4 AAC 33.421. Statewide correspondence study program requirements

(a) A district that proposes to offer or continue to offer a statewide correspondence study program must demonstrate that the program meets the requirements of this section, 4 AAC 33.422, and 4 AAC 33.426 before the department will approve the application or reapplication.

(b) The program must conform with statewide goals and performance standards, as set out in 4 AAC 04.010 - 4 AAC 04.200.

(c) In accordance with AS 14.07.050 , AS 14.08.111 , and AS 14.14.090 , the program must use curriculum materials, including textbooks and other instructional aids, that have been reviewed and selected by the school board of the district, are of the same quality as those materials that the district offers in the district's other programs, and are in compliance with AS 14.03.090 and AS 14.18.060 .

(d) Certificated staff members may not advocate religious, partisan, sectarian, or denominational doctrine as part of the member's instructional or other duties as certificated staff for the district correspondence study program. Nothing in this subsection prevents a parent from providing instruction to the parent's own child using materials of the parent's choice, if such material was not purchased with money provided by the department or district.

(e) The program must include an assessment plan of the same quality as an assessment plan that the district offers in the district's other programs. The assessment plan required by this subsection must include

(1) assistance and approval by the certificated teacher assigned to each student by the district in the development of an individual learning plan for each student; the parent and the district must jointly develop the individual learning plan, with assistance from the student if appropriate; the individual learning plan must include an on-going assessment plan designed to target instruction and measure student proficiency towards achievement of the standards adopted by reference in 4 AAC 04.140;

(2) monitoring of each student by the assigned certificated teacher; the monitoring must include at least monthly teacher-student or teacher-parent contact and quarterly reviews of the student's work or progress in the individual learning plan; the district must maintain a record of the contact required under this paragraph;

(3) after review and consideration of any recommendations submitted by the student and parents, the student's grades, or other determination that the course standards are met, as determined and assigned by a certificated teacher; and

(4) a transcript that denotes the origin of the curriculum and curriculum material for any course provided under the program that was not selected by the school board of the district.

(f) The district must require enrolled students to participate in the statewide student assessment program as required by 4 AAC 06.710 - 4 AAC 06.790. The program must

(1) provide and require parents to sign a written statement indicating that they understand the testing requirements of the assessment program and that they will abide by them; and

(2) follow the requirements of 7 AAC 06.765 for test security, including providing a secure testing facility to administer all testing requirements of the assessment program, or enter into agreements with the districts and those schools where the testing is to be administered to allow statewide correspondence program students to participate in testing requirements of the assessment program.

(g) The program must include a plan for receiving parental advice and involvement in planning, development, and evaluation of the statewide correspondence study program, including the selection and evaluation of textbooks or other curriculum materials, teachers, and administrators. The plan must include a signed agreement between the certificated teacher assigned by the statewide correspondence study program and one or more parents of each student. The agreement

(1) must verify that the student and parent have the same right to access the district appeal process as students and parents in the district's other programs;

(2) must verify that the textbooks or other curriculum materials and the course of study are appropriate for the student, aligned to state standards, and comply with AS 14.03.090 and 14.18.060; and

(3) must document the process used to ensure curriculum materials are aligned to state standards and in compliance with AS 14.03.090 and 14.18.060, including a review by a certificated teacher of all textbooks and other curriculum materials for each student.

(h) Repealed 8/16/2004.

(i) a district that offers a statewide correspondence program must have an enrollment policy that provides, during the student counting period provided in AS 14.17.600 , for the enrollment of all eligible students.

(j) A district that offers a statewide correspondence study program must report in the audit required under AS 14.14.050 all expenditures on the correspondence program using function 140 of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Uniform Chart of Accounts and Account Code Descriptions for Public School Districts, 2000 Edition, adopted by reference under 4 AAC 06.120(a) (2), notwithstanding the designation of function 140 in the uniform chart as optional.

(k) A statewide correspondence study program may not pay for or provide money for

(1) family travel, including transportation, food, or lodging; or for expenses during, or for any travel out-of-state unless a governing body or superintendent of the district approves expenses incurred in the out-of-state travel that are associated with direct instructional activities; in this paragraph, "family travel" does not include travel in which a student is accompanied by the student's family for assessments or other required, activities initiated by the district;

(2) annual passes or family memberships to a sports or recreational facility; however, an annual pass or membership for the student may be purchased for entry into a sports or recreational facility in which the student is provided lessons under the student's individual learning plan, if the cost of the pass or membership is prorated to include only the cost of the student's instructional time;

(3) fees that allow entrance to a facility in which no instruction directly connected to a student's individual learning plan under (e)(1) of this section is given;

(4) religious, partisan, sectarian, or denominational textbooks or other curriculum materials;

(5) services provided to a student by a family member; in this paragraph, "family member" means the student's spouse, guardian, parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, grandparent, step-grandparent, child, uncle, or aunt;

(6) clothing, uniforms, physical education equipment, or personal items;

(7) pets and other animals;

(8) furniture

(9) taxes, testing other than educational assessments required by the district, or parking fees;

(10) entertainment;

(11) permanent items that adhere to or enhance the value of a non-school facility; or

(12) items that are considered excessive by the school administrator.

(l) A statewide correspondence study program, or a parent through a fund account under 4 AAC 33.422, may contract with a private individual to provide tutoring to a student in a subject described in 4 AAC 04.140, fine arts, music, or physical education, if

(1) the instruction is not provided by a private or sectarian educational institution;

(2) the instruction is part of the student's individual learning plan under (e)(1) of this section;

(3) a certificated teacher who is highly qualified under 4 AAC 04.210 to teach the subject or the grade level, if applicable, and who is employed by the program, has the primary responsibility to plan, instruct, and evaluate the learning of the student in the subject; and

(4) the total money spent on tutoring or other expenses in fine arts, music, and physical education for a student that does not exceed 15 percent of the base student allocation provided in AS 14.17.470 , whether spent by the district or the parent through a fund account under 4 AAC 33.422.

(m) The total money spent on fine arts, music, and physical education for a student may not exceed 15 percent of the base student allocation provided in AS 14.17.470 , whether spent by the district or the parent through a fund account under 4 AAC 33.422.

History: Eff. 12/25/2002, Register 164; am 8/6/2004, Register 171; am 2/20/2005, Register 173

Authority: AS 14.03.090

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