4 AAC 33.090 - District-operated statewide and district-wide residential schools
(a) A district
must obtain approval from the department before operating a statewide or
district-wide residential school. A district may apply to establish and operate
a new school only during a period of open applications established by the
department under (c) of this section. Applications must include
(1) designation of the facilities that will
house the residential school, including any proposal to build or renovate a
facility, and the revenue sources that will support the construction or
renovation;
(2) a five-year budget
for the operation of the residential component of the school; the budget must
specify the revenue sources that will support the proposed budget, including a
provision for charging student tuition;
(3) a tuition waiver policy for families that
can demonstrate financial hardship, including a definition of
"hardship";
(4) an enrollment and
selection policy for students applying to attend the residential
school;
(5) a list of course
offerings;
(6) a plan to assist
students in crisis; and
(7) a
staffing plan for the school.
(b) The department may require that a
district supplement its application with additional information. The department
may require a district to change its policies or proposed practices before
approving an application. A district must operate the residential school in
conformance with its approved application. A district that wishes to change any
of the requirements of an approved application must submit a revised
application. In determining whether to grant or deny an application, the
department will consider
(1) whether the
community in which the school is located has sufficient infrastructure to
support the residential school;
(2) demand, current capacity, and regional
needs for residential schools;
(3)
the cost to provide a residential school in the applying district;
(4) the district's ability to offer a
high-quality academic program to students;
(5) the health and welfare of students housed
in the residential school, including the ability of the district to offer a
high-quality residential school;
(6) for a revised application, whether the
school has complied with the policies and practices that the district
identified in its current application; and
(7) the public interest.
(c) The department will open a
period of application annually on May 1. The application period will close on
June 30. The department may require that applications be targeted to provide a
particular program to meet specific needs of students in the state. A period of
open application and solicitation does not imply that the department will
approve the establishment of any new schools.
(d) This section does not prevent a governing
body from establishing an in-district residential school that is not eligible
for state support for the operation of the residential aspects of the school .
(e) A district that operates an
approved statewide or district-wide residential school shall submit an annual
report to the department. The report must include the
(1) number of applications received by the
school;
(2) number of students
accepted into the school ;
(3)
students' communities and districts of residence at the time of application for
enrollment;
(4) students' academic
achievement results;
(5) date of,
reason for, and number of withdrawals from the school during the school year;
(6) number of expulsions from the
school during the school year;
(7)
number of students receiving a tuition waiver; and
(8) other information requested by the
department with respect to the school .
(f) On December 1 of each school year, a
district that operates an approved statewide or district-wide residential
school shall submit to the department an application, on a form provided by the
department, for payment of a stipend under
AS
14.16.200(b)(2). The
district is eligible for payment of the lesser of actual cost to house the
student or the amount allowed in
AS
14.16.200(b)(2) for each
residential student who is housed by the district on the last day of the
student count period under
AS
14.17.600, and whose parents or guardians do
not reside in the community in which the school is located. If appropriations
are insufficient for the residential component of approved statewide or
district-wide residential schools, the department will reduce each district's
entitlement by a pro rata amount as determined by the department.
(g) The department may withdraw its approval
for a district to operate a statewide or district-wide residential school if
the department determines that continued operation of the school is not in the
public interest. In making this determination, the department will consider
(1) the health and safety of the students in
the residential school;
(2)
whether students at the school have demonstrated sufficient academic
achievement; in making this determination, the department will consider all
evidence of student academic achievement and improvement, including evidence of
(A) students' scores and improvement of
students' scores on statewide student assessments under
4 AAC 06.710; and
(B) the program's record of demonstrating
progress in accordance with
4 AAC 06.800 -
4 AAC 06.899 (school and district accountability), and
the reasons for its success or failure to demonstrate progress;
(3) the demand for the school;
(4) the cost of operating the
school;
(5) whether the school has
complied with the policies and practices that the district identified in its
application; and
(6) the existence
of alternative methods of meeting the needs of students.
(h) A district may apply during a period of
open application under (c) of this section for approval to operate a
variable-term statewide or district-wide residential school that will house
students for the entire school calendar. The minimum term for each student must
be at least two weeks. A variable-term school is eligible for reimbursement for
a monthly stipend for up to nine months of the school year under (f) of this
section for the number of students that it housed on the last day of the
student count period under
AS
14.17.600 if the district will continue to
house at least the same number of students throughout the entire school term.
Upon the written request of a school district, the commissioner may permit a
district to report the number of students it housed on a date other than the
last day of the student count period if the date is within the count period set
out in AS
14.17.600 and the date more accurately
reflects the numbers of students the district will house throughout the school
term. A variable-term school is eligible for a one-time air fare reimbursement
under AS
14.16.200(b)(1) for the
number of students housed by the school on the last day of the student count
period, based on the average cost of round-trip air fare for all statewide or
district-wide residential schools. A district may not include students housed
by a variable-term school in the school's student count submitted to the
department for foundation funding under AS 14.17; a student being housed by a
variable-term school during the student count period may be included in the
count of the student's district of residence. In this subsection,
"variable-term statewide or district-wide residential school" means a statewide
or district-wide residential school that rotates students in and out of the
school during the school year for the entire school term as defined under
AS
14.03.030.
Notes
Authority:AS 14.07.020
AS 14.07.060
AS 14.07.165
AS 14.16.100
AS 14.16.200
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