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Title 14. Education, Libraries, And Museums


Published: 2015

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Title 14. EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, AND MUSEUMS
Chapter 14.03. PUBLIC SCHOOLS GENERALLY

Article 01. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 14.03.010. Establishment of school system.

There is established in the state a system of public schools to be administered and maintained as provided in this title.

Sec. 14.03.015. State education policy.

It is the policy of this state that the purpose of education is to help ensure that all students will succeed in their education and work, shape worthwhile and satisfying lives for themselves, exemplify the best values of society, and be effective in improving the character and quality of the world about them.

Sec. 14.03.020. School year.

The school year begins on the first day of July and ends on the 30th day of June.

Sec. 14.03.030. School term.

A school term begins and ends on the dates fixed by the governing body of a school district. A school term shall include not less than 180 days in session, unless with the approval of the commissioner,

 (1) a day used for in-service training of teachers is substituted for a day in session, up to a maximum of 10 days;

 (2) an "emergency closure day" is substituted for a day in session because of conditions posing a threat to the health or safety of students;

 (3) a school board adopts a school term of not less than 150 days for a school if the commissioner finds that

 (A) the shorter term is necessary for abating health hazards in the school; and

 (B) the school board has submitted an acceptable plan under which students will receive the approximate educational equivalent of a 180-day term; or

 (4) the school board adopts a school term of not less than 170 days for a school if the commissioner finds that the school board has submitted an acceptable plan under which students will receive the approximate educational equivalent of a 180-day term.

Sec. 14.03.040. Day in session.

Each day within the school term is a day in session except Saturdays, Sundays, and days designated as holidays by or according to AS 14.03.050. A school board may approve Saturdays as a day in session. The day in session in every school shall be at least four hours long, exclusive of intermissions, for the first, second, and third grades and five hours, exclusive of intermissions, for all other grades. The commissioner may approve a shorter day in session for any grade. The period of the day in session shall be devoted to the instruction of pupils or to study periods for the pupils.

Sec. 14.03.050. School holidays.

 (a) Public schools may not be in session on school holidays, which are Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day immediately following Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July. If one of these holidays falls on a Saturday, the Friday immediately preceding is a school holiday. If one of these holidays falls on a Sunday, the Monday immediately following is a school holiday. A teacher may not be required to perform employment services on these holidays, nor may the salary of a teacher be diminished because the teacher does not perform employment services on a school holiday.

 (b) The public schools shall be in session on all other holidays falling upon school days and shall conduct appropriate exercises in recognition of the day.

 (c) The governing body of the school district may declare additional holidays.

Sec. 14.03.060. Elementary, junior high, and secondary schools.

 (a) An elementary school consists of grades kindergarten through grade eight or any appropriate combination of grades within this range.

 (b) A secondary school consists of grades seven through 12 or any appropriate combination of grades within this range. The establishment of one or two grades beyond the 12th grade is optional with the governing body of the school district.

 (c) Grades seven through eight, nine, and ten or any appropriate combination of grades within this range may be organized as a junior high school.

 (d) This section does not prevent a high school from issuing a diploma to a student who has completed the 12th grade.

Sec. 14.03.070. School age.

A child who is six years of age before August 15 following the beginning of the school year, and who is under the age of 20 and has not completed the 12th grade, is of school age.

Sec. 14.03.075. Secondary student competency testing. [Effective February 1, 2004]..

 (a) A student may not be issued a secondary school diploma unless the student passes a competency examination in the areas of reading, English, and mathematics or receives a waiver from the governing body. A governing body may not grant a waiver to a student before the student's final semester of attendance. The department shall determine the form and contents of the examination and shall score completed examinations.

 (b) A student who fails the examination required under this section shall be retested at least once during a school year on those portions of the examination that the student has not passed. A student who passes any portion of the test may not retake that portion of the test. A student who, when retested, passes the portions of the test not previously passed and who meets any other graduation requirements shall receive a diploma from the school district. This subsection does not apply to a student who is a child with a disability if the student's individualized education program team recommends that the student not be retested.

 (c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section,

 (1) a student who is a child with a disability and who does not achieve a passing score on the examination required under (a) of this section, with or without accommodation, is eligible to receive a diploma if the student successfully completes an alternative assessment program required by the student's individualized education program or required in the education plan developed for the student under 29 U.S.C. 794; an alternative assessment program must, to the maximum extent possible, conform to state performance standards established for the competency examination required under (a) of this section; this paragraph does not apply to a student unless the department determines that the student has taken and failed to pass the competency examination with or without accommodations and the department approves the student's alternative assessment program described under this paragraph; and

 (2) a student who transfers into a public high school in this state shall receive a diploma if the student

 (A) meets graduation requirements imposed by the governing body and the state; and

 (B) has passed a competency examination in the state from which the student transferred.

 (d) A student who fails to qualify for the issuance of a diploma under (a) of this section or a retest under (b) of this section by the end of the student's final semester of attendance, but who has met all other graduation requirements of a governing body and the state, shall be awarded a certificate of achievement. A certificate of achievement may include the following information:

 (1) the portions of the examination described under (a) of this section that were passed;

 (2) the student's attendance record; and

 (3) other information indicating the qualifications of the student that the governing body determines appropriate.

 (e) The department shall by regulation establish uniform standards for

 (1) pre-examination study materials; and

 (2) procedures to be followed during administration of an examination.

 (f) The department shall by regulation establish uniform standards for an alternative assessment program required under (c)(1) of this section. The alternative assessment program required under (c)(1) of this section applicable to an individual student may not be changed after February 1 of the student's junior year of study.

 (g) In this section,

 (1) "child with a disability" has the meaning given "children with disabilities" in AS 14.30.350 ;

 (2) "individualized education program team" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350 .

Sec. 14.03.077. High school diploma for certain veterans.

 (a) Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, the commissioner shall award a high school diploma to a person who

 (1) makes application under (b) of this section; if a person is deceased or incapacitated, an immediate family member may apply on behalf of the person;

 (2) never received a high school diploma; and

 (3) actively served in the United States armed forces or the Alaska Territorial Guard during the period of August 7, 1940, through July 25, 1947, and

 (A) died in active service;

 (B) was honorably discharged; or

 (C) was released from active duty because of a service-related disability.

 (b) The commissioner shall provide a form or electronic format for a person to apply under this section. The commissioner may accept an affidavit to support the award if documentation is not readily available from the military or other sources.

Sec. 14.03.078. Report.

The department shall provide to the legislature by February 15 of each year an annual report regarding the progress of each school and school district toward high academic performance by all students. The report required under this section must include

 (1) information described under AS 14.03.120 (d);

 (2) the number and percentage of students in each school who pass the examination required under AS 14.03.075 , and the number who pass each section of the examination;

 (3) progress of the department

 (A) toward implementing the school accountability provisions of AS 14.03.123; and

 (B) in assisting high schools to become accredited;

 (4) a description of the resources provided to each school and school district for coordinated school improvement activities and staff training in each school and school district;

 (5) each school district's and each school's progress in aligning curriculum with state education performance standards;

 (6) a description of the efforts by the department to assist a public school that receives a designation of deficient or in crisis;

 (7) a description of intervention efforts by each school district and school for students who are not meeting state performance standards;

 (8) the number and percentage of turnover in certificated personnel and superintendents;

 (9) the number of teachers by district and by school who are teaching outside the teacher's area of endorsement but in areas tested by the high school competency examination.

Sec. 14.03.080. Right to attend school.

 (a) A child of school age is entitled to attend public school without payment of tuition during the school term in the school district in which the child is a resident subject to the provisions of AS 14.14.110 and 14.14.120.

 (b) A person over school age may be admitted to the public school in the school district in which the person is a resident at the discretion of the governing body of the school district. A person over school age may be charged tuition by the governing body of the school district.

 (c) A child under school age may be admitted to the public school in the school district of which the child is a resident at the discretion of the governing body of the school district if the child meets minimum standards prescribed by the board evidencing that the child has the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to perform satisfactorily for the educational program being offered.

 (d) A child who is five years of age before August 15 following the beginning of the school year, and who is under school age, may enter a public school kindergarten.

 (e) A child under school age shall be admitted to school in the district of which the child is a resident if immediately before the child became a resident of the district, the child was legally enrolled in the public schools of another district or state.

 (f) This section does not require a school district to admit a child or person currently under suspension or expulsion under AS 14.03.160 in that or another school district.

Sec. 14.03.083. Contracting for services.

 (a) A school district may contract for educational services provided to students in the district by an agency that is accredited by the department under AS 14.07.020 and (b) of this section.

 (b) The department shall adopt regulations and establish program standards for educational services that may be contracted for by a school district.

 (c) Expenses incurred by the department in accrediting the agency and program shall be borne by the agency seeking accreditation.

Sec. 14.03.085. Procurement preference for recycled Alaska products.

A school district shall comply with AS 29.71.050 , except that in AS 29.71.050(b), "AS 29.71.040 " is read as "AS 36.15.050 ," and in AS 29.71.050(a) - (c) and (e), "municipal" and "municipality" are read as "school district." In this section, "school district" does not include regional educational attendance areas.

Sec. 14.03.090. Partisan, sectarian, or denominational doctrines prohibited.

Partisan, sectarian, or denominational doctrines may not be advocated in a public school during the hours the school is in session. A teacher or school board violating this section may not receive public money.

Sec. 14.03.095. Part-time school attendance.

 (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, a governing body shall, upon request, allow a child, including a child who is also enrolled at a private school, is a correspondence student, or is being home schooled, to enroll as a part-time student in the district. A governing body may not discriminate between part-time and full-time students or require that part-time students be enrolled after full-time student enrollment is completed.

 (b) A governing body is not required to allow part-time enrollment if

 (1) the enrollment would be denied even if the enrollee were a full-time student; or

 (2) the enrollment would result in an expenditure of public funds for the direct benefit of a private educational institution.

 (c) Part-time enrollment under this section does not constitute attendance for the purposes of AS 14.30.010 (a).

 (d) This section does not apply to interscholastic or extracurricular student activities.

Sec. 14.03.100. Use of school facilities.

The governing body of a school district may allow the use of school facilities for any legal gatherings or assemblies. The governing body shall adopt bylaws that will ensure reasonable and impartial use of the facilities.