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Enrolled HB 28
LAWS OF ALASKA
2026
Source Chapter No.
SCS CSHB 28(FIN) am S _______
AN ACT
Relating to education; relating to reimbursement of school district energy costs; relating to
correspondence study program materials; relating to substitute teaching; relating to the
qualifications of school board members; relating to school consolidation; relating to the
required local contribution made by a city or borough school district for public school
funding; relating to reemploying retired members of the teachers' retirement system at
regional resource centers; establishing a teachers' student loan repayment pilot program; and
providing for an effective date.
_______________
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
THE ACT FOLLOWS ON PAGE 1
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AN ACT
Relating to education; relating to reimbursement of school district energy costs; relating to 1
correspondence study program materials; relating to substitute teaching; relating to the 2
qualifications of school board members; relating to school consolidation; relating to the 3
required local contribution made by a city or borough school district for public school 4
funding; relating to reemploying retired members of the teachers' retirement system at 5
regional resource centers; establishing a teachers' student loan repayment pilot program; and 6
providing for an effective date. 7
_______________ 8
* Section 1. AS 14.03.078(a) is amended to read: 9
(a) The department shall provide to the legislature and school districts by 10
February 15 of each year by electronic means an annual report regarding the progress 11
of each school and school district toward high academic performance by all students. 12
The report required under this section must include 13
(1) information described under AS 14.03.120; 14
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(2) progress of the department 1
(A) toward implementing the school accountability provisions 2
of AS 14.03.123; and 3
(B) in assisting high schools to become accredited; 4
(3) a description of the resources provided to each school and school 5
district for coordinated school improvement activities and staff training in each school 6
and school district; 7
(4) each school district's and each school's progress in aligning 8
curriculum with state education performance standards; 9
(5) a description of the efforts by the department to assist a public 10
school or district that receives a low performance designation under AS 14.03.123; 11
(6) a description of intervention efforts by each school district and 12
school for students who are not meeting state performance standards; 13
(7) the number and percentage of turnover in certificated personnel and 14
superintendents; 15
(8) a summary of the categories of certificated administrative 16
employees employed by each school district that includes the ratio of 17
(A) the number of certificated administrative employees in 18
each category employed by each school district compared to the number of 19
students enrolled in the school district on October 1 of the previous year; 20
(B) the total number of certificated administrative employees 21
employed by each school district compared to the total number of teachers 22
employed by the school district on October 1 of the previous year; and 23
(C) the total number of teachers employed by each school 24
district compared to the total number of students enrolled in the school district 25
on October 1 of the previous year; 26
(9) the progress made to implement the reading intervention programs 27
established under AS 14.30.760 - 14.30.780, including data on how school districts are 28
using in-service days for culturally responsive professional development in reading 29
instruction; [AND] 30
(10) the effectiveness and participation rates of the parents as teachers 31
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program established under AS 14.03.420, including measures of efficiency and 1
effectiveness that demonstrate the effects of the program on school readiness; and 2
(11) information relating to reimbursement of school district 3
energy costs under AS 14.03.128, including 4
(A) each school district's actual expenditures for and 5
amount of heating fuel and electricity for facilities used by the district for 6
each of the preceding four fiscal years; and 7
(B) the amount the department distributed to each school 8
district under AS 14.03.128 for the previous fiscal year. 9
* Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 10
Sec. 14.03.128. Reimbursement of district energy costs. (a) Subject to 11
appropriation, the department shall annually reimburse each eligible district an amount 12
equal to the district's three-year energy cost average. The department shall calculate 13
the amount of a district's three-year energy cost average for a fiscal year by combining 14
the amount of the district's actual expenditures for heating fuel and electricity for 15
facilities used by the district, as reported to the department under AS 14.14.050, for 16
each of the first three of the preceding four fiscal years and dividing that sum by three. 17
(b) A district is eligible to receive reimbursement under (a) of this section for 18
a fiscal year if the district makes reasonable efforts, as determined by the department, 19
not to increase the amount of energy the district used during that fiscal year from the 20
amount used in the preceding fiscal year. The department may withhold 21
reimbursement to a district under this section only after providing the district with 22
notice and an opportunity to respond. 23
(c) If the amount appropriated for a fiscal year is insufficient to meet the 24
amounts authorized in this section, the department shall reduce pro rata the amount 25
reimbursed to districts by the necessary percentage as determined by the department. 26
(d) In this section, "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990. 27
* Sec. 3. AS 14.03.300 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 28
(c) A student who ceases to be enrolled in a correspondence study program 29
operated by a school district may retain textbooks, equipment, and other curriculum 30
materials provided to the student through the program, including materials purchased 31
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through an annual student allotment provided to a parent or guardian of the student 1
under AS 14.03.310, if the textbook, equipment, or material is of the type that a 2
student may retain when the student ceases to be enrolled in a physical school in the 3
district. 4
* Sec. 4. AS 14.08.041 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 5
(g) Notwithstanding AS 14.14.140, a member of a regional school board may 6
be employed as a substitute teacher at a school under emergency circumstances of a 7
time-limited duration. 8
* Sec. 5. AS 14.12.080 is amended to read: 9
Sec. 14.12.080. Qualification of members. To be eligible to be a member of a 10
school board, a person must have the same qualifications as are necessary to be a 11
municipal voter in the school district and may not have been convicted of a felony 12
involving moral turpitude unless the person has been unconditionally discharged 13
for the felony and at least 10 years have passed since the date of unconditional 14
discharge. In this section, "unconditionally discharged" has the meaning given in 15
AS 12.73.090. 16
* Sec. 6. AS 14.14.050(b) is amended to read: 17
(b) The audit shall conform in form to requirements established by the 18
commissioner and must include the information the department determines is 19
necessary to calculate reimbursement of the school district's energy costs under 20
AS 14.03.128. The commissioner shall withhold all payments of state funds after 21
November 15 to a school district that fails to file a certified copy of the audit with the 22
department. 23
* Sec. 7. AS 14.17.410(b) is amended to read: 24
(b) Public school funding consists of state aid, a required local contribution, 25
and eligible federal impact aid determined as follows: 26
(1) state aid equals basic need minus a required local contribution and 27
90 percent of eligible federal impact aid for that fiscal year; basic need equals the sum 28
obtained under (D) of this paragraph, multiplied by the base student allocation set out 29
in AS 14.17.470; district adjusted ADM is calculated as follows: 30
(A) the ADM of each school in the district is calculated by 31
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applying the school size factor to the student count as set out in AS 14.17.450; 1
(B) the number obtained under (A) of this paragraph is 2
multiplied by the district cost factor described in AS 14.17.460; 3
(C) the ADMs of each school in a district, as adjusted 4
according to (A) and (B) of this paragraph, are added; the sum is then 5
multiplied by the special needs factor set out in AS 14.17.420(a)(1) and the 6
secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding factor set out in 7
AS 14.17.420(a)(3); 8
(D) the number obtained for intensive services under 9
AS 14.17.420(a)(2) and the number obtained for correspondence study under 10
AS 14.17.430 are added to the number obtained under (C) of this paragraph or 11
under (H) and (I) of this paragraph; 12
(E) notwithstanding (A) - (C) of this paragraph, if a school 13
district's ADM adjusted for school size under (A) of this paragraph decreases 14
by five percent or more from one fiscal year to the next fiscal year, the school 15
district may use the last fiscal year before the decrease as a base fiscal year to 16
offset the decrease, according to the following method: 17
(i) for the first fiscal year after the base fiscal year 18
determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 19
for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 20
the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 75 percent of the 21
difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 22
base fiscal year and the first fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 23
(ii) for the second fiscal year after the base fiscal year 24
determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 25
for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 26
the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 50 percent of the 27
difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 28
base fiscal year and the second fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 29
(iii) for the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year 30
determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 31
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for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 1
the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 25 percent of the 2
difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 3
base fiscal year and the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 4
(F) the method established in (E) of this paragraph is available 5
to a school district for the three fiscal years following the base fiscal year 6
determined under (E) of this paragraph only if the district's ADM adjusted for 7
school size determined under (A) of this paragraph for each fiscal year is less 8
than the district's ADM adjusted for school size in the base fiscal year; 9
(G) the method established in (E) of this paragraph does not 10
apply to a decrease in the district's ADM adjusted for school size resulting 11
from a loss of enrollment that occurs as a result of a boundary change under 12
AS 29; 13
(H) notwithstanding (A) - (C) of this paragraph, if one or more 14
schools close and consolidate with one or more other schools in the same 15
community and district and, as a result of the consolidation, basic need 16
generated by the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under 17
(A) - (C) of this paragraph decreases, the district may use the last fiscal year 18
before the consolidation as the base fiscal year to offset that decrease for the 19
first four fiscal years following consolidation according to the following 20
method: 21
(i) for the first two fiscal years after the base fiscal year, 22
the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - 23
(C) of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's 24
ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 25
paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 26
the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 27
and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the district's ADM of 28
the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as adjusted under 29
(A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's ADM of the 30
consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 31
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multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 1
consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, and 2
adding that number to the sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated 3
schools for the current fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 4
paragraph; 5
(ii) for the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year, the 6
district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) 7
of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's 8
ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 9
paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 10
the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 11
and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the sum of the 12
district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as 13
adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's 14
ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year, 15
multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 16
consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 17
multiplying that number by 66 percent, and adding that number to the 18
sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current 19
fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph; 20
(iii) for the fourth fiscal year after the base fiscal year, 21
the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - 22
(C) of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's 23
ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 24
paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 25
the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 26
and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the sum of the 27
district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as 28
adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's 29
ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year, 30
multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 31
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consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 1
multiplying that number by 33 percent, and adding that number to the 2
sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current 3
fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph; 4
(iv) to calculate the district's basic need for each fiscal 5
year, the number obtained through the calculation in (i), (ii), or (iii) of 6
this subparagraph is added to the number obtained under (C) of this 7
paragraph for the remainder of the district; 8
(I) if the basic need calculated under (H)(i) - (iii) of this 9
paragraph for one of the first four fiscal years after consolidation is less than 10
the basic need calculated under (A) - (C) of this paragraph for that fiscal year, 11
the basic need may not be adjusted under (H) of this paragraph for that fiscal 12
year; 13
(J) a district may not offset a decrease under (H) of this 14
paragraph if 15
(i) a new facility is constructed in the district for the 16
consolidation; or 17
(ii) the district offset a decrease under (E) of this 18
paragraph in the same fiscal year; 19
(K) a district that offsets a decrease under (H) of this paragraph 20
may not reopen a school that was closed for consolidation in the district until 21
(i) four [SEVEN] or more years have passed since the 22
school closure; and 23
(ii) the district provides evidence satisfactory to the 24
department that the schools affected by the consolidation are over 25
capacity; 26
(L) a district may not reopen and reconsolidate a school that 27
was consolidated in the district more than once every four [SEVEN] years for 28
purposes of the calculations made under (H) of this paragraph; 29
(M) a district offsetting a decrease under (H) of this paragraph 30
shall provide the department with the list of schools participating in the 31
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consolidation and the corresponding ADM; 1
(2) the required local contribution of a city or borough school district is 2
the equivalent of a 2.65 mill tax levy on the full and true value of the taxable real and 3
personal property in the district as of January 1 of the second preceding fiscal year, as 4
determined by the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 5
Development under AS 14.17.510 and AS 29.45.110; the required local 6
contribution may [,] not [TO] exceed 7
(A) 45 percent of a district's basic need for the preceding fiscal 8
year as determined under (1) of this subsection; or 9
(B) the amount of the district's required local contribution 10
for the preceding fiscal year by more than four percent. 11
* Sec. 8. AS 14.20.136(a) is amended to read: 12
(a) Subject to (b) - (d) of this section, a school district or regional resource 13
center established under AS 14.12.150 may reemploy a member who is retired under 14
a retirement plan established in AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220, or a member who is retired 15
under a retirement plan established in AS 14.25.310 - 14.25.590. In this subsection, 16
"school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 17
* Sec. 9. AS 14.20.136(b) is amended to read: 18
(b) A member who is retired under AS 14.25.110(a) may not be reemployed 19
under (a) of this section unless the member 20
(1) certifies that the member and the school district or regional 21
resource center did not arrange before the member retired from the school district or 22
regional resource center for the member to be reemployed by the school district or 23
regional resource center after the member retired; and 24
(2) has been retired for at least 25
(A) 60 days if the member is at least 62 years of age; or 26
(B) six months if the member is less than 62 years of age. 27
* Sec. 10. AS 14.20.136(c) is amended to read: 28
(c) Before reemploying a retired member under (a) of this section to fill a 29
position, a school district or regional resource center shall 30
(1) by resolution, adopt a policy that describes the circumstances of a 31
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shortage or anticipated shortage of applicants, other than retired members, who are 1
qualified for particular positions and permits rehiring that complies with the 2
requirements of this section; and 3
(2) publicly advertise the position for 10 business days and actively 4
recruit to fill the position by hiring a person other than a member who is retired. 5
* Sec. 11. AS 14.20.136(e) is amended to read: 6
(e) A school district or regional resource center that reemploys a member 7
under this section who is retired under the defined benefit retirement plan established 8
in AS 14.25.009 - 14.25.220 is required to 9
(1) provide the administrator with 10
(A) a copy of the resolution and policy adopted under (c) of 11
this section; and 12
(B) for every retired member who is rehired, a report 13
identifying the member by name and describing the 14
(i) circumstances of the shortage that necessitated the 15
rehire; and 16
(ii) actions taken by the school district or regional 17
resource center to comply with [SCHOOL DISTRICT] policy adopted 18
under (c) of this section and the requirements of this section; and 19
(2) make contributions under AS 14.25.070. 20
* Sec. 12. AS 14.25.043(f) is amended to read: 21
(f) If a member who retired under AS 14.25.110(a) is reemployed by a school 22
district or regional resource center under AS 14.20.136, 23
(1) the member does not become an active member; 24
(2) the member shall continue to receive retirement benefits from the 25
plan as though the member were not reemployed by the school district or regional 26
resource center; 27
(3) deductions from the member's salary may not be made under 28
AS 14.25.050; and 29
(4) the member may not receive credited service in the plan during the 30
period of reemployment. 31
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* Sec. 13. AS 14.25.043(g) is amended to read: 1
(g) Notwithstanding (f) of this section, a member who is retired under 2
AS 14.25.110(a) and reemployed by a school district or regional resource center 3
under AS 14.20.136 is eligible to receive the group health plan coverage provided to 4
active members employed by that school district or regional resource center. 5
* Sec. 14. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 6
read: 7
STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The Alaska Commission 8
on Postsecondary Education shall develop and administer a teachers' student loan repayment 9
pilot program. A person applying for a grant must submit the application to the commission 10
by a deadline established by the commission, on a form provided by the commission. Subject 11
to appropriation, the commission may award a grant to a person who 12
(1) is employed as a full-time certificated teacher in a public school to teach 13
special education, English as a second language, science, technology, engineering, or 14
mathematics; 15
(2) has completed a postsecondary degree or certificate program; 16
(3) has an outstanding student loan, as described in 26 U.S.C. 108(f)(2), 17
incurred by the person for the degree or certificate program; and 18
(4) has otherwise exhausted all other federal and state student loan repayment 19
programs for which the person is eligible. 20
(b) The commission shall 21
(1) establish an application process for participation in the program; 22
(2) implement policies to determine the efficacy of the program toward 23
improving the recruitment and retention rates of teachers who receive a grant under this 24
section; and 25
(3) evaluate the effects of the program on employee recruitment and retention 26
for the purpose of preparing the report required under sec. 15 of this Act. 27
(c) The commission may require a person to refinance the outstanding student loan 28
described in (a) of this section with the commission in order to participate in the program. 29
(d) Grants awarded under this section are payable upon completion of the person's 30
contract term. 31
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(e) The commission may award a grant to a person each year in an amount equal to 1
one-third of the balance of the outstanding student loan owed by the person. A grant awarded 2
to a person under this section may not exceed $5,000 each year and may not be awarded for 3
more than three years. 4
(f) Grants may be awarded under this section each fiscal year. The total dollar amount 5
of grants awarded under this section may not exceed $1,000,000 in a fiscal year. If the amount 6
appropriated in a fiscal year is insufficient to meet the amounts awarded under (a) of this 7
section, the commission shall reduce pro rata the amounts awarded by the necessary 8
percentage as determined by the commission. 9
(g) The commission may adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. 10
(h) In this section, "commission" means the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 11
Education. 12
* Sec. 15. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 13
read: 14
PILOT PROGRAM: REPORT. On or before December 31, 2028, the Alaska 15
Commission on Postsecondary Education shall submit a report to the senate secretary and the 16
chief clerk of the house of representatives and notify the legislature that the report is 17
available. The report must include the effects of the student loan repayment pilot program 18
developed under sec. 14 of this Act on teacher recruitment and retention and an analysis of the 19
overall success rate and effectiveness of the student loan repayment pilot program thus far. 20
* Sec. 16. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 21
read: 22
APPLICABILITY. Sections 8 - 13 of this Act apply to contracts made on or after the 23
effective date of secs. 8 - 13 of this Act. 24
* Sec. 17. Section 14 of this Act is repealed June 1, 2030. 25
* Sec. 18. Section 15 of this Act is repealed January 1, 2029. 26
* Sec. 19. Section 7 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 27
* Sec. 20. Sections 1, 2, and 6 of this Act take effect July 1, 2027. 28
* Sec. 21. Except as provided in secs. 19 and 20 of this Act, this Act takes effect 29
immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 30