(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(c) [Repealed, § 11 ch 9 SLA 2008.]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.