AS 14.09.010: Transportation of students.

(a) A school district that provides student transportation services for the transportation of students who reside a distance from established schools is eligible to receive funding for operating or subcontracting the operation of the transportation system for students to and from the schools within the student's transportation service area. Subject to appropriation, the amount of funding provided by the state for operating the student transportation system is the amount of a school district's ADM, less the ADM for the district's correspondence programs during the current fiscal year, multiplied by the per student amount for the school district as follows, for the school years beginning July 1, 2025:

DISTRICTPER STUDENT AMOUNT

Alaska Gateway$2,529

Aleutians East377

Anchorage529

Annette Island221

Bering Strait59

Bristol Bay3,247

Chatham341

Copper River1,928

Cordova408

Craig514

Delta/Greely2,013

Denali2,197

Dillingham1,480

Fairbanks992

Galena309

Haines761

Hoonah363

Iditarod257

Juneau733

Kake330

Kashunamiut6

Kenai Peninsula1,112

Ketchikan883

Klawock710

Kodiak Island971

Kuspuk794

Lake and Peninsula466

Lower Kuskokwim337

Lower Yukon1

Matanuska-Susitna1,106

Nenana714

Nome755

North Slope1,361

Northwest Arctic30

Pelican88

Petersburg455

Saint Mary's234

Sitka520

Skagway44

Southeast Island1,404

Southwest Region726

Unalaska788

Valdez894

Wrangell851

Yakutat904

Yukon Flats321

Yukon/Koyukuk364

Yupiit2.

(b) The department shall adopt regulations that provide for oversight of and support to school districts in achieving a safe and cost-effective student transportation system. The regulations must include a requirement for contract terms of not less than three years, if feasible, standardized conditions and bid periods, and standards that ensure cost efficiencies and exclusions.

(c) [Repealed, § 11 ch 9 SLA 2008.]

(d) A school district that provides transportation services under this section shall provide transportation services to students attending a charter school operated by the district under a policy adopted by the district. The policy must

(1) be developed with input solicited from individuals involved with the charter school, including staff, students, and parents;

(2) at a minimum, provide transportation services for students enrolled in the charter school on a space available basis along the regular routes that the students attending schools in an attendance area in the district are transported; and

(3) be approved by the department.

(e) If a school district fails to adopt a policy under (d) of this section, the school district shall allocate the amount received for each student under (a) of this section to each charter school operated by the district based on the number of students enrolled in the charter school.

(f) Nothing in (d) of this section requires a school district to establish dedicated transportation routes for the exclusive use of students enrolled in a charter school or authorizes a charter school to opt out of a policy adopted by a school district for the purpose of acquiring transportation funding.

(g) In this section,

(1) “ADM” has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990;

(2) “district's ADM” means the sum of the ADMs in the district.