the amount of funding provided by the state for 13 operating the student transportation system is the amount of a school district's ADM, 14 less the ADM for the district's correspondence programs during the current fiscal year, 15 multiplied by the per student amount for the school district as follows, for the school 16 years beginning July 1, 2025: 17 DISTRICT PER STUDENT AMOUNT 18 Alaska Gateway $2,529 19 Aleutians East 377 20 Anchorage 529 21 Annette Island 221 22 Bering Strait 59 23 Bristol Bay 3,247 24 Chatham 341 25 Copper River 1,928 26 Cordova 408 27 Craig 514 28 Delta/Greely 2,013 29 Denali 2,197 30 Dillingham 1,480 31 Fairbanks 992 01 Galena 309 02 Haines 761 03 Hoonah 363 04 Iditarod 257 05 Juneau 733 06 Kake 330 07 Kashunamiut 6 08 Kenai Peninsula 1,112 09 Ketchikan 883 10 Klawock 710 11 Kodiak Island 971 12 Kuspuk 794 13 Lake and Peninsula 466 14 Lower Kuskokwim 337 15 Lower Yukon 1 16 Matanuska-Susitna 1,106 17 Nenana 714 18 Nome 755 19 North Slope 1,361 20 Northwest Arctic 30 21 Pelican 88 22 Petersburg 455 23 Saint Mary's 234 24 Sitka 520 25 Skagway 44 26 Southeast Island 1,404 27 Southwest Region 726 28 Unalaska 788 29 Valdez 894 30 Wrangell 851 31 Yakutat 904 01 Yukon Flats 321 02 Yukon/Koyukuk 364 03 Yupiit 2. 04 * Sec. 10. AS 14.17.420(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) As a component of public school funding, a district is eligible for special 06 needs and secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding and may be 07 eligible for intensive services funding as follows: 08 (1) special needs funding is available to a district to assist the district 09 in providing special education, gifted and talented education, vocational education, 10 and bilingual education services to its students; a special needs funding factor of 1.20 11 shall be applied as set out in AS 14.17.410(b)(1); 12 (2) in addition to the special needs funding for which a district is 13 eligible under (1) of this subsection, a district is eligible for intensive services funding 14 for each special education student who needs and receives intensive services and is 15 enrolled on the last day of the count period; for each such student, intensive services 16 funding is equal to the intensive student count multiplied by 13; 17 (3) in addition to the special needs and intensive services funding 18 available under (1) and (2) of this subsection, secondary school vocational and 19 technical instruction funding is available to assist districts in providing vocational and 20 technical instruction to students who are enrolled in a secondary school; a secondary 21 school vocational and technical instruction funding factor of 1.023 [1.015] shall be 22 applied as set out in AS 14.17.410(b)(1); in this paragraph, "vocational and technical 23 instruction" excludes costs associated with 24 (A) administrative expenses; and 25 (B) instruction in general literacy, mathematics, and job 26 readiness skills. 27 * Sec. 11. AS 14.17.420 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 28 (d) If the legislature increases the secondary school vocational and technical 29 instruction funding factor under (a)(3) of this section, a district shall budget for and 30 spend on secondary school vocational and technical instruction an amount equal to the 31 increase in the funds generated for the district by the increase to the secondary school 01 vocational and technical instruction funding factor under (a)(3) of this section. 02 * Sec. 12. AS 14.17.470 is amended to read: 03 Sec. 14.17.470. Base student allocation. The base student allocation is $6,660 04 [$5,960]. 05 * Sec. 13. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.30.773. Reading proficiency incentive grants. (a) Subject to 07 appropriation, a school district is eligible to receive a reading proficiency incentive 08 grant of not less than $450 for each student in kindergarten through grade six who, at 09 the end of the school year, 10 (1) performs at grade-level reading proficiency; or 11 (2) demonstrates improvement on a reading screening tool approved 12 by the department, on a standards-based assessment in language arts approved by the 13 department, or on a student portfolio in language arts approved by the department. 14 (b) If insufficient funding is appropriated to provide all grants authorized 15 under this section, the grants shall be distributed pro rata to eligible school districts. 16 * Sec. 14. AS 14.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 17 Article 5. Wireless Telecommunications Devices. 18 Sec. 14.33.300. Wireless telecommunications device policy. (a) Each school 19 district shall adopt a policy that regulates the possession and use of nonschool-issued 20 wireless telecommunications devices during regular school hours, including lunch and 21 passing periods. Each school district shall share this policy with parents or guardians, 22 students, volunteers, and school employees. If a school district's policy prohibits the 23 use of nonschool-issued wireless telecommunications devices, the policy must allow 24 exceptions for students to use a wireless telecommunications device for medical or 25 translation purposes, in the event of an emergency, or when a teacher or administrator 26 of the school grants permission to a student to use a wireless telecommunications 27 device for educational purposes. A school in a district that has not adopted a policy 28 under this section may not allow a student to use an electronic telecommunications 29 device during regular school hours, including lunch and passing periods. 30 (b) This section does not authorize a person to monitor, collect, or access 31 information related to a student's use of a wireless telecommunications device. 01(c) In this section, "wireless telecommunications device" means any portable 02 wireless device that has the capability to provide voice, messaging, or other data 03 communication between two or more parties. 04 * Sec. 15. AS 43.20 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 05 Sec. 43.20.149. Highly digitized businesses tax revenue. The tax amounts 06 collected from a highly digitized business under AS 43.20 shall be separately 07 accounted for and may be appropriated to the Department of Education and Early 08 Development. The Department of Education and Early Development shall use funds 09 appropriated under this section to fund reading proficiency incentive grants awarded 10 under AS 14.30.773. If the amount appropriated to the Department of Education and 11 Early Development exceeds the amount necessary to award grants under AS 14.30.773 12 for the fiscal year, the department shall use the remaining balance of the appropriation 13 to fund secondary school vocational and technical instruction. The department shall 14 distribute the secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding to 15 secondary schools on a pro rata basis. 16 * Sec. 16. AS 44.31.020 is amended to read: 17 Sec. 44.31.020. Duties of department. The Department of Labor and 18 Workforce Development shall 19 (1) enforce the laws and adopt regulations under them concerning 20 employer-employee relationships, including the safety, hours of work, wages, and 21 conditions of workers, including children; 22 (2) accumulate, analyze, and report labor statistics; 23 (3) operate systems of workers' compensation and unemployment 24 insurance; 25 (4) gather data reflecting the cost of living in various locations of the 26 state upon request of the director of personnel under AS 39.27.030; 27 (5) operate the federally funded employment and training programs 28 under 29 U.S.C. 2801 - 2945 (Workforce Investment Act of 1998); 29 (6) administer the state's program of adult basic education and adopt 30 regulations to administer the program; [AND] 31 (7) administer the programs of the Alaska Vocational Technical Center 01and adopt regulations to administer the programs, including regulations that set rates 02 for student tuition and room and board and fees for the programs and services 03 provided by the department regarding the Alaska Vocational Technical Center; and 04 (8) gather data on the progress of each high school graduating 05 class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary education, and residency 06 data on each student in the graduating class; the department shall gather the 07 data required under this paragraph every five years for 20 years after the high 08 school graduation date of each high school graduating class; the department shall 09 publish a biennial report on the data gathered under this paragraph; in this 10 paragraph, "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990. 11 * Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION FUNDING. (a) The Task Force on Education 14 Funding is established as a joint task force of the Alaska State Legislature. 15 (b) The task force shall 16 (1) analyze the state of public education funding and the current accountability 17 provisions for schools and districts in the state; 18 (2) analyze and recommend statewide policy on interdistrict open enrollment, 19 including evaluating the effects on military families, subsidization of student transportation 20 costs, and appeal processes; 21 (3) evaluate internal and external factors leading to school absenteeism and 22 identify district and state level intervention and incentive tools relating to school absenteeism; 23 (4) analyze and make recommendations on effective policies relating to school 24 major maintenance and school construction; 25 (5) evaluate and recommend health insurance, group insurance, and ways to 26 reduce property and building insurance for public school facilities; 27 (6) make recommendations relating to public education funding and 28 accountability provisions for schools and districts in the state; and 29 (7) submit a report of findings and recommendations of the task force to the 30 senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives not later than the first day 31 of the First Regular Session of the Thirty-Fifth Alaska State Legislature and notify the 01members of the legislature that the report is available. 02 (c) The task force consists of six members as follows: 03 (1) three members of the senate, at least one of whom is a member of the 04 minority, appointed by the president of the senate; the president of the senate shall select one 05 of the members to serve as co-chair of the task force; 06 (2) three members of the house of representatives, at least one of whom is a 07 member of the minority, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; the speaker 08 of the house of representatives shall select one of the members to serve as co-chair of the task 09 force. 10 (d) A vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original 11 selection or appointment. 12 (e) The task force shall meet at the call of the co-chairs. The task force may meet 13 between and during legislative sessions. A majority of the members of the task force 14 constitute a quorum. The task force may conduct meetings in person, telephonically, or by 15 electronic means, as directed by the co-chairs. 16 (f) The task force may request data and other information from the Department of 17 Education and Early Development. 18 (g) The legislative staff of the members of the task force shall serve as staff for the 19 task force. The task force may hire staff and contract for services necessary to carry out the 20 duties of the task force under the procedures adopted by the legislative council governing 21 procurement of services, subject to the approval of the legislative council and the legislative 22 council making funds available for that purpose. 23 (h) The task force expires on January 31, 2027. 24 * Sec. 18. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25 read: 26 APPLICABILITY. (a) Sections 6 - 8 of this Act apply to a contract that becomes 27 legally binding on or after the effective date of secs. 6 - 8 of this Act. 28 (b) Section 11 of this Act applies to an increase to the secondary school vocational 29 and technical instruction funding factor under AS 14.17.420(a)(3) that takes effect on or after 30 the effective date of sec. 11 of this Act. 31 * Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 01read: 02 CONDITIONAL EFFECT. AS 14.17.420(a), as amended by sec. 10 of this Act, 03 AS 14.17.420(d), enacted by sec. 11 of this Act, AS 14.30.773, enacted by sec. 13 of this Act, 04 and AS 43.20.149, enacted by sec. 15 of this Act, take effect only if SB 113 or a substantially 05 similar bill that effectuates the sales factor, as determined under AS 43.19 (Multistate Tax 06 Compact), as the apportionment factor for highly digitized businesses is passed by the Thirty- 07 Fourth Alaska State Legislature and enacted into law. 08 * Sec. 20. If secs. 10, 11, 13, and 15 of this Act take effect, they take effect 181 days after 09 the effective date of the section of SB 113 or a substantially similar bill that effectuates the 10 sales factor, as determined under AS 43.19 (Multistate Tax Compact), as the apportionment 11 factor for highly digitized businesses. 12 * Sec. 21. Section 1 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 13 * Sec. 22. Except as provided in secs. 20 and 21 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 14 2025.
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