Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Promotion Retention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Governance committee to remove AASB wording tied to Alaska Reads Act from retention policy
Summary
The committee reviewed BP 5123 on promotion, acceleration and retention and agreed to remove a sentence borrowed from AASB model language under the Alaska Reads Act, directing administration to reference the Alaska statute instead and return revised wording.
The Anchorage School District Governance Committee reviewed policy BP 5123 (Promotion, Acceleration, Retention) on April 24 and agreed to remove AASB model language in favor of directly referencing state statute related to the Alaska Reads Act.
An administration presenter explained the committee’s primary edit focused on retention language and noted the policy added a cross-reference to state statute for students with reading deficiencies. “We really just made one change,” the presenter said, describing addition of a statutory reference and edits addressing retention procedures.
Board members discussed research on retention outcomes. Member Lessons, and others, asked about recent studies from states such as Florida where third-grade retention policies were contested and checked whether long-term graduation outcomes are available; administration replied that site-level staff reviewed literature and that long-term outcome data remain limited because many policy changes are relatively recent.
During the discussion the committee agreed to remove a sentence under the Alaska Reads Act block that used AASB model phrasing rather than the statutory language the district follows. The committee asked administration to remove the sentence and to maintain direct reference to Alaska statute language when the policy is presented again. “So we're removing under the Alaska Reads Act,” a committee member summarized, with no objection from administration.
The committee did not change acceleration language during the meeting and noted the retention edits were the primary focus. Administration will return revised wording for committee review and asked whether the committee wants the edit placed on a future agenda for board consideration.
