ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
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ANCHORAGE TESTIMONY - OCTOBER 15, 1992
DEPOSITION EXHIBIT #7 - TESTIMONY
OF CHARLES HUBBARD
Dee Hubbard
Legislative Chair
337-6370
FAX 337-6370 (auto send)
ANCHORAGE COUNCIL OF PTAs
RESOLUTION
PARENT NOTIFICATION PROGRAM
WHEREAS, The National PTA works to promote the safety
and welfare of all children and youth; and
WHEREAS, The National PTA passed
a resolution in 1985 encouraging "its states, councils, districts, and local units to seek and support state legislation requiring school districts to establish policies for parent notification";
and
WHEREAS, Child abduction can happen as a child is going
to school and a parent could be unaware of that event until the child failed
to return home from school at the proper time; and
WHEREAS, Up to 1,500,000 children are reported missing
from their homes each year, and between 20,000 and 50,000 children who have been
reported missing each year are still missing at the end of the year; and
WHEREAS, Statistics show that the sooner the parents
know that a child is missing and the faster the police respond, the better the
chances are of recovering a child in danger before harm can be done; and
WHEREAS, In addition to abduction, children can fall
prey to assault or medical emergency, or be truant; and
WHEREAS, Alaska has long, dark and very cold winters;
and
WHEREAS, The majority of all parents now work outside
the home, leaving many children to get themselves off to school in the morning;
and
WHEREAS, The Foundation Formula for school funding
allocates funds per educational unit based on enrollment during two brief periods
in the fall and the spring rather than average daily attendance as in many states,
and therefore does not motivate school districts to account for unexplained student
absences; and
WHEREAS, PTA volunteer parent notification programs
have not proven always to be reliable or successful on a continuous basis, due
to lack of consistent and responsible volunteer support, lack of space, lack
of a telephone line, lack of ongoing motivation for coordination of a program,
lack of cooperation from staff, expense and liability concerns; and
WHEREAS, The Anchorage Council of PTAs supports equal
protection for all children; and
WHEREAS, The coordination and review of safety programs
for children is one of the 1992-1993 goals of the Anchorage Council of PTAs;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, The Anchorage Council of PTAs endorse the development of a district-wide plan for accountability of student absences for protection purposes at the elementary level; and be it further
RESOLVED, The Council encourage and support state legislation requiring local school districts to establish policies for parent notification; and be it further
RESOLVED, The Council encourage Anchorage School District to implement such a plan by (?) policy
(1) for requesting parents to notify the school when their child is to be absent, and
(2) whenever possible for parents of (?) (?) children to be contacted as soon as possible on the day of the absence, if parents have not already notified the school.
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every
attempt to keep the online document the same as the original,
including the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
