KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Nearly two dozen school districts across the state have been approved for a waiver from a state law that says that they must spend at least 70 percent of their operating funds on instruction.
Districts that received the waiver include the Pribilof School District, the Lake and Peninsula School District, the Southwest Region School District and the Bristol Bay Borough School District.
Director of School Finance for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Elizabeth Nudelman explains how the process works.
— (Waivers 1 :24 "A district that does not… from the 70 percent.")
The requirement has been around for about ten years. The State Board of Education and Early Development determines who gets a waiver and who doesn’t. Districts must prove that their inability to spend 70 percent of their funds on instruction was due to circumstances beyond their control. Nudelman says that it’s usually the same districts that apply for the waiver from year to year. She says most districts have similar reasons for not being able to meet the requirement.
— (Waiver 2 :35 "Things like keeping your… that commonly come up in the waivers.")
