School board approves changes to Mat-Su Central School Student Allotment

During the April 16 meeting of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) school board, members voted unanimously to approve changes to Board Policy 6181.03, Mat-Su Central School (MSCS) Program - Student Allotment.

The proposed revisions were recommended by the School Board Policy Committee, aligning the policy with other schools and state statute.

Currently, the MSCS provides an allotment-based home education support program which is designed to provide parents and families with the flexibility to develop and support an innovative, inclusive, and educational curriculum.

The allotment funds are used to implement academic activities in support of the student’s Individual Learning Plan (ILP) in accordance with state laws and regulations. Typically, parents must complete an ILP before any allotment spending is approved and must be directly related to the student’s ILP.

The proposed changes to the current policy would have the MSBSD determine what the annual student allotment amounts are instead of an Academic Advisory Council (AAC) and may vary based on student enrollment date.

“The reason we’re making this change is that there are no other schools the entire system that (the AAC) would have the kind of power where they set the allotment level,” said MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani during the meeting. He presented a scenario in which an AAC could approve a rather large student allotment and the school board would be obligated to follow suit. “You could have a group of people who have not been elected at-large who could make decisions…I just think it wasn’t thought through when it was put in.”

The board policy also changed a portion of the same policy that states that an in-district home school student may use 100% of their funds for fine arts, physical education, music and/or other educational areas as outlined in the student’s ILP, removing the section of the policy that stated “…so long as the student scores “Proficient” or “Advanced” on state mandated assessments.”

The changes further clarified that student allotments will not be restricted based on scores from state-mandated assessments, but will work on ILPs in order for students to become proficient.

“In accordance with AS 14.03.300 and AS 14.03.123 MCS shall provide for an ongoing assessment plan that includes statewide assessments required for public schools. A student who does not score proficient or advanced on state mandated assessments must have an Individualized Learning Plan for the student to become proficient. The advisory teacher and parent/guardian will prioritize the expenditure of an adequate portion of the fund account to achieve proficiency on state mandated assessments.”

“The second change is just literally taking the language that was there and replacing it with the language from the (Alaska) Statute so it’s very clear,” explained Dr. Trani.