Good morning, I'd like to call the meeting of the House Education Committee to order.
It is 8.03 Monday, February 2nd, 2026, in the Betty Davis room, 106 in capital.
Members present are to my right, rep eyeshide, rip under wood,
Let the record reflect that we have a quorum to conduct business.
Please take this time to silence your cell phones during the meeting.
Thank you.
I want to thank Cale Brown, the House Education Secretary from Records and
Chloe Miller from the Juneau LIO for staffing the committee today.
And our co-chair committee aids Tammy Smith and Ella Lubin.
First of all, I wanna say happy black history month.
It is the 100-year anniversary, it was in 1926.
It was established by Dr. Carter Woodson,
and their theme this year is just celebrating the impact
of 100 years of black life and history
and what has the impacts that it has had on America.
So we will look forward to quite a few events this month on that.
Today, we will hear two bills, my House Bill 261, on education funding process, which addresses average daily membership,
also known as the student count measures.
Following that hearing,
we'll hear Senate Bill 6, Asian American Programs from Senator Gray Jackson.
At this time, I will be turning the gavel over to House Education co-chair Hymn Shoot.
I'm going to take a quick at ease.
Okay, good morning.
I invite Representative Story and her staff, Tammy Smith,
to identify yourselves for the record
and begin your presentation on House Bill 261.
Thank you for being here.
Thank-you.
I am Rep. Andy Story.
I have the honor of representing District 3,
Haynes, Gageway, Cluckwungas, Davis, and North Juneau.
I'm Tammy smith for
the Record Staff to Representative story.
Please imagine for a moment that we, the legislature, must pass a state budget by March 31st.
But we won't get our revenue projections until May.
On top of that, we have to issue notices of non-referrals to staff,
otherwise known as pink slips weeks before the shot in the dark budget is ready.
Of course, we'd be making blind decisions and dismissing talented staff simply because of the calendar forced on us.
We, as responsible lawmakers, would not tolerate that.
Yet we force school districts to budget in such an irrational way, and it makes no sense.
This backwards budgeting consumes a great deal of valuable time to reshuffle numbers once the budget is finally signed by the governor doing during the summer or May or June, months after pink slips have been sent out or programs cancelled.
From personal experience, this causes much pain in the community.
After the fallout from the budget, relationships must be repaired.
Parents argued against each other about which programs to cut.
They pleaded with a school board not to raise class sizes or cut favorite programs.
There can be hard feelings between administrators and staff.
Employers report that potential hires declined positions due to lack of investment in our children's education,
even though the legislature did just approve new revenues.
This affects our economy.
I want to take a moment to understand the mechanics of this process and how we can turn it around and assure some predictability.
I'm going to turn to this PowerPoint, all right now, for further explanation of what the bill does to improve the funding budget process, and create some more stability through the timing of the student count.
So, education funding process.
The education-funding process centers around the Student Count, better known as the average daily membership.
for budgeting because, of course, the student count drives state funding.
In Juneau, this starts in the spring of the school year before the new school
year starts. The school board looks at the current student counts in each grade.
They move the students up.
They often work, they move the students up in a chart, so you can predict first graders.
They're going to move up to second.
So that's part of the calculation.
Boards often worked with an economist.
They give a low, medium, and high projection based on burs, based of all the rates of immigration
and outmigration.
But it is a guess that the district will be building its budget on.
Slide 2, please.
As noted, Alaska law determines public school funding
based on the average daily membership count,
or count student count.
So you can see the first bar way over in May.
So that is the May prior, the school board,
or it could be in April, is deciding
what their student account is gonna be for the next year,
and that's what the budget, part of the
budget will be based, so then October crumbs around,
The count is calculated using the district's 20-day count period.
So they, through that whole 20 days, counting to the quitting at the end.
The last day of February is the last of the 20 day count.
Deed and there's true-ups and
Verifying students if there is there might be a double count of students ones move they decide which student the
Just which district the student belongs to and that process is goes for a few months
Well, this is all happening the governor's proposed budgets released
Community members start meeting on the budget.
The school districts provide budget requests
to the local government.
There are oftentimes many of the municipalities.
They have a deadline that it must be to
the city and borough of Juneau, for an example,
because of course they're building their budgets
and they have to know how much the school district
will need that year.
Next slide please. I did want to point out, so in fact I didn't want
to forget, that in March and April of every year that is currently nationwide
and we are in a teacher shortage. That is recruitment season. And so down south
of teachers are thinking they're going to move. If you're thinking you might want
People are looking around, especially they're looking
around if there's been a lot of budget projections and they are not sure what the number is going to be
and unfortunately because our budget funding process
doesn't happen until May or we don't give our money
for sure, what we're going be giving. There's a
lot stress and chaos. Unfortunately, if we do not
pass our budgets, so districts know what they will be getting
Notifications have to go out like the pink lipstick. Do you want to take questions as you go or do you
Want us to say thank you for that question? You know, I would like to just keep going
Okay, we've got a quite few people here today, and I think your questions might be answered as we go along
So thank You for That sure
So I just wanted to point on to the bottom of that chart is very important because it happens here in Alaska so much.
Once the budget is approved, if there's not a veto,
if it's signed, the districts have to go back and redo their budgets and try and
rehire if staff is still around for that.
Next story, I am going to stop you just a second.
You misspoke at one point.
I just want to clarify.
I think you meant end of October for the last day of the count.
And I thank you accidentally said February.
But I want a confirm that what you
meant was the account ends on the
last date of october, not February?
Yes.
OK.
Yes, it does.
I don't think that's the one thing we all know.
I thing a lot of times people don'
realize that really the budget process starts when
of what the student count's going to be in the spring of the year.
And that kind of kicks off the whole budget process.
Yes, and then we've got the Student Count period, that 20-day count period in October.
And I think February popped out because it's Groundhog Day.
We're all waiting to see if they're going
to more winter.
Yes.
Yes thank you.
Yeah.
Next slide please.
So this current funding process undermines families and communities' confidence in our educational
It leads to stress for families and communities, uncertainty for staff,
teacher and staff turnover, focus on redoing budgets instead of student achievement.
We spend all this time on budgets when we want to be focused on student learning.
This whole process has poor economic impacts for Alaska.
There's a lot of volatility.
Next slide, please.
You can see it by looking at news headlines.
Alaska Education Fund and Disputes These Pink Slips profound concern in rural schools.
Ketchikan schools deliver 52 layoff notifications, which leaders say are unlikely to materialize.
Alaska School Districts get a one-time funding boost.
It came too late for many teachers.
Alaska school officials say lay-off notices are going out, budget uncertainty costing
Well, there are some other ways.
There are a different ways to do the student count alternatives.
I am on the task force on education funding.
In November, we read a review of Alaska's funding programs in 2015.
One of the authors, Justin Silverstein, is on
the line today, if there any questions about how we do student counts.
In that hearing and in that report and not hearing solutions were put forth and there
were suggestions for Alaska.
It says Alaska should create a three-year averaging approach statewide to replace the
current hold harmless provision to ensure greater funding still stability.
It could also provide districts with more stability in planning as districts would not
at the October count period.
About 19 states use it an approach that either averages,
combines, or provides the better of multiple years
of student counts.
As you can look at this busy chart or this
busy page right here, 10 states of the 19 States
who do an average,
10 States use the current year.
On nine of which only use the prior years.
Generally school districts who have taxing authority choose to use
the current year to be part of their three year average because they have the ability to tax and add revenue.
States such as ours where there's no ability for school board members to raise revenue tend to used the
prior year's.
And this slide came from Ogdenblick, Palish, and Associates.
It came form their task force, their review of education programs in 2015.
And we, just in Silverstein, who was part of that, was also before us in November.
And, we're fortunate to have him online today if you have any questions about the student counts
and how they are done across the United States.
Next slide, please.
So I took the recommendation I'm in the report of taking the previous three-year averaging
of the student calendar or the pervious year, whichever is greater.
The reason why the Pervious Year is a choice is when you're doing a three year averaging
You might see that, hey, this prior year I've got to bump in students and you know you're
going to be having those students so you take the prior
year.
So you can take that average or you could take
the
prior
year whichever is greater and then the statute it just says you will take whichever
is
greater which I know a district would want to, it is important to know to note that if
Deed has the authority, if all of a sudden there was a huge bump
in your student count and you needed to meet the needs
of many more students, that they can step in and help.
And that happened just this last fall when there
was the terrible hurricane, typhoon actually,
along and they have really helped the Anchorage School District be able
to the need of the students in fun somewhere.
some more dollars. So there is flexibility. In my speaking with education leaders, anything
that can help give stability is very much appreciated. Knowing your student count number
So, with a previous three-year average, it allows districts to know their revenue based
on firm student count data starting in July, 2026, so we know the student counts have
been vetted thoroughly.
I'm by deed.
It is an appropriate time budget process, it allows for teacher and staff contracts to
be signed earlier, reducing turnover and making the state more competitive in retaining and
recruiting teachers.
It smooths the loss of student enrollment by removing the hold harmless provision.
Thank you.
Help small districts absorb large resource shifts in any given year, and it enables student
communities to focus more on student achievement than budgets.
And it increases public confidence in education here in Alaska.
House Bill 261 calls for the calculation
in a district student count for
the first year to be based on the average daily membership
of the district's previous three year average,
which we ADM or which is another word for student
count or the previous year student
count whichever is greater.
So I wanted to put this slide on here
because I've had a few questions about that.
And so we just had our student
trying to verify it and they're probably coming to the end of that with DEED.
But that student count is not a part of the prior three year.
We're really going to be taking the counts from 24, 23, and 22.
So the districts could take an average of those three years or they could
take the October 2024 count.
And that comes from section 16, that definition in the sectional analysis.
So another thing that happens in the bill is the intensive needs students
Who we all know have complex needs and may require additional staffing to meet their individual education plans
So importantly house bill
261 permits the district to adjust the intense student count mid-year to accommodate intensive need students
who are new to the district after the current count date.
So there's really four ways to use the intensive needs students count.
The three year averaging, the previous year, whichever is greater
or the currently ADM count or there will be a mid-year adjustment in February.
This is something that was, I know the Alaska Association of School Boards has a resolution
I'm sure at least a decade because when a student comes in,
they're 13 times the BSA and you are hiring another person
to help give them supports and so they want to make sure
that districts are making sure that student has the supports
they need.
Next slide please.
Here is another part and this was another recommendation
help the funding clip in the part of the law under facilities constituting a school.
And this was something that I learned about from the Skagway School District.
They're in our law.
education policy in our statutes. There is a statute about small schools of a hundred
So it smooths out funding cliffs when school membership in small districts falls below 100 or 425 students.
It recognizes when small changes in school and district level student counts may lead to large changes and funding.
So Skagway, who is in the low 100s, in our formula,
When you have a school's over 100, like 101,
they can pick to divide their K through 12th grade programs
into two schools.
So you'll have elementary through sixth grade,
and then you will have sixth through twelfth grade.
And that...
help you to meet the needs of those students,
but if you have these two schools
and all of a sudden you flow to 99,
just one below 100, you only get funding for one school.
And so it's a huge, it just a loss of one student,
but it is a big revenue drop
and it really impacts your programs.
And this was brought up
when Ogden Blick, Palish, and Associates
were doing their review in 2015.
One of the recommendations was to smooth out
those funding cliffs.
And so there is the three year averaging, I have put that into the bill before you, next slide please.
And then lastly, for alternative schools, with an ADM of fewer than 175 students would
now be counted as their own school rather than as part of the biggest school in the
district.
Being counted is part as the school and the district with the highest student count of
mainstream kids means that alternative programs, which typically require smaller class sizes
deprived of much-needed funds. So as an example, here in Juneau, our biggest school is our high
school. And in the school size formula, once you're over 750 students, you are a school-sized
adjustment for economies of scales. They're not getting 1.0 anymore for that student.
They are getting like a .86. Then you take the alternative school, which is, I think,
90 maybe you take those students put them into the largest school and you're getting a 0.86 for them
rather than a one or
another size factor and
You just don't have as much resources that you can use for some kids who need some
Some specialized services
So that was a lot but it
But in one way, it's very clear the needs and it is also clear that it
is time to fix the education funding process and better address student enrollment changes
so we can focus on student achievement.
This House Bill 261 is just one step forward.
Education funding needs still must be resolved, will still wrestle with what should be the
base student allocation number, but there are things we can do to stabilize our budget
process by looking at how we could change student enrollment and how do student counts
in the state of Alaska.
Ms. Smith go over the sexual analysis and then I was thinking we could go right into the presentations
And before we do all of that
I should have mentioned it's here and I didn't notice that I'm supposed to remind everybody or let you know that we
do have
Justin Silverstein who's the CEO from Algon Blick Paylish and Associates online for questions
About the presentation and how we'd do student count in Alaska
We also have ledge legal available to answer questions
and Connor Bell from ledge finance is available,
and then we have a whole bunch of invited testifiers.
So would you like to do the sectional analysis
and see if there are questions about your presentation?
I think I would like go through everyone
because I know time is precious,
and at the end come back and help field questions.
Okay.
Great, so Ms. Smith.
Yeah, good morning again, co-chair Hemshoot and Committee.
For the record, I am Tammy Smith, staff, to represent the story.
So for sections one, we have immense AS-1403-410e
to conform to AS 1417-600 under former AS14-17500.
In section 2, this amends 14, 11,
100, 0A through M to conform to AS1417600 under former AS 1417500.
Section 3 amens AS1311, 100P2A
through L to conform to As14 17600,
under form or AS1517 500.
And section 4 amends AS14-11-100-Q-1-A-N-B, and it conforms to AS 14-17-600 under former AS-14, 17-500.
So you can see a lot of what you see in the initial part of the bill is that we have language that is just conforming to the statutes that are there.
Section 5, we also amend AES-146050A2B with conforming language changing
AS14-17-410-B1 amends by deleting E through G.
This section eliminates the 5% adjustment allowance that school districts use in determining average
daily membership, the ADM, commonly known as the whole harmless clause.
and F are re-lettered from A and B respectively.
F through J are relettered to conform as determined
through section, throughout section six.
Section seven.
amends 14-17-4-20-A redefining intensive student funding enrollment counts allowing for the
intensive students count to be equal to or greater than enrollments taken by October 15th
of the previous fiscal year or by selecting one of following enrollment count options
fiscal year, use of the second count by February 15th of
the current fiscal
year should the district choose to conduct an additional
student enrollment count, three by using the districts
three year average intensive enrollment
count whichever or whichever is greater.
There's four options for the intensive reading, excuse me,
intensive needs funding previous fiscal year, use of the current fiscal
year use the second count by February 15th of
the correct fiscal or by using the district's three year average intensive
soon into enrollment count whichever is greater.
450G by adding a new subsection that states that the calculation of a district student
count must be based on the previous district's three-year average ADM reported
in 14, 17, 600 or the ADMs reported in the
previous fiscal year, whichever is greater.
Section 9 amends 14, 17, 600 by adding that the report submitted by the district for its ADM count period
shall include the District's previous three-year average ADMs student count information.
Department determines as necessary to calculate community and charter school ADM that relate to the district under 1417-905 in order to determine the amount of the District's state aid for the succeeding fiscal year.
The district shall also include in the district report the number of special education students who needed or
received intensive services on October 15th of that count period,
which the department shall use to determine funding for intensive
services for the succeeding fiscal year.
under AS 14-17-4-20-A-2-a-n-d, and, if applicable,
for the current fiscal year under as 14, 420-8-1-b.
Section 10 amends as 1,600 by adding a new subsection
from as 4,500-B through G to as 1400-600-Z
This is conforming language due to the language being moved from AS 14-17-500.
Section 11 amends 14, 17, 600 e by adding a new subsection D1-2
to read that a district may not include the district's ADM,
a student in a District-wide.
Early education program provided by the district, and again this is conforming language as in AS14-17600-E.
Section 12 amends the process under which 14- 1716-A of when the department distributes payments to school districts for a fiscal year based on a district's student count date reported in the previous fiscal
year under AS 14600.
Section 13 amends AS14-17-16 by adding a new subsection D-12.
This subsection conforms to AS 14- 17-4-20-A-2-B or C.
The distribution of funds among districts entitled to additional intensive services funding based on a New Student Count in February.
or excuse me, section 14, AS1417905A, amends the language that allows alternative schools
with fewer than 175 ADM to be counted as one school.
Section 15, AS 14, 17, 905 is amended by adding a new subsection determining a charter or communities ADM by using a three-year average or previous year count, whichever is greater.
I am just going to say under section 17 and 18, those are all conforming language.
You can see the statutes there that are adjusted, that's 17
and 19, 19.
You see that con forming language, repealing the AS14, 600 sections and then section 20,
transition language to the new ADM calculation.
And then for sections 21 and 22,
provided 21 provides for an effective date for section 11
and 19 to take effect on the effective
date in section 487, chapter 40 SLA 2022.
And section 22 provides
for the effect of date except for.
in the language stated above of July 1st, 2026.
Thank you.
And you can take a deep breath.
That was a lot.
OK, if we're ready, Rep Story, I think
we'll move on then to the first online invited testimony.
And I hope I don't say this wrong, but I probably will.
Brittany, Chioni, Haywood, president of the Juneau School
Board.
And before you begin your comments,
I want to recognize that Representative Bynum joined us
quite a while ago, so thank you for being here this morning.
Ms. Chioni Haywood, you'll correct me if I've got that wrong.
Please identify yourself for the record and begin your presentation on House Bill 261.
Thank you for being here.
Okay, then I just,
yeah, I'm going to show you how to do it, and I can move it off of your head.
I should, sorry, can you just see if you need your advance or you can just flip this up.
I'll just hit the hand.
Thank you so much, good morning co-chairs, him shoot and story and members of the house.
Education committee for the record, my name is Brittany Choney Haywood.
Very good, pretty close.
And I am currently serving as the president of The Juneau School Board of Education.
Thank You so Much for The Opportunity to provide some invited testimony on this bill.
I was sworn in as the Juneau Board of Education member in October of 2023, and I did actually have to go look that up because it feels so much longer.
Approximately two months later, it was discovered that we had a major budgetary crisis due mainly to some accounting errors,
but another factor was an overly optimistic enrollment projection.
That crisis was incredibly difficult on our community, and we are still trying to clean
up the debris field that was left behind in the wake of very difficult decisions, including
repairing relationships and rebuilding trust with staff, students,
My goal here today is to explain why the changes proposed in this bill, particularly
around school size and enrollment stability, are important to students and how these changes
improve predictability and still stability increase in complexity around the foundation
formula.
I think we can all agree that students deserve access to consistent programs and services.
Regardless of when they enroll or which school they attend,
the changes in this bill will help the funding formula
align more with the reality of how students move through our schools.
So here's a process, this is a little summary of our process.
It in illustrates our budget development timeline and
challenges that school districts operate under each year.
So my district is currently right now as we speak working on our FY 20 27
Which is next year's budget so we're in that development?
We receive our adjusted or our average daily membership in December adjusted
For this fiscal year that we're currently operating in that's five months after the start of our school year
It was nine months. After we initially submitted our budget
Districts are required to build budgets and issue staff contracts months in advance
Before enrollment is certified and the foundation funding is finalized
Stepping decisions have to be made in advanced of knowing what that revenue is going to. Be
To give a concrete example, a few years ago, our spring enrollment projections were higher than what was ultimately certified after the October count.
By the time those nine old numbers were known, contracts had already been issued, and the school year was underway.
In this case, we had to limit spending mid-year to account for the discrepancy created by the enrollment uncertainty.
Most of our budget is spent on instructional support,
teacher support staff, classroom supplies, et cetera.
And approximately 89% is for personnel costs,
which makes budgeting adjustments
particularly mid-year extremely challenging.
Those spending limits were disruptive to our staff
and most importantly to students.
Timing mismatch.
districts manage under this current system is incredibly difficult as school boards try to
develop budgets that directly impact both our teachers and our students.
So districts currently budget based on a lengthy list of question marks and assumptions.
The funding move closer to a model where revenue behaves more predictably before districts are
required to finalize budgets and staffing decisions. Knowing revenue prior to budget development
process would minimize the disruptive realities of our funding uncertainty. It does this by allowing
rely on greater prior year average daily membership or the three year ADM that was just presented
by representative story rather than reacting to kind of a single year fluctuation.
This does not eliminate accountability to enrollment trends, instead it's smooth, short-term volatility, so districts can adjust responsibly over time without disruptive mid-year corrections.
All other budget mechanisms would stay in place, such as the enrollment October count that was priorly discussed.
Historically, Alaskans have relied on hold harmless provisions to respond to enrollment declines.
Those mechanisms are designed to soften the impact, but
they generally take effect after enrollment changes have already occurred.
The bill would shift this approach by allowing districts to use greater
of the prior year ADM or a three year average ADm when calculating our funding.
Both approaches are intended to provide stability, but the three-year average
predictability earlier in the process when districts are actually building their budgets and issuing contracts.
Our school board holds around 10 to 12 meetings
to develop a budget and then we often have multiple revisions.
After a Budget is submitted,
if I remember correctly from this past year,
we revised in July, September and October
and we're about to do another one.
This bill would help eliminate some
of those budget question marks and assumptions
and hopefully build a bit more trust
with staff, families and students.
This challenge this change excuse me this changed does not prevent enrollment trends from being reflected over time
But it does reduce some year-to-year volatility and it improves alignment between funding calculations and
Operational decision-making
Again, it isn't about increasing funding. It's about stabilizing that funding so we can adjust responsibly over a time
The bill also addresses as was presented in the prior slides.
The funding equity and parity issue in how school size is treated across districts.
Under current law, the way an alternative program is counted depends not just on the size of
the school but the total size the district.
In larger districts, a relatively small drop in enrollment can trigger immediate consolidation
for funding purposes, resulting in a much lower school size multiplier.
In smaller districts, similar student populations are counted in a way that produces more stable funding.
The result is a meaningful funding gap for programs serving similar numbers of students based solely on district size rather than student need.
This would impact our alternative program.
So HB 61 removes this inconsistency by allowing alternative programs
with an ADM of 175 or less to be counted as its own school regardless of the district size.
And as Representative Story mentioned, currently our alternative high school
gets lumped in with our large high schools and so that does reduce our multiplier.
And those students often do need different services or mechanisms.
Sometimes they join the school proactively.
Sometimes the regular high school wasn't working for them.
And so they need something different.
special education services are funded as well.
Currently funding relies heavily on a single count date,
even though districts are legally obligated
to serve students with intensive needs
whenever they enroll throughout the school year.
Students who need intensive services do not arrive on a schedule.
As you can see in the graph, the Juneau School District, we have tracked the number of students who have entered our district after the October count.
Those students still need immediate services, supports, and staffing,
even though they were not fully reflected in funding tied to a single date.
Districts, including ours, do not turn away students mid-year, we're legally and ethically
obligated to meet those student IEPs and provide a free appropriate public education in the
least restrictive manner as soon as they enroll.
This bill would allow districts to use the greater multiple count days or a three year
eligibility or service requirements, it simply aligns the funding to real student needs and reduces
unnecessary volatility. So in summary, HB 261 is not about increasing funding,
it's about making sure students aren't affected by uncertainty that's built into our current system.
It's about increasing transparency and certainty.
It allows districts to focus on improving curriculum, materials, and services for students.
It will help build trust and transparency with stakeholders and eliminate the pitting
of different groups against each other in the fight for very limited funding.
better budgeting and allow districts to focus on what we should be focused on,
student learning, achievement, and good learning environments instead of redoing budgets over
and over and probably again. When funding is predictable and fair, districts can plan
responsibly and that stability will show up in classrooms, programs,
Predictable funding isn't about school systems.
It's about stability for students.
Gonna shish, thank you for your opportunity to testify.
I'm happy to address questions when they are taken.
Okay, and it looks like we're gonna just keep rolling
through I think four more testifiers at least.
And then circle back to questions
and our goal is to be wrapped up with this bill by 920.
We'll see if we make that.
The next person up,
thank-you so much.
President Choni Haywood.
Okay, we're going to move on now to Dr. Luke Miner,
Superintendent at Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
Dr Miner good morning, welcome for joining us.
Welcome to the committee and thank you for
joining as today.
You could identify yourself for the record
and begin your presentation on House Bill 261.
Good morning.
Thanks for having me.
Co-chairs represent him shoot and represented story and members of the committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for
the record, I'm Dr. Luke Miner, Superintendent of Fairbanks, North Star Borough School District.
I'd like to start my remarks by thanking the spotty for
the historic BSA increase in last year's session and
for continuing your work to look at ways you can support our Alaskan students.
I am here to speak in support of House Bill 261, specifically the proposal to
district funding on a three-year average daily membership, as well as the related changes
to funding for intensive resource students. At its core, this bill is about stability.
This bill helps to bring about civility for students, for staff, and for school districts
that are navigating long-term enrollment changes in chaotic funding environments not only at the
With this bill, there's an excellent opportunity to provide districts with more
stability and predictability, which is greatly needed.
Next slide, please.
To understand why this matters, I want to start with our enrollment reality in the Fairbanks
North Star Borough School District.
In the last 10 years, our peak enrollment in last decade was 13,851 students.
is 11,200 students.
This is a loss of approximately 261 students
or nearly 19% of our student population.
Fortunately, this is not a short-term dip.
It's a structural long- term change
that districts like ours and most districts
throughout the state are experiencing.
And if you zoom out even further,
this loss is even greater as the peak of enrollment
peaked out at over 16,000 students over 20 years ago.
As folks look at our enrollment trends, many assume this change in enrollment, and solely
due to students moving to correspondence education.
While there has been some out-made migration to correspondents, our biggest loss of students
in the past three years is families moving completely out of state.
This is coupled with changing demographics of families having fewer children, which makes
for a perfect storm for schools, having to continue to do more with less.
Fixed costs don't disappear for districts, even if students do.
Transportation routes continue to stay the same length.
Buildings require the fame amount of fuel oil to keep our students warm.
Internet needs to be operational to give our student and staff connected.
Staffing is not as easily reduced as students don t come into our schools
and tidy bundles that coincide with the state's classified targets.
Next slide, please.
At the same time enrollment has declined, state funding has not kept pace with rising
costs.
The BSA increased from 5680 and 2014 to 5,960 in 2024, which was a 5% increase over those
10 years.
During that same period, cost for staffing, healthcare, utilities, transportation, and
special education services did not significantly increase well above that 5%.
As a result, districts are educating students with fewer dollars, fewer staff, and greater needs.
Next slide, please.
The problem is not just declining its enrollment.
It's how the funding system responds to it.
Under current law, funding is based on a single year's enrollment,
which creates fiscal whiplash for school districts.
Here are our recent actual enrollment numbers.
12,453 students and 2324, and 2425, 11,793 students,
and 2526,11,200 students.
Each of these year-to-year drops
trigger an immediate funding reduction,
forcing districts to make abrupt decisions
with little time to plan for the change,
and more importantly, prevents districts
from future planning.
Compounding this challenge,
Staffing decisions often must be made
before enrollment counts are finalized,
leaving districts to act with incomplete information.
Districts do not have the ability to gamble
with budgeting for too many staff members,
nor is it easy to plan new reading or math intervention
programs not knowing what our funding will be
from year to year.
Next slide, please.
Fortunately, this bill provides a practical alternative
and an excellent structural change
that is utilized by many other states in our country.
For Fairbanks, using our actual enrollment data from the last three years, our three-year
ADM average would be 11,815 students.
Under current law, Our funding immediately dropped to 11200 students
For our district, the difference represents approximately $5.1 million in funding stability.
This is a way to transition responsibility through long-term enrollment change.
This approach does not hide enrollment decline if phases have been responsibly, allowing districts
to adjust through attrition and careful planning rather than sudden layoffs and program eliminations.
These savings and more importantly provide more stability and predictability and could have helped
us and Fairbanks prevent class size increases, which is the elimination of teaching positions.
and fewer school closures. Next slide please. Even with careful planning at the local level
and increased revenue from the state, in Fairbanks we've closed seven schools in the last five years.
We've had to eliminate more than 360 jobs. We have increased class sizes and we have reduced
activity funds and supply budgets throughout all of our schools. These are reductions to
educational opportunities and not efficiencies. Next slide please. At the same time enrollment
has declined, student needs have increased and one of those areas that they've increased
tremendously is in special education services. The amount of students in
and 28.5% over the last five years.
The youth students require consistent,
intensive, and costly supports.
By allowing districts to true up
after our October count period for our intensive students,
which had the highest needs
and required the high-ups services,
support, resources are needed,
this will provide school districts with an opportunity
to provide these students with greater services
and support than they are currently getting.
Next slide, please.
Funding and instability worsens staffing challenges.
We continue to face staffing and challenges,
particularly in special education
and specialized support roles,
while competing statewide
and nationally for qualified educators.
Hospital 261 does not increase enrollment,
but it does provide increased predictability.
predictability that can maintain class sizes, prevent schools from closing, and to maintain
intervention services that allow all Alaskan students to be successful. If we want better
outcomes from students, we need better and more predictable systems from our state.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Thank you, Dr. Miner, and we are holding questions till we get to the very end.
I want to acknowledge that Senator Grey Jackson has joined us.
She does have a presentation on her bill later in the meeting.
We're going to go next to Rod Morrison,
Superintendent of Southeast Island School District.
Good morning.
Mr. Morrison.
Glad you're here.
Good afternoon, my name is Rod Morris.
Can you hear me okay?
Yep, you sound great.
Okay, uh, co-chairs and members of the committee, thanks for the opportunity to testify today.
For the record, my name is Rod Morrison.
I'm speaking on behalf of Southeast Island School District and the remote, rural education
attendance area schools are REAA.
I am here today to express off the strong support for House Bill 261.
As an REA District, next slide, please.
Small remote island communities across South East Alaska are schools of more than just an
educational building. They're the center of our communities.
They provide stability, opportunity, and connection for students, families,
and places where resources are limited and this is our great.
This slide is one of the greatest challenges in rural districts that we face in enrollment
That comes from students that may move in and out do the housing jobs or just migration
of a following the resources. Small changes in our student count create major funding swings.
Instability, disruptive staffing, course offerings, and student reports are all at
all challenges we face. Unlike larger districts, it might be a little more stable in a small school
a game or a loss of a few students can dramatically affect funding.
Next slide, please.
I wanted to kind of show you what our enrollment is.
We have eight different campuses.
We serve coffee, Coke, Hollis, Kissan, Knocking,
Port Alexander, Dawn Day, Whale Pass,
and our homeschool program, AT Trails.
And I want to, you can look,
from 22 students to 11 and back up to 19.
That's quite a swing when it comes to funding.
The big one though is whale pass.
Three years ago we had 11 students.
Last year we were in projection of 14,
but only 19 in the school.
And so when the count hit and we actually lost
over $330,000 because we lost the whale passed school,
we still serve those kids, we've still had those staff.
You just had to find a way to make it happen.
This year that moment went back up to 15.
So you can see a small swing can really have,
hit it pretty hard.
These four creations create real challenges.
When funding is off suddenly, this is a work to
make immediate decisions and impact students.
When you see staff cutting electives,
we're going to need support businesses
or going in the need of programs.
Next slide, please.
House bill 261 helps rule districts, you know, help us improve our stability using the
previous year's EDM or the three year average whichever is greater would significantly
make our budget more stable. Providing declining enrollment phase ends or sharp enrollment
drops and strengthening the intensive service funding for predictability. And I want to talk
For our rural districts, getting student services in tests is quite a challenge.
We have to supply providers out depending on the weather.
Give the student the battery of tests or assessments.
And sometimes those students who qualify intensive haven't after the count.
You still have the servo students throughout the year.
And so, especially when it comes to a special ed population,
It's really hard to predict funding when you're not not sure if those kids get an account
or after the account, it doesn't come in, they still have to support them.
So that's an area that really explains about the House Bill 261.
It also provides a common sense of losing by allowing districts to calculate funding
using a greater or higher EDM versus the three, or we'll talk about that.
With stable funding process, RAs may allow contracts to be signed earlier,
or the main consistent teacher support staff,
write these stability and support for students in schools.
As we all know, there's really kind of a hiring shortage right now.
And if our teachers don't have contracts early,
they're going to look at other places.
So it provides a small stability in predictability when it comes to budgeting.
It would protect our electives, cultural programs,
and interventions to ensure continuity for special education and intensive needs for students.
Next slide, please.
On behalf of the REA community, House Bill 51 recognized the reality of rural Alaska.
It stabilized the funding process without increasing uncertainty.
We respectfully urge the passage of bill 261.
Thank you for your time and your commitment to the Alaska City.
Thank You Superintendent Morrison. Appreciate your
time. Next we're going to go to Katie Joe Parrot, President of the
Alaska Association of School Business Officials. Ms. Parrott, if you could
identify yourself for the record and begin your presentation. Thank
Yes, good morning, Chair Hemshoot and members of the committee.
My name is Katie Parrot, I'm the Senior Director of Office of Management and Budget for Anchorage
School District.
But this morning I am speaking in my capacity as the President of The Alaska Association
of School Business Officials, which is an organization that represents all of finance
and business operations, people for Alaska School districts.
Districts currently contend with too much uncertainty when it comes to financial
planning and budget development. There are a variety of factors that lend to
this uncertainty as I know that you've heard in today's testimony. The
variability, complexity and unpredictability of education funding
erodes public trust and compounds the challenges in an already challenging
environment. So really any effort to alleviate the year to year
unpredictability for school districts and communities is truly a step in the right direction.
HB 261 is a steps toward taking the variability out of enrollment fluctuations and providing a
smoothing effect that allows districts to achieve greater stability year to year than the current
system provides. Districts in Alaska are statutorily required to present a balanced budget often
In fact, the system is designed in such a way that districts don't know what funding
they'll be receiving until the school year has already commenced, and I'm going to explain
that into distinct areas.
As you can imagine, this poses challenges in planning and staffing and ensuring that
student needs are met.
So one of those aspects of uncertainty occurred when the legislature in recent years relied
that were often made after most districts were required to have approved budgets for the next year
and often tasked with statutory deadline for layoff notices. That was really difficult, but
you, your body, the legislature took care of this variable with the historic override
veto override and then the permanent increase to the BSA. So thank you very much for that.
We no longer have to wait for one-time funding decisions to be made late in the session, which
And as an aside, this predictability is only maintained if there's inflation proofing that's achieved as the next step, but short of that,
other elements of veritability in the formula need to be addressed, which I believe HB 261 does.
So the other aspect of uncertainty is that the budget relies on a projection of enrollment that isn't actually known until after the October count in
the year for which the Budget and the academic plans have already been set.
So, basing future year budgets on enrollment projections has been increasingly problematic.
And a few factors contribute to that.
The COVID pandemic and the out migration from communities in Alaska caused a lot of difficulty for districts and kind of making those projections and getting them right.
Compounds that problem. So when we're doing school consolidation and restructuring resulting from budget reductions or other efforts to address staffing shortages, that presents additional pressures on the system and on communities and families and their decision making.
And what ends up happening in the process of those fluctuations is there's a true erosion
of public trust due to not fully understanding the complexities and nuances of that funding
of the mechanism.
So when enrollment is higher than projected and the budget is modified to reflect that
increase, we hear messages like the district magically found extra money with the implication
when enrollment is lower than expected and there are further budget reductions that are needed mid-year,
we hear the district lost money. There was mismanagement. The implication is that there was an error
by district administration or true mis management rather than fluctuations from well-established
methods of projecting enrollment. So I'll pause here to tell you something I experienced in my
I was invited by my superintendent who was new at the time to sit in on a new superintendent
session and to learn alongside other educational leaders across the state and I distinctly remember
a superintendent, who came from another state saying, I really wish that I could stick to
the business of improving outcomes but I find myself most of the year having to be a finance
I think that this bill will have an immediate positive impact on the majority of districts
in the state.
And in fact, based on these most recent foundation reports, it appears that almost half of Alaska
school districts are receiving some level of whole-part list in FY26.
So those would be reductions of enrollment that they have to account for and then request
relief.
And the option in this bill to select the greater of the prior year ADM versus the
three-year average really does solve the problem for those few districts that experience enrollment
increases at the same time. So it kind of protects districts across the state.
There may be a concern for some districts who have or expect to have really large increases
However, when that happens currently,
the funding is not immediately provided
after the student count to be able to
be incorporated into that current year.
The state actually goes through the process
of completing their student-count reconciliation
and then adjust the last three payments of the year
so that the timing doesn't easily facilitate
utilizing those funds in the Year
for which they're received anyway.
The funding under this change would essentially be postponed.
There's that opportunity for the district to opt into the prior year.
And it would effectively still be known by the districts to be able to effectively plan
for their next fiscal year, if that makes sense.
Additionally, the ability to request an advance for Indeed for districts who are suffering
from some kind of a cash flow.
Shortage is already allowable and there's a provision under AS1417 610C that gives districts
ability to request assistance if they're faced with a real revenue challenge.
Unlike regular ADM enrollment increases, mainstream students can often be absorbed into the planned
or budgeted education program. However, this still really reflects the need for intensive needs
to have more urgent immediate and intensive support in order to access their education.
They have different needs so that those those needs and behaviors can often be
a real barrier to them immediately accessing education and so
that the immediate provision of resources then for those students specifically.
is really important.
The change in this bill to be able to provide
for those students who weren't projected or budgeted
really gives districts a more agile way
of meeting those immediate needs.
And I think it's a good change.
Additionally, allowing alternative schools
under account of 175 to the counted
as a separate school only makes sense.
Alternative schools tend to have smaller populations of students, but they also tend
to serve a population with higher needs for instructional intervention and supports,
which often requires staffing levels that are somewhat higher than other schools.
Being able to treat them as a separate school and give them the credit of that resource
is an important step in the right direction.
And then lastly, the smoothing effects
of the enrollment fluctuations for smaller districts
that may be on the threshold of AS14-17-905
is also an improvement.
In sum, this is a good bill that takes an incremental step
toward providing Alaska's school's greater stability.
It's a smart and effective approach
to solving Alaska education funding challenges,
pending a long-term fiscal plan.
Thank you for your time,
and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Ms. Parritt, and I think I failed to recognize that you are the president of
the Alaska Association of School Business Officials.
So thank you very much for your time and your expertise this morning.
We're going to move on now, I'm going encourage the committee to write down your questions
for questions, but this bill will come back before us on Friday and we'll try to have folks
available for the questions at that point. So if you're not good at keeping them in your head,
write them down. Here we go. We're going to go now to Shannon Baird, Director of Finance for
the Petersburg School District. Good morning, Shannon. Welcome.
We are glad you are here. Please identify yourself for your record and begin your presentation.
Good morning, co-chairs and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Shannon Baird and I serve as the finest director of The Petersburg School District.
I want to begin by expressing our sincere appreciation for
the intent and forethought behind House Bill 261.
On my first slide, I hope it's in front of you. The light piece is a little kind of phone, so
I first want to speak to Section 6 and 8 of House Bill 261.
It is my understanding that the auction to either use the prior years ADM or an average
of the three prior year's would.
It's meant to have a similar effect to the whole time of language that would be removed.
And at the same time, it would allow for us to know much sooner and accurate adjusted
ADMs for planning and budgeting.
I was able to compile and extrapolate on data from fiscal year 2008 to our current fiscal
year 2026.
Here you can see in blue Petersburg's historical adjusted ADM or AADM.
And then I did back out the whole harmless that we could receive in nine of these years.
So you could see that adjusted ADM, what it would have been without hold timeless, represented
by that thinner yellow line.
in spite sometimes these are overlapping.
Now in red, I have calculated what the adjusted ADM would have been
if we applied back over the same time period, HP 261.
Except for section 7, which deals with the spread intent of ADMs,
but I will touch on that shortly.
And then also for reference,
I've provided.
that black line is our straight ADM, our student population, without any factors and multipliers
applied. So you can see that in some years our historical adjusted ADMs would have been better
higher funding and then in others, HPC-61 would've been. If you total the adjusted
ADMS over this type period and scored mine, it woulda provided us more in total funding,
but it's very close and you see they're having a similar smoothing effect.
which is the intent.
If we were always steadily declining, then HP-261 would always be better.
However, our ADM has fluctuated up and down during the timeframe,
and I think it would be best to assume that it will continue to.
In the years that we saw an increase in our
ADMs that applied HP p61 would have meant that
we would've had significantly less funding.
We did, you know, have a pretty significant jump from fiscal year 23 to 24 in our student
population.
And if that's funny, it had been behind that them certainly would have affected us.
But the importance of having accurate and then a final adjusted ADM to use for planning
would be huge.
There are a lot of unknown factors as you've already heard that are out of it.
A lot is out in the out-of-work control, right?
So giving us a known variable that has such a large impact on our funding would certainly
help us greatly with budgeting during union negotiations and staffing decisions and in
strategic planning. I would like to ask the committee to consider amending HB 261 section 8 to offer
a third option for district use their current year ADM, similar to how section 7 offers that
This is represented on the second slide and by that green line.
I'm sorry, I might have not told after this I'd be ordered and I just a little behind on
the live feed.
So that we're in line and hope you're seeing.
Yeah, we are looking at the slide with the greenline that starts high and drops low between
Great, so I would like to ask the committee to consider amending HB 261 to offer that third option and it's represented by that green line to us.
In Petersburg, this will be the best of both worlds, allowing us for better planning and budgeting and declining years and overall while letting districts take their higher current and years that they are grown.
a huge increase in your student population, you do have to meet some of those needs immediately.
So, to us, and you can see this is still in line with the same intent and trends of both the blue and red lines,
so our historic ends, HB 261.
And my suggested change would have meant that the total adjusted ADM over this time period would've been 2826000.
or 23,826, which is not much greater than the 22,700
that we historically did receive funding based on.
So I hope you'll consider how that might best serve
last time students.
And then my next slide please.
As promised, this takes a look at section 7,
which would allow us four options for our study intensive
ADM.
The greater stability and potentially increased funding,
so much to the Petersburg school district.
The number of students that might have moved
or qualified by February isn't something
that we have tracked long-term,
but our spread director Cindy Frye and I
were able to ask me that if HB 261 would have meant
that two more, one more and then two
more intensive students would've been counted
in fiscal year 24, 25 and 26 respectively.
So, in an arc case, that would have meant two, three, and then two more worth of funding,
respectively.
Because sometimes students are multiplied by 13, each one has a huge impact on our overall
funding.
And of course, I don't want anyone listening.
to think that that's just some easy way to receive 13 times
with non-consonants is very lengthy and arduous process
to get an end-conclusive certification from the first
set student and extra funding is absolutely warranted.
And if you, oh, I think you might be heading me out.
If you will go back to that slide,
that red line, of course, is a few two six-year-old
without that section, but that purple line does account
for what we would estimate.
extra qualified by February.
And if you go to my last slide please, thank you.
There are a number of reasons why we may not have a student qualified for an
October County and why the February option is so needed.
A student could move to the district between October and February of course.
identification, qualification, and documentations take a great deal of time.
We have had intensive students leave the community year, but it's more likely that one would be
enrolling the year or qualified mid-year for us. And then the time it takes to assess,
have many meetings between staff and families document and apply for intensive certification.
Our district is already meeting those students' needs and providing intensive level services.
which is why the February option to capture funding for those services would be so extremely helpful.
I would like to add that the great potential that February options would provide
could not have been realized in some recent years though.
And three of the last six years for good and received final decisions from DEDE
on our new intent for applications until after that second count date would have occurred.
You know would work out as intended. I imagine there are a lot. We know there
are lots of applications here for D to consider and we would just like to know
if you have the capacity to provide consistent timely feedback in order for
that federal account to be a real option for us.
Of note, also quickly section 12 would allow for districts true entitled to
Right now we're receiving 12 payments, but the first nine are based on projected student
numbers and the final three of courts are true up payments.
If you did choose to propose a change, an amendment to section 8 that I've suggested,
language would probably need to be added back into under section 12 or 13 to allow for true
Thank you for your time, your service for listening to the reality that districts are facing and for considering the great potential HBT 61 has to offer through greater stability and support as we work to do what is best for Alaska's children.
Thank you, Ms. Baird. It's always great to hear from Petersburg
What we're gonna do right now is we I'm gonna ask Senator Grey Jackson to hold for just a little bit longer
And let's do questions specific to dr. Silverstein with algin Blick
Paylish paylish and associates about student counts
since he's not within the state, and I'm not sure we'll be able to get him back on Friday.
So if you have questions on how other states,
and i think in Rep Stories slides, it would be slide five.
About how, other places do student count, in any pitfalls he sees with this bill,
or any questions he can answer about how we count and what these changes would mean to Alaska.
So, we're going to take a really brief at ease.
My bad, I'm sorry, we're back on record.
We have one more presenter.
I completely missed.
I am even checking things off on my list
and I just completely overlooked.
Chris Brown from the Homer Flex School,
Kenai Peninsula, Barrow School District,
apologies for not noticing your name here.
If you could put your own name on the record
and begin your presentation on House Bill 261,
thank you for being here,
no need for apologies.
Good morning, co-chairs and members of the House Education Committee.
My name is Christopher Brown and I'm the principal of and the teacher at
Homoflex, a small alternative school serving around 35 to 40 students in the
southern tonight peninsula. I am here to testify in support of HB 261.
Our previous speakers outlined the overall impact of this bill on the
but I will be speaking specifically in regards to how it addresses the school size factor in the
funding formula and how that relates to alternative programs. To put it plainly, under the current
system, the funding for my students is being hidden to the detriment of their education.
Right now, because my alternative program is treated as a satellite of a larger and more
traditional high school, rather than a distinct school site, my student's enrollment numbers
The way I understand it, and the Alaska School funding formula, the first group of students
at any large school, or at a new school generates the highest amount of funding to cover base
operations.
As the school gets larger, per student funding decreases because of economies of scale.
By rolling my 40 students into a school of around 700, they are counted as the last 40
students added to a massive spreadsheet.
marginal funding. But my school is not marginal. We are not just an extra classroom at the end
of the hallway. we are a separate facility with separate operational costs, distinct administrative
needs, and a student body that requires more support and not less. HP 261 fixes this accounting
error. By recognizing small alternative schools at distinct sites for funding purposes, this bill
we would trigger the small school multiplier that was designed exactly for schools like ours.
This isn't about asking for a handout. It is about accessing the formula as it was intended.
So what would change at our site look like? If our funding is on hitting and we receive the
proper size adjustment, first of all, it means dedicated mental health staffing. Currently,
and we scrape together additional funding simply to increase her FTE to half-time
and our building. With independent funding, we could hire a full- time mental health clinician,
a non-negotiable need for at-risk youth. Second, it closes the gap in special education.
A significant portion of alternative school students require spread services. Currently,
we are staffed with only a half time spread teacher and a halftime paraprofessional.
and the support needs do not turn off at noon.
Proper funding would allow us to expand these roles to full-time,
ensuring that our students on IEPs receive consistent,
reliable support rather than piecemeal assistance.
Third, it saves the state money in the long run.
An alternative student evaluates to the taxpayer.
One who drops out because their school was under resource cost the
state exponentially more.
HB 261 stops penalizing alternative programs
and starts recognizing the additional challenges we face.
I urge you to pass this bill
and let our funding reflect the reality of our schools.
Thank you.
And I am happy to answer questions if there are any.
Thank for your time.
My oversight there was just saving the best for last.
So we had to build a little suspense.
I think we're gonna go ahead and take a couple of minutes
to go to Dr. Silverstein if folks have questions for him
just cause I'm not sure we'll have him back.
on Friday and maybe we will but in the absence of that certainty I think we'll
go ahead and do questions for him. Does anyone on the committee have questions
and I'm specifically looking at page five in Representative Story's presentation
about how other places do count. So Representative Dibert and then we go to
Thank you to the chair to Mr. Silverstein, thank you for being here.
I was just wondering is there a state out there that you might feel best serve as a model
for Alaska with our unique student movement and flow in and out through our districts
as we look to improve our student count?
Thank You.
Dr. silverstein.
I would suggest looking at some other just small rules and there's a number of states
who do, and they still won't all do it the same, but even states like Colorado who have
bigger districts still have a lot of small rule settings, much like yourselves, I think
for months.
I use as a two-year average all the time and a couple other states.
Kind of a leading issue, I would think over the next five to 10 years in states and four school districts
And so you guys are a little bit ahead of the curve to be thinking about a change
Whereas you know the states have been doing it, but they've been getting it for a long time. So again
Smaller oral settings
Where you have, you, know these kind of changes with those types of states would be good and and again at Colorado
Vermont of Maryland to not like you all much bigger, but they actually just made this change recently as they redid their school finance for a very similar three-year or current or previous year.
Okay, thank you. Representative Elam.
Thank you thank for your presentation on slide five. I guess my question kind of goes into this membership versus attendance 45 states.
Membership five-stage use attendance. I was hoping that maybe you could explain this a little bit more or maybe expound upon it
and then
You know kind of going off of what representative Dibert was saying. My school district is on the Kenai Peninsula
Geographically, it's the size of about West Virginia
And so we have you know 43 schools within that district
I don't know that there's another state out there that's going to be a direct model to
kind of correlate data off of, but I'm just wondering of these five states that use attendance.
Is there any kind common theme with why they use attendance and if we're, because I think
that is kind what you're saying here is we were part of those five state.
So my question would be what are those other four states and what do they have in common?
Why are they similar in structure?
And if we could preface that question with an explanation of membership versus attendance,
I think that would bring some clarity as well. Dr. Silverstein.
Absolutely. Thank you, Chair. So, attendance is a kind of defining. Attendance means
at count, and again, it could be a single day or a multi-day of the actual number of students
So that really is just a baseline attendance.
And then membership is looking at the number of students
really that schools have to serve within their population.
So an example could be you have a thousand student
membership in a district, but on any given day,
you average about 950 students who actually attend.
So as you're seeing here,
The majority of states fund on the number of students that districts have to actually serve,
and they do that in part because you're setting up, you know, the
number teachers based on, number you have
to serve not the numbers who are kind of on average in attendance.
So there are a lot of reasons. I would need to go back and review exactly the five states who
use attendance there.
I do not believe that there's a
lot consistency. California is one state who uses attendance, right? So it doesn't look.
really anything like you all, I would say that states have moved away from attendance over time
and the reason that they've moved the way from attendance is it does tend to have the
largest negative impact on your highest need communities. So if you have, generally when you
have a higher need community, you tend have lower attendance rates.
And thus, those schools or districts get lower funding because of that.
And in reality,
those are often communities who need all of the funding.
They can get to serve those higher than students.
Follow up, please.
Thank you.
Can you help me to understand membership versus attendance from a complexities perspective?
One of these issues that I've always had with.
how we do our funding formulas has been.
It's a relatively complex system.
One of the challenges I see with 261
is that I think it's adding some additional layers
of complexity to that.
Is there a model that simplifies some of this formula process
and the funding mechanisms in this method of doing funding?
That's over scene.
Yeah, no, thank you, Chair.
I'd probably love a little bit more just kind of clarity on what you think are the complexities in your current system.
I think student counts generally are, you know, they're not really necessarily complex, but they do take time and energy.
They,
they take Time and Energy for districts,
they takes time energy for the state.
And like any good policy decision,
you're really trying to think kind if the juice were to squeeze as you go.
I would say overall this plan is pretty in line with how others
state do this, you know, in part trying to use known data
versus kind of predictive data going forward. But if you have a little
maybe some examples of what where you find those complexities, I apologize,
it's not for knowing them. I'm happy to respond to that.
Yeah, uh, i mean, so if
you did our our foundation formula that we use here,
pretty extensive for for the problems that we are the the complexities of how we do foundation for our formula.
I mean we consistently hear about it from school districts that it is complex and so I guess I'm not sure how to expand upon the fact that
it's a lot of moving parts to figure out what is ultimately going to be funded at the end of the day because I
roof sizes, number of schools, the types of special needs students.
I mean, there's a significant amount of, I
mean it would be a giant flow chart to get to the end of the day.
Like,
I don't think very many people can actually calculate out how much money
goes to a student or to
a school to
a district so it's complex.
Yeah. Dr. Silverstein,
I'm not sure there was a question there,
but can you speak to
the complexity of funding formulas in general?
Like is there any state where it is simple?
Absolutely. Thank you, Chair. We'd like to say every state thinks that they're the most
complex and it turns out the more we work in them, I think everyone's right. And I do
think as a state, and I believe this was reflected in our 2015 study, as you mentioned, you face
challenge is based on your demographics and your size and everything else. And I would,
you know, kind of applaud the state for trying to get to that level of specificity. But I agree,
when you look at the structure of your formula, so, you way off the slide five,
but the structures of the formula and kind the multiplicative approaches in it,
you actually have some places that appear to have specificities that don't.
And so I do think there are ways to kind of simplify your foundation formula.
I think the count itself is in this approach of the
count is, you know, I'm not going to say it's the right approach because there isn't a right
approach, but it is a well thought out approach and it one that is pretty common to other
places.
And it would allow you, if you decide to make other changes to your formula,
It would feed kind of those types of changes really well.
I don't think you'd have to come back and redo this base
student account in order to make any other kind
of change as to simplify your formula.
Thank you.
That kind gets to the gist of what I was trying to get at
is I would love to hear some ideas on how we simplify
this process.
And I think the good news is OASIS
doesn't necessarily change at all.
It's just how he used the information we're already getting.
So Representative Schwanke, quick question.
Yes, thank you through the chair.
Dr. Silverstein, I just have.
I want to come back to enrollment really quick.
So one of the things that I observed
being a school board member over the six years
was that there's obviously a national shortage of teachers.
And what ends up happening is that
there is a rush by school districts
to try to get their recruitment out early and
through that process contracts were offered earlier.
So I don't know what it was when you started teaching,
but when I started on the board,
I think contracts would let out in March
and then they were February and that they
were January.
My concern is that we're working.
We're trying to catch up here.
So my question to you is, are you seeing this problem
in other states as well as far as districts moving in a,
or states moving, in the position,
in way that they need to get funding earlier
so that can secure their contracts earlier?
And what should we expect kind of on a national level
with this problems?
Dr. Silverstein?
Yeah, thank you. And I do.
Just record. I, I did not have my doctorate.
I appreciate it.
I married to doctor and I'm surrounded by doctors all the time in my business.
But I have not succeeded in doing that yet.
So I appreciated though.
I am not sure I had a perfect answer for your question.
I really have appreciated listening to the districts and how.
and their thoughts of how this kind of change could align to a better approach
to, you know, align them to know in the hiring process. I think we are hearing a lot across the
country as we work about the lack of teachers and the kind
of the stories of, well, we used to get 30 to 50 teachers applying and now we get zero to five.
And so I do think, having a line of sight where you
in this enrollment calculator in the funding calculation pretty early on
gives districts a little bit more predictability. I don't think we, you know, nothing we see across
the country is saying that the shortage is going to turn anytime soon. And so I think any way you
can help districts kind of think about that, just being, one small way,
Okay, thanks. I do have one very quick question.
I hope it's quick.
Mr. Silverstein, could you enlighten me
as to the wisdom behind taking the smallest school
and wrapping it into the biggest school?
What's the purpose of that?
Thank you, Chair.
I would probably, you know, I can tell you
what we learned about it.
I believe that was in place before our study.
And so I would maybe ask, I didn't know there were some other state levels, finance experts
there who could probably answer that better than I could.
Okay.
Thank you for that.
But let me just quickly say, but what we did recommend is in any place where those
kind of choices created course, that's one of the things that this bill does clean up
and that we really recommend because those kind
of clips where you lose a bunch of funding for losing one kid is a real issue for districts.
That sounds great, and I think anybody who could answer that question for me can come back on Friday, so I
think at this point I'm gonna
Wrap up my part of chairing today and give it back to a more capable chair
So thanks to everybody for your testimony today. Did you want to give some final comments? I yes
Thank you, and thank you everyone who testified today, I gave their perspective on this
I wanted to say that the bill is up on Friday
We just got the fiscal note so we will get them out to you and we look forward to
Answering any questions that you may have on friday, so I thank and thanks again to the presenters
Thanks for your presentation. Earlier rip story and I'm going to hand the gavel back to rip
story now.
back on the record, I'm really glad that next we will have and invite Senator Gray Jackson
and her staff, Karlark Pickford, to the table, please identify yourself for the
record and begin your testimony.
Sorry to keep you waiting, but I hope you found it interesting to listen to
the presentation.
Thank you, Senator.
Please introduce yourself.
Good morning, this is Senator Elvie Great Jackson, Representative to Gee and Anchorage, and I want to start off by saying thank you to the co-chair so much for hearing the House Education Committee here in this bill today and
giving me the opportunity to speak on Senate Bill 6.
are accurately and meaningfully included in Alaska's public school curriculum.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, they've played an important role in shaping both our state and our nation,
yet their histories and contributions have too often been overlooked in traditional curricula.
So by passing Senate Bill 6, we can ensure that Alaska students receive a more complete and well-rounded education.
One that reflects the diverse cultures, histories, and contributions that have helped build our communities.
This bill is not only about education, it is about representation, inclusion,
and ensuring that future generations understand the rich history of the people who have contributed to Alaska's growth and prosperity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed a troubling rise in discrimination and hate toward Asian communities.
In response, the United States Commission on Civil Rights recommended that states incorporate Asian American and Pacific Islander history into K-12 curricula as a way to educate students early, foster understanding, and promote respect for the contributions these communities have made to our nation and to Alaska.
Senate Bill 6 is a meaningful step toward providing our students with a more complete and accurate education.
It reinforces our commitment to diversity, equity, and historical integrity.
Importantly, this bill carries no fiscal impact.
That's the good news, which is especially compelling at a time of fiscal uncertainty for our state.
Therefore, I respectfully ask for your support in moving this Bill forward.
And thank you again for hearing this this morning.
Thank you, Madam co-chairs.
Thank You, Senator.
I noticed that we have one invited testifier for Senate Bill 6 in the room, and we had one of our testifiers online.
I know we've short on time, would you prefer to take questions right now, or would like us to hear from the test defiers?
Thank, I'm Madem Chair.
I'd like you to here from testifiers.
Okay, thank you.
Thank.
So first up in the room today, I invite Kay Rolden from Make Us Visible, co-director.
Welcome.
Hello.
Thank you.
Let me move this down.
Good morning, Co-chairs, Representative Hymshoot and Representative Story and members of the House
of Education Committee.
Thank so much for the opportunity to provide testimony on Senate Bill 6.
an act requiring education on the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders. My name is Carol Dan. I'm a co-director of Make Us Visible Alaska.
I am a board member of the Filipino community, Inc. of Juneau, and a 33-year Juneo resident.
Today I m testifying on behalf of make us visible Alaska
Having completed my education here from Pre-K all the way to college at UAS where I earned
my degree in elementary education.
Being a former student and an educator, this bill is deeply important to me.
Throughout my K-12 education, I did not learn about Filipino history.
It wasn't until a college course at US where our history was briefly mentioned and even
It focused on cannery and mining labor.
But growing up at the Philippina community hall,
I knew that our stories, there was so much more to be shared.
That wasn't being present.
So what I learned in college felt incomplete.
Teaching AAPI history matters because representation helps
students feel seen and valued.
When students see themselves reflected in what they learn,
it sends a powerful message, you belong here.
That sense of belonging builds pride and confidence and empathy,
not just for AAPI students, but for the entire classroom.
Inclusive education is also a preventative measure.
It can counter harmful stereotypes, reduce bullying, and prevent internalized shame.
I believe it was Dr. Walter Sobeloff who said,
when you know yourself, you don't harm yourself.
I believed Senate Bill 6 can interrupt cycles of harm
by affirming identity, dignity, and belonging.
Ultimately, Senate bill 6
can create a ripple effect,
helping students value themselves,
understand one another,
and build stronger, more connected communities.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I thank you for your testimony. I wanted to know that Senator Kawasaki has joined us.
Do I have any questions for Ms. Rolden?
Yes, Rep. Schwanke. Thank you through the chair.
Thank You, Ms R olden, correct? Okay for being here.
I just
I have a question about the history of what you've observed in the local community.
So I too graduated from J.D.H.S. and I grew up in The Interior.
So, I got to know several Filipino friends here.
My volleyball team was the shortest in this state because of a few of my awesome friends
that didn't break five foot.
We were very successful in our endeavors, so over the time I recognize there's a fairly large
Philippine community here, and I'm sort of curious how have you seen
educational opportunities pertaining to your cultural history and background change within this school district over your lifetime?
Thank you. Yes through the chair through perp-swanky. Thank You for your question. I
haven't
seen many opportunities, but I will say it wasn't until I joined the board of the
Filipino community hall where I got to learn more stories and more about our
history and the contributions of Filipinos to the state. The opportunities
that I've seen within the school district have been through events, maybe
multicultural events and where we can table and share information about
There's been a great push to also include us.
And people have reached out to the Juneau-Philippina community
hall to, you know, include
us in sharing more information in our histories.
And I'm still learning lifelong learner.
So I believe it, I think this bill can also encourage that.
more inclusive share out of our history and stories,
and we can bring in our community
to share their own stories and their contributions.
And so that's the most that I've seen
through the school district.
Thank you.
Thank-you very much.
Thankyou.
Well, thank you very-much for your testimony this morning.
I'm going to now go to, we have a testifier online,
I am going now to go
make us visible co-director and she comes to us online this morning and if you could please
introduce yourself and begin your presentation. Welcome.
Thank you. Co-chair Story, Co. Chair Hymshoot, members of the committee,
thank you for the opportunity to speak today. For the record, my name is Shane Noeska. I grew up
I'm originally from the Philippines and emigrated to the U.S. when I was six years old.
I am a co-director of MEGA's Visible Alaska and a Co-founder of MANA, a group recording
Filipino American history across our state, because to this day, there is still only one
book published about our history here.
I'll call in support of Senate Bill 6 because I know how it feels when students don't see
themselves in what they're learning.
Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities have been part of Alaska for generations through
military service, labor, fisheries, and community leadership. But those stories are often missing
from classrooms and there is so much more to be shared. Right now, in this moment in our country,
students are searching for connection and answers.
Learning our shared history helps young people better understand one another and their place
in the world.
And to reiterate what my co-director stated for AAPI students especially, seeing themselves
reflected in their curriculum send a simple but powerful message.
You belong here.
I also want to emphasize that this bill is being supported by community organizations
and there are many free resources already available to support teachers.
SB6 gives Alaska an opportunity to lead with honesty, care, and respect for our shared history.
I urge you to please support this bill. Thank you.
Thank You, Ms. Noeska.
Thank
you for coming in online today,
and I'm wondering if we have any questions from the committee.
I see no questions.
Oh, I guess Rep. Hemschelt has a question.
Thank you through the chair.
Thank for being here, Senator Gray, Jackson,
and thank you for the bill.
My question is on line 11 of the Bill.
It has instruction.
Well, it starts with each school district shall establish
and provide to students in kindergarten through grade 12
a program that includes instructional materials
that portray the cultural and economic diversity
of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The invited testimony that there are free resources to support teachers.
How does that connection get made between the free
resources and the teachers?
So, it says it will be provided, and so how is it provided?
Excuse me, for the record, Clark Pickford, thank you for
the question, we have Deputy Director from D here today, Kelly Manning.
And I think she can speak to how it would be implemented better than we can.
To my understanding, there's an employee in the school districts that will work with DEED and
they will have a comprehensive plan for this curriculum.
And so because the fiscal note is zero, I think the original version of the bill had the approval through the department.
But now that approval is based on school district's across the state only.
And, so they would be working with the DEed to have comprehensive curriculum
And she can probably speak to it better than I can, but.
Thank you, Mr. Pickford.
Is Deputy Director Manning here?
Yes, he will.
Please come forward, put your name on the record, and help us learn the answer to that question.
Good morning for the record. My name is Kelly Manning, Deputy Director for
the Division of Innovation and Education Excellence. And to the question for
how we would support districts with implementing
as Mr. Bickford shared, we
have a part-time social studies content specialist at the department
and they would work to create
or not create but collect resources that are available that districts can use at the local level.
Because it's not being approved at that department level, it would be more of resource gathering, sending information,
so the content specialist would identify what's available and then share with districts and provide resources
as they are seeking information for building their local curriculum in response to the.
the legislation.
Thank you.
Uh, Rapilam.
Thank You.
Um, I've been trying to kind of think about a way to phrase this in a
way that didn't seem harsh.
So please bear with me just a moment.
But is this going to be ultimately considered one of those
unfunded mandates that we hear about all the time?
Thank you, Madam Chair, and through the chair, Representative Elan, no.
Thank-you.
Rep. Dibert.
Thankyou through to the co-chair.
Thank for bringing this bill forward, Senator.
I hope you could, Jackson.
This might be a question I'm not sure for who.
In my past life, I did write curriculum that intertwined
Alaska Native knowledge and Western scientific knowledge,
and I had a grant for that, so it was funded differently,
but it's always a challenge to try to get that curriculum out
to the teachers.
I was wondering...
if there is a like a clearing house on the D website where you have these social
I think they're social studies content available for different districts or
where they can go to Alaska native cultural curriculum or Asian American
through the chair to Member DiBert.
With the passage of our new social studies standards,
we're actually have been working to build out
those resources to support the new standards.
So as we are building those,
anything like this would be incorporated into that,
and that is one of the things that our
new standard do incorporate more
Alaska Native history in particular across grade levels,
so that's something.
that that particular content is being resources are being made more available to support the
updated standards. But that is something that we're building out in alignment with the new
standards is more resource, more of like a website resources that people can go to and
find and see what's available across the content of the standards follow-up of yes through the
go to teach my students.
I want to make sure that I'm, you know,
I have a high number of students of diversity
and I think it's important,
you now when you teach about other cultures,
it arises everyone up in the classroom.
And so I just thank you for that
and for making it available to educators.
It's helpful.
Thank you, for the comment.
We're pie-shied.
Thank you, Co-Chair Story. First of all, I just want to say to the bill's sponsor,
I think it's a fantastic idea and thank you for bringing that before us.
I thank this question is for, deed, is longtime teacher myself? You know,
I know what standards are, so could you provide, you know at a later date,
the specific social studies standards that this bill would be congruent with or address?
Yeah, through the chair, we can follow up and provide that.
Yes, thank you.
And thank both.
Thank you, Senator, for being with us today.
I didn't have a question, and I know you'll be back before us on Friday,
and we're taking public testimony on friday.
But I would be curious how districts see how they can.
network with the department. I know we did have
virtual library that we set up as part of the Alaska Reads Act.
It would be helpful to know how that can, how the Department too is using that resource
to make teachers aware, our school staff aware that this curriculum or these materials will be
on the library and be on that library, and available to others.
I'd just like to see how everything is networking together on this.
So, thank you.
Any other questions?
Oh, rep underwood.
I know.
I have two seconds.
I just was curious on the implementation of it.
Thank you, Senator Gray-Jackson, for bringing this forward.
So just for my understanding, like, if it's this being kind of integrated into current
social studies, they would just take a semester or a couple of class periods.
You know what the requirements would be on how long.
They would have to teach on this type of a subject, and just the integration of that.
I'm just curious how that would work.
Through the co-chairs, thank you, Representative Underwood.
My understanding is that it will be integrated with current social studies.
Thank you.
Thank it.
Thank-you.
Well, Thank You very much for bringing this bill before us and for
Answering our questions, and I'm going to move on to kind of our wrap up, so we will see you on Friday.
Oh, did you have a comment?
No, I just want to say thank you.
I'll co-chairs and thank You Education Committee as a whole for hearing this bill this morning.
Thank you, sounds good.
So this Wednesday, the committee will hold our first sub-finance committee meeting from 8 to 10.
And then again, during the first hour on Friday, February 6, following that the House Education Committee will take up both bills that we heard today, House Bill 261, and Senate Bill 6 and take public testimony on each.
So this concludes our meeting today.
The time is 958.