Update 6/3/25 5:06 p.m:
On Tuesday afternoon, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development released documents updating the status of the proposed regulation. Now the board must decide whether to adopt it as an emergency regulation, or to open the 30-day comment period for the proposed change.
An emergency regulation means the board could approve the change without a public comment period. It would take effect immediately after approval from the state’s lieutenant governor.
If approved as an emergency regulation, the change would last only 120 days unless the board later approved a permanent regulation change.
The board may also consider the regulation without emergency status and open a 30-day public comment period before taking action.
Original story:
The Alaska State Board of Education is considering a regulation change that would further limit how much money local governments can give to school districts. At its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday the board will decide whether to open a 30-day comment period for the proposed change before deciding on approval at a later meeting.
The new regulation would narrow the definition of what kind of spending counts as a local contribution. State law currently limits how much municipalities can give to districts.
Several school districts interpret the limit to apply only to money for instructional services. Some municipalities like the City and Borough of Juneau give additional money to their school districts for non-instructional services like transportation and preschool. The regulation change would end this practice.
If the regulation is approved, the Juneau School District would need to cut more than $2 million in funding for student activities, food services, after-school child care and more.
Leadership from the Alaska Council of School Administrators said in an email to KTOO the change could affect districts that represent nearly half of the state’s students.
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, or DEED, drafted a version of the change last November. DEED wrote in a memo to the board that it’s proposing the change to match federal definitions and to remain in compliance with a yearly federal disparity test.
The non-instructional local contributions haven’t been considered in the test. Alexei Painter, one of the state’s legislative fiscal analysts, told KTOO it also wasn’t included in this year’s test, which the state failed.
DEED officials didn’t respond to questions from KTOO Tuesday.
The board will decide whether to open a 30 day public comment period during its business meeting tomorrow. DEED has requested the board include the regulation change at a special meeting in July if the board opens public comment this week.
There is also an opportunity for the public to comment on agenda items early Wednesday morning at 8:25 during the virtual board meeting. Meeting information can be found on the board’s website.
