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Alaska2026Passed Legislature

HB204

Alaska HB204: Changes to School Enrollment, Charter Schools, and Reporting

Last scannedSep 20, 2026, 12:32 AM

In one sentence

This bill updates rules for students attending schools outside their home district, adds specific requirements for charter school contracts and appeals, requires new data reporting from public schools including information on military families, and clarifies policies regarding wireless devices.

What it does

  • Allows parents to apply for a child to attend a selected public school inside or outside their home district if the school has space.
  • Requires school districts to publish enrollment rules, application steps, and data about vacancies online each year.
  • Updates charter school contracts to list required details like teacher names, student ratios, funding amounts, and facility locations.
  • Changes the reasons a local board can end a charter school contract to focus on failing goals or breaking terms of the agreement.
  • Shortens the time limit for state officials to decide on appeals regarding denied charter school applications from 90 days to 45 days.
  • Requires public schools to report specific data, including information about students with parents in the military.

Who it affects

  • Parents and guardians of school-age children
  • Public school districts and individual schools
  • Charter schools and their operators
  • The Alaska Board of Education and Early Development

Limits and unknowns

  • School districts can still deny enrollment if the selected school does not have enough space at that grade level.
  • The bill mentions base student allocation, special education services, reading proficiency grants, and wireless devices, but the provided text excerpt only details changes to open enrollment, charter schools, and reporting requirements.

Plain language

Terms to know

Open Enrollment
A process that lets parents apply for a child to attend a school other than the one in their neighborhood.
Charter School
A public school that operates under a specific contract with a local school board and has more flexibility in how it runs.

Official record

Sources

Validated
Official bill pageIntroduced textCurrent bill text

Official summary

EDUC:ENROLL;CHARTER SCHOOLS;BSA;TELECOMM An Act relating to education; relating to open enrollment in public schools; relating to charter schools; relating to correspondence study programs; relating to the base student allocation; relating to the provision of special education and related services; relating to reading proficiency incentive grants; relating to wireless telecommunication devices in public schools; and providing for an effective date.

Official activity

Bill history

  1. (H) REFERRED TO FINANCE846
  2. (H) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER846
  3. (H) FN4: (EED/FUND CAP)846
  4. (H) FN3: (EED)846
  5. (H) FN2: (EED)846
  6. (H) FN1: ZERO(EED)846
  7. (H) FIN846
  8. (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS846