SCHOOLS: COMM. DEVICES/CLASS SIZE/FUNDING

Enrolled HB 57
LAWS OF ALASKA

2025

Source Chapter No.
SCS CSHB 57(FIN) am S(reengrossed) _______

AN ACT

Relating to maximum classroom sizes in public schools; relating to education reports; relating
to charter schools; relating to student transportation funding; relating to secondary school
vocational and technical instruction funding; relating to the base student allocation; relating to
reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to wireless tele communications devices in
public schools; relating to the u se of tax revenue from highly digitized businesses; relating to
the duties of the Department of L abor and Workforce Development ; establishing the Task
Force on Education Funding; 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 maximum classroom sizes in public schools; relating to education reports; relating 1
to charter schools; relating to student transportation funding; relating to secondary school 2
vocational and technical instruction funding; relating to the base student allocation; relating to 3
reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to wireless tele communications devices in 4
public schools; relating to the u se of tax revenue from highly digitized businesses; relating to 5
the duties of the Department of L abor and Workforce Development ; establishing the Task 6
Force on Education Funding; and providing for an effective date. 7
_______________ 8
* Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 9
Sec. 14.03.065. Maximum classroom size. Each school district shall establish 10
and make available to the public a target average class size policy for each grade level. 11
The target average class size for pre-kindergarten through grade six may not exceed 23 12

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and the target average class size for grades seven through 12 m ay not exceed 30. The 1
policy may exclude mixed grade classes and courses in art, libr ary, music, computer 2
science, vocational-technical, and physical education. The poli cy must include 3
procedures to reduce class sizes when the school district deter mines a reduction is 4
appropriate. 5
* Sec. 2. AS 14.03.120(g) is amended to read: 6
(g) To the extent allowable under state and federal privacy la ws, each district 7
shall annually report to the de partment information from the pr evious school year 8
regarding 9
(1) the number of students and teaching staff assigned to each 10
classroom in grades kindergarten through 12 [THREE]; 11
(2) the number and percentage of students 12
(A) in grades kindergarten through three who demonstrated 13
improvement on expected grade-level skills on the statewide screening tool; 14
(B) in grades kindergarten through three who performed below 15
expected grade-level skills on the statewide screening tool, by grade; 16
(C) in grades kindergarten through three who did not progress 17
to the next grade and the reasons the students did not progress; 18
(D) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 19
progress to grade four based on the statewide screening tool; 20
(E) in grade three who progressed to grade four based on a 21
waiver under AS 14.30.765(f); 22
(F) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 23
progress to grade four based on an alternative standardized reading screening; 24
(G) in grade three who demonstrated sufficient reading skills to 25
progress to grade four based on a student reading portfolio; 26
( 3 ) t h e p e r f o r m a n c e o n t h e s t atewide screening tool of student s in a 27
grade above grade three who did not progress to grade four or who progressed to grade 28
four based on a waiver under AS 14.30.765(f). 29
* Sec 3. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30
(k) The department shall collaborate with the Department of La bor and 31

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Workforce Development under AS 44.31.020 to gather data on the progress of each 1
high school graduating class in a district by collecting career , postsecondary 2
education, and residency data on each student in the graduating class. The departments 3
shall gather the data every five years for 20 years after the h igh school graduation date 4
of the class. 5
* Sec. 4. AS 14.03.250(a) is amended to read: 6
(a) A local school board shall prescribe an application proced ure for the 7
establishment of a charter school in that school district. The application procedure 8
must include provisions for an academic policy committee consis ting of parents of 9
students attending the school, teachers, and school employees and a proposed form for 10
a contract between a charter school and the local school board, setting out the contract 11
elements required under AS 14.03.255(c). The application procedure must allow an 12
application to be submitted at any time during a school year fo r the following 13
school year. A local school boar d shall announce the deadline t o submit an 14
application for establishment of a charter school for the following school year. 15
* Sec. 5. AS 14.03.253(b) is amended to read: 16
(b) In an appeal to the state Board of Education and Early Dev elopment of a 17
denial of a charter school application under (a)(3) of this sec tion, the state board shall 18
determine, based on the record, whether the commissioner's find ings are supported by 19
substantial evidence and whether the decision is contrary to la w. The state board shall 20
issue a written decision within 45 [90] days after the state board receives an appeal. 21
* Sec. 6. AS 14.03.255(c) is amended to read: 22
(c) A charter school shall opera te under a contract between th e charter school 23
and the local school board. A contract must contain the following provisions: 24
(1) a description of the educational program; 25
(2) specific levels of achievement for the education program; 26
(3) admission policies and procedures; 27
(4) administrative policies; 28
(5) a statement of the charter school's funding allocation from the local 29
school board and costs assignable to the charter school program budget; 30
(6) the method by which the c harter school will account for re ceipts 31

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and expenditures; 1
(7) the location and description of the facility; 2
(8) the name of the teacher, or teachers, who, by agreement be tween 3
the charter school and the teacher, will teach in the charter school; 4
(9) the teacher-to-student ratio; 5
(10) the number of students served; 6
(11) the term of the contract, not to exceed a term of 10 years; 7
(12) a termination clause providing that the contract may be terminated 8
by the local school board for t he failure of the charter school to meet educational 9
achievement goals or fiscal management standards, or for other good cause; 10
(13) a clause providing that the local school board may only 11
terminate a contract under the standards and procedures establi shed in 12
AS 14.03.256; 13
(14) a statement that the charter school will comply with all state and 14
federal requirements for receipt and use of public money; 15
(15) [(14)] other requirements or exemptions agreed on [UPON] by the 16
charter school and the local school board. 17
* Sec. 7. AS 14.03.255 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 18
(e) A local school board may establish simplified procedures and standards for 19
a renewal of a contract in good standing, as defined by the local school board, between 20
the local school board and a charter school. 21
* Sec. 8. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22
Sec. 14.03.256. Charter school termination. (a) A local school board may 23
terminate a contract between the local school board and a chart er school only if the 24
charter school has 25
(1) failed to comply with a condition or material term of the contract or 26
AS 14.03.250 - 14.03.290; or 27
(2) intentionally or fraudulentl y misrepresented, in whole or in part, 28
material facts or circumstances upon which the contract was made. 29
(b) Before termination of a contract under this section, the l ocal school board 30
shall give the charter school w ritten notice of the local schoo l board's intent to 31

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terminate the contract. The lo cal school board may also provide the charter school 1
with a reasonable opportunity, as determined by the local schoo l board, to cure any 2
deficiency that is the basis for the termination if the local s chool board determines that 3
curing the deficiency is appropriate under the circumstances. 4
(c) A charter school whose cont ract is terminated under this s ection may file 5
an appeal with the superior court under the Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure. 6
* Sec. 9. AS 14.09.010(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 7
(a) A school district that pr ovides student tra nsportation ser vices for the 8
transportation of students who re side a distance from establish ed schools is eligible to 9
receive funding for operating or s ubcontracting the operation o f 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 am ount for the school district as follows, for the school 15
years beginning July 1, 2025: 16
DISTRICT PER STUDENT AMOUNT 17
Alaska Gateway $2,529 18
Aleutians East 377 19
Anchorage 529 20
Annette Island 221 21
Bering Strait 59 22
Bristol Bay 3,247 23
Chatham 341 24
Copper River 1,928 25
Cordova 408 26
Craig 514 27
Delta/Greely 2,013 28
Denali 2,197 29
Dillingham 1,480 30
Fairbanks 992 31

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Galena 309 1
Haines 761 2
Hoonah 363 3
Iditarod 257 4
Juneau 733 5
Kake 330 6
Kashunamiut 6 7
Kenai Peninsula 1,112 8
Ketchikan 883 9
Klawock 710 10
Kodiak Island 971 11
Kuspuk 794 12
Lake and Peninsula 466 13
Lower Kuskokwim 337 14
Lower Yukon 1 15
Matanuska-Susitna 1,106 16
Nenana 714 17
Nome 755 18
North Slope 1,361 19
Northwest Arctic 30 20
Pelican 88 21
Petersburg 455 22
Saint Mary's 234 23
Sitka 520 24
Skagway 44 25
Southeast Island 1,404 26
Southwest Region 726 27
Unalaska 788 28
Valdez 894 29
Wrangell 851 30
Yakutat 904 31

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Yukon Flats 321 1
Yukon/Koyukuk 364 2
Yupiit 2. 3
* Sec. 10. AS 14.17.420(a) is amended to read: 4
(a) As a component of public sc hool funding, a district is eli gible for special 5
needs and secondary school voca tional and technical instruction funding and may be 6
eligible for intensive services funding as follows: 7
(1) special needs funding is available to a district to assist the district 8
in providing special education, gifted and talented education, vocational education, 9
and bilingual education services to its students; a special nee ds funding factor of 1.20 10
shall be applied as set out in AS 14.17.410(b)(1); 11
(2) in addition to the special needs funding for which a distr ict is 12
eligible under (1) of this subsection, a district is eligible f or intensive services funding 13
for each special education stude nt who needs and receives inten sive services and is 14
enrolled on the last day of the count period; for each such stu dent, intensive services 15
funding is equal to the intensive student count multiplied by 13; 16
(3) in addition to the special needs and intensive services fu nding 17
available under (1) and (2) of t his subsection, secondary schoo l vocational and 18
technical instruction funding is available to assist districts in providing vocational and 19
technical instruction to student s who are enrolled in a seconda ry school; a secondary 20
school vocational and technical instruction funding factor of 1.023 [1.015] shall be 21
applied as set out in AS 14.17.410(b)(1); in this paragraph, "v ocational and technical 22
instruction" excludes costs associated with 23
(A) administrative expenses; and 24
(B) instruction in general literacy, mathematics, and job 25
readiness skills. 26
* Sec. 11. AS 14.17.420 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 27
(d) If the legislature increas es the secondary school vocation al and technical 28
instruction funding factor under (a)(3) of this section, a dist rict shall budget for and 29
spend on secondary school vocational and technical instruction an amount equal to the 30
increase in the funds generated for the district by the increas e to the secondary school 31

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vocational and technical instruction funding factor under (a)(3) of this section. 1
* Sec. 12. AS 14.17.470 is amended to read: 2
Sec. 14.17.470. Base student allocation. The base student allocation is $6,660 3
[$5,960]. 4
* Sec. 13. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 5
Sec. 14.30.773. Reading profic iency incentive grants. ( a ) S u b j e c t t o 6
appropriation, a school d istrict is eligible to receive a readi ng proficiency incentive 7
grant of not less than $450 for each student in kindergarten th rough grade six who, at 8
the end of the school year, 9
(1) performs at grade-level reading proficiency; or 10
(2) demonstrates improvement on a reading screening tool appro ved 11
by the department, on a standard s-based assessment in language arts approved by the 12
department, or on a student portfolio in language arts approved by the department. 13
(b) If insufficient funding is appropriated to provide all gra nts authorized 14
under this section, the grants shall be distributed pro rata to eligible school districts. 15
* Sec. 14. AS 14.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 16
Article 5. Wireless Telecommunications Devices. 17
Sec. 14.33.300. Wireless telecomm unications device policy. (a) Each school 18
district shall adopt a policy th at regulates the possession and use of nonschool-issued 19
wireless telecommunications devices during regular school hours, including lunch and 20
passing periods. Each school distr ict shall share this policy w ith parents or guardians, 21
students, volunteers, and school employees. If a school distric t's policy prohibits the 22
use of nonschool-issued wireless telecommunications devices, th e policy must allow 23
exceptions for students to use a wireless telecommunications de vice for medical or 24
translation purposes, in the event of an emergency, or when a t eacher or administrator 25
of the school grants permission to a student to use a wireless telecommunications 26
device for educational purposes . A school in a district that ha s not adopted a policy 27
under this section may not allow a student to use an electronic telecommunications 28
device during regular school hours, including lunch and passing periods. 29
(b) This section does not authorize a person to monitor, colle ct, or access 30
information related to a student's use of a wireless telecommunications device. 31

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(c) In this section, "wireless telecommunications device" mean s any portable 1
wireless device that has the capability to provide voice, messa ging, or other data 2
communication between two or more parties. 3
* Sec. 15. AS 43.20 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 4
Sec. 43.20.149. Highly digitized businesses tax revenue. The tax amounts 5
collected from a highly digitized business under AS 43.20 shall be separately 6
accounted for and may be appropriated to the Department of Educ ation and Early 7
Development. The Department of E ducation and Early Development shall use funds 8
appropriated under this section to fund reading proficiency inc entive grants awarded 9
under AS 14.30.773. If the amount appropriated to the Departmen t of Education and 10
Early Development exceeds the amount necessary to award grants under AS 14.30.773 11
for the fiscal year, the department shall use the remaining bal ance of the appropriation 12
to fund secondary school vocationa l and technical instruction. The department shall 13
distribute the secondary school vocational and technical instru ction funding to 14
secondary schools on a pro rata basis. 15
* Sec. 16. AS 44.31.020 is amended to read: 16
Sec. 44.31.020. Duties of department. The Department of Labor and 17
Workforce Development shall 18
(1) enforce the laws and adopt r egulations under them concerni ng 19
employer-employee relationships, including the safety, hours of work, wages, and 20
conditions of workers, including children; 21
(2) accumulate, analyze, and report labor statistics; 22
(3) operate systems of workers' compensation and unemployment 23
insurance; 24
(4) gather data reflecting the cost of living in various locat ions of the 25
state upon request of the director of personnel under AS 39.27.030; 26
(5) operate the federally funded employment and training progr ams 27
under 29 U.S.C. 2801 - 2945 (Workforce Investment Act of 1998); 28
(6) administer the state's progr am of adult basic education an d adopt 29
regulations to administer the program; [AND] 30
(7) administer the programs of the Alaska Vocational Technical Center 31

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and adopt regulations to adminis ter the programs, including reg ulations that set rates 1
for student tuition and room and board and fees for the program s and services 2
provided by the department regarding the Alaska Vocational Technical Center; and 3
(8) gather data on the progress of each high school graduating 4
class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary educati on, and residency 5
data on each student in the graduating class; the department sh all gather the 6
data required under this paragraph every five years for 20 year s after the high 7
school graduation date of each high school graduating class; the department shall 8
publish a biennial report on the data gathered under this parag raph; in this 9
paragraph, "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990. 10
* Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11
read: 12
TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION FUNDING. (a) The Task Force on Educatio n 13
Funding is established as a joint task force of the Alaska State Legislature. 14
(b) The task force shall 15
(1) analyze the state of public education funding and the current accountability 16
provisions for schools and districts in the state; 17
(2) analyze and recommend statewide policy on interdistrict op en enrollment, 18
including evaluating the effects on military families, subsidiz ation of student transportation 19
costs, and appeal processes; 20
(3) evaluate internal and external factors leading to school a bsenteeism and 21
identify district and state level intervention and incentive tools relating to school absenteeism; 22
(4) analyze and make recommendations on effective policies relating to school 23
major maintenance and school construction; 24
(5) evaluate and recommend health insurance, group insurance, and ways to 25
reduce property and building insurance for public school facilities; 26
(6) make recommendations rela ting to public education funding and 27
accountability provisions for schools and districts in the state; and 28
(7) submit a report of findings and recommendations of the tas k force to the 29
senate secretary and the chief cl erk of the house of representa tives not later than the first day 30
of the First Regular Session of t he Thirty-Fifth Alaska State L egislature and notify the 31

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members of the legislature that the report is available. 1
(c) The task force consists of six members as follows: 2
(1) three members of the senate, at least one of whom is a mem ber of the 3
minority, appointed by the president of the senate; the preside nt of the senate shall select one 4
of the members to serve as co-chair of the task force; 5
(2) three members of the house of representatives, at least on e of whom is a 6
member of the minority, appointed by the speaker of the house o f representatives; the speaker 7
of the house of representatives shall select one of the members to serve as co-chair of the task 8
force. 9
(d) A vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the same ma nner as the original 10
selection or appointment. 11
(e) The task force shall meet at the call of the co-chairs. Th e t a s k f o r c e m a y m e e t 12
between and during legislative sessions. A majority of the memb ers of the task force 13
constitute a quorum. The task force may conduct meetings in per son, telephonically, or by 14
electronic means, as directed by the co-chairs. 15
(f) The task force may request data and other information from t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f 16
Education and Early Development. 17
(g) The legislative staff of the members of the task force sha ll serve as staff for the 18
task force. The task force may hire staff and contract for serv ices necessary to carry out the 19
duties of the task force under the procedures adopted by the le gislative council governing 20
procurement of services, subject to the approval of the legisla tive council and the legislative 21
council making funds available for that purpose. 22
(h) The task force expires on January 31, 2027. 23
* Sec. 18. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 24
read: 25
A P P L I C A B I L I T Y . ( a ) S e c t i o n s 6 - 8 o f t h i s A c t a p p l y t o a c o n t r act that becomes 26
legally binding on or after the effective date of secs. 6 - 8 of this Act. 27
(b) Section 11 of this Act applies to an increase to the secon dary school vocational 28
and technical instruction funding factor under AS 14.17.420(a)(3) that takes effect on or after 29
the effective date of sec. 11 of this Act. 30
* Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 31

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read: 1
CONDITIONAL EFFECT. AS 14.17.420(a), as amended by sec. 10 of t his Act, 2
AS 14.17.420(d), enacted by sec. 11 of this Act, AS 14.30.773, enacted by sec. 13 of this Act, 3
and AS 43.20.149, enacted by sec. 15 of this Act, take effect o nly if SB 113 or a substantially 4
similar bill that effectuates the sales factor, as determined u nder AS 43.19 (Multistate Tax 5
Compact), as the apportionment factor for highly digitized busi nesses is passed by the Thirty-6
Fourth Alaska State Legislature and enacted into law. 7
* Sec. 20. If secs. 10, 11, 13, and 15 of this Act take effect, they take effect 181 days after 8
the effective date of the sec tion of SB 113 or a substantially similar bill that effectuates the 9
sales factor, as determined under AS 43.19 (Multistate Tax Comp act), as the apportionment 10
factor for highly digitized businesses. 11
* Sec. 21. Section 1 of this Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 12
* Sec. 22. Except as provided in secs. 20 a nd 21 of this Act, this Act tak es effect July 1, 13
2025. 14