Title 14, Education, Libraries, and Museums

A school board that selects its own books shall forward a list of the selections to the department.

The board shall adopt regulations that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this title. All regulations shall be adopted under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act).

State funds may not be paid to a school district or teacher that fails to comply with the school laws of the state or with the regulations adopted by the department.

There is created at the head of the Department of Education and Early Development a Board of Education and Early Development consisting of seven members.

(a) The seven members of the board, no more than four of whom shall be members of the same political party as the governor, shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the legislature in joint session. In appointing board members, t…

The members of the board shall be appointed for overlapping five-year terms commencing on the March 1 following the date of the member's appointment. Except as provided in AS 39.05.080(4), a member appointed to fill a vacancy serves for the unexpired term of the member whose vaca…

(a) Four members constitute a quorum. (b) The board shall designate one member of the board as the chairperson who serves as chair of the board at the pleasure of the board.

Members of the board serve at the pleasure of the governor.

The board shall meet at least quarterly. Meetings may be called by the chair or by a majority of the members of the board. Meetings shall be held in Juneau unless a majority of the members of the board changes the place of a meeting.

The Department of Law shall provide all legal services for the board.

(a) The board shall appoint the commissioner of education and early development subject to the approval of the governor. The commissioner shall be the principal executive officer of the department. (b) The commissioner shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation an…

The commissioner has responsibility and authority for the preparation and execution of a budget and for the other fiscal affairs of the department, subject to the approval of the board.

A member of the board may not be a candidate for partisan political office while serving as a member of the board.

(a) The board may adopt bylaws for the management of the department. (b) The bylaws shall be written and distributed in a manner so as to be readily available to personnel of the department. (c) This section may not be construed to allow the use of a bylaw rather than a regulatio…

(a) The board shall adopt (1) statewide goals and require each governing body to adopt written goals that are consistent with local needs; (2) regulations regarding the application for and award of grants under AS 14.03.125; (3) regulations implementing provisions of AS 14.11.014…

Not later than the 30th legislative day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present in person to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and co…

(a) The board may (1) appoint unpaid advisory commissions; (2) require school boards or school personnel to submit to the department, in the form the board may require, the district budget or any information or reports that are reasonably necessary to assist the department in car…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board shall establish standards and a procedure for the review, ranking, and approval of mathematics and English and language arts curricula for school districts to use in each grade level as provided in this section. The board …

(a) The Council for Alaska Native Languages is established in the department for the purpose of recommending the establishment or reorganization of programs to support the preservation, restoration, and revitalization of Alaska Native languages. (b) The council established under …

(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to provide for public education in the unorganized borough and the military reservations in the state. (b) Nothing in this chapter prohibits an organized borough, city, village, community, or settlement in an unorganized area of the state fro…

The legislature delegates to school boards for each regional educational attendance area the authority to operate the public schools in those areas in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, subject to the provisions of this title and the regulations adopted under it that…

(a) The Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development in consultation with the Department of Education and Early Development and local communities shall divide the unorganized borough into educational service areas using the boundaries or sub-boundaries of the regio…

(a) A regional educational attendance area shall be operated on an areawide basis under the management and control of a regional school board. (b) The qualified voters of the communities receiving educational services in each regional educational attendance area shall elect a reg…

(a) The regional school board shall declare a regional school board seat vacant when the person elected (1) fails to qualify within 30 days of certification of the election; (2) notifies the school board in writing of the person's refusal to take office; (3) resigns and the resig…

(a) The commissioner in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development and the local communities may divide a regional educational attendance area into sections only for the purpose of nominating and electing regional school board members. If th…

(a) Members elected to a regional school board shall serve staggered three-year terms. However, (1) the term of office of all of the members of a regional school board elected from the same multi-member section may not expire at the same time; and (2) for the first board elected,…

(a) In each regional educational attendance area in the unorganized borough, the lieutenant governor, within not less than 60, nor more than 90 days after the establishment of the regional educational attendance area, shall provide for the election of a regional school board. (b)…

The members of a regional school board are subject to recall in accordance with AS 29.26.240 — 29.26.360, except that the director of elections shall perform the functions of a municipal clerk, the lieutenant governor shall perform the functions of the assembly or council under t…

(a) The regional school boards shall be organized in accordance with AS 14.14.070, and, before taking office, each school board member shall take and sign the oath or affirmation prescribed by AS 14.12.090. (b) The officer of the board responsible for the custody of regional educ…

A regional school board may (1) sue and be sued; (2) contract with the department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or any other school district, agency, or regional board for the provision of services, facilities, supplies, or utilities; (3) determine its own fiscal procedures, inc…

A regional school board shall (1) provide, during the school term of each year, an educational program for each school age child who is enrolled in or a resident of the district; (2) develop a philosophy of education, principles, and goals for its schools; (3) approve the employm…

(a) A regional school board shall establish advisory school boards in each community in the regional educational attendance area that has more than 50 permanent residents, and by regulation shall prescribe their manner of selection and organization, and, in a manner consistent wi…

A board member having a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a contract for erection of buildings, heating, ventilation, furnishing, or repairing the buildings or in a contract for the furnishing of supplies for a regional school is disqualified from voting on any question in…

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, the ownership of land and buildings used in relation to regional educational attendance area schools shall remain vested in the state, and use permits shall be given to the regional school boards. (b) Except for land located within t…

(a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation system for students to and from…

In those places in the state where the department or a school district provides transportation for children attending public schools, the department also shall provide transportation for children who, in compliance with the provisions of AS 14.30, attend nonpublic schools that ar…

(a) A school district or regional educational attendance area that provides for the transportation of pupils shall require that the drivers of motor vehicles used to transport pupils submit to testing for the use of drugs and alcohol. The testing program must include random testi…

(a) A municipal school district or regional educational attendance area shall (1) provide instruction on safe boarding, riding, exiting, and emergency procedures to school children transported to or from a public school by school bus; (2) provide instruction to drivers and passen…

There is created a school construction grant fund as an account in the general fund. The fund shall be used to make grants for the costs of school construction. Legislative appropriations for school construction shall be deposited in the fund, and the proceeds from the sale of ge…

There is created a major maintenance grant fund as an account in the general fund. The fund shall be used to make grants for the costs of school major maintenance. Legislative appropriations for school major maintenance shall be deposited in the fund.

(a) In order to receive a grant under this chapter or an appropriation under AS 37.05.560, a district must provide a percentage share of the project cost, as determined under (b) or (c) of this section. Except as provided in (d) or (g) of this section, a district shall provide th…

(a) A municipality that is a school district or a regional educational attendance area may submit a request to the department for a grant under this chapter. (b) For a municipality that is a school district or a regional educational attendance area to be eligible for a grant unde…

(a) With regard to projects for which grants are requested under AS 14.11.011, the department shall (1) annually review the six-year plans submitted by each district under AS 14.11.011(b) and recommend to the board a revised and updated six-year capital improvement project grant …

(a) The commissioner shall establish a bond reimbursement and grant review committee for the purpose described in (b) of this section. In making selections to the committee, the commissioner shall seek to maintain a regional statewide balance on the committee. The committee shall…