Alaska may drop 58 education rules, including a 90-day charter school deadline

The Alaska State Board of Education voted Oct. 14 to take public comment on repealing 58 state education regulations and amending 12 more. It is the education department's first round of cuts under Gov. Mike Dunleavy's Administrative Order 360, which directs agencies to cut regulatory requirements 15% by the end of this year and 25% by the end of 2027. Comments are due Nov. 20.

One change would affect charter schools. Today, a charter application approved by a local school board has to reach the department at least 90 days before the next regular State Board meeting. The proposal would drop that deadline.

A written commenter asked for the change, saying "districts can slow-roll things." The department agreed, saying the rule "can create barriers for charter applicants when districts delay review of submitted applications," and noting that no regulation sets a deadline for districts to review one. Applicants would also no longer have to submit a written administrative policy manual or proof that they comply with the law.

Most of the changes are in the rules for libraries, museums and archives.

For public library grants, the proposal would scrap the fixed split that sends 75% to public library assistance and 25% to interlibrary cooperation and regional services, along with the April 1 application and Aug. 1 decision deadlines. The state library director would set the application period each year. Libraries taking grant money would no longer have to lend to other Alaska libraries for free or meet a five-hour minimum for evening and weekend hours, and combined public and school libraries would no longer be barred from using it for curriculum materials. When the department first floated cutting the hours rule, three of the four people who commented asked to keep it.

For school library collection grants, which one survey respondent said have never been funded, the state would stop splitting short funding among every eligible library. It would rank applications and fund only the top ones.

Other repeals cover rules the department says are out of date or in conflict with state law. Six of the 10 duties for staff at school test sites, from storing tests securely to preventing copying, would go, because the department says they apply to paper tests and Alaska gives its statewide tests electronically. An Oct. 1 deadline for districts to send in their audits would go too. The department says it conflicts with state law, which already requires the audit and directs the commissioner to withhold state payments from districts that don't file one.

The department's February reform plan marked 261 of its 371 discretionary requirements for removal. The posted records don't say how many this round covers.

The board will also take comment by phone at a Dec. 3 meeting.