Alaska Native Cultural Charter School Principal Sheila Sweetsir asks a student a question during the morning assembly on Feb. 20, 2024.
Anchorage School District Director of Charter Schools Jason Hlasny said families seek charter schools for a variety of reasons. Charter schools often operate in buildings that were not designed as schools. State law says school districts must offer charter schools a chance to lease space in an existing school district facility if that building is safe and suitable. When charter schools launch, the state provides a one-time grant of $500 per student. Then charter schools receive money for each student who attends, according to the Base Student Allocation formula, in the same way that other public schools do.
Anchorage STrEaM Academy started operating in 2016 and is the newest charter school in the Anchorage School District. Principal Adam Mokelke said it’s the only charter school in Anchorage to give preference to students who live nearby. Approved charter applications then go to the State Board of Education and Early Development for approval. Charter approvals last 10 years. While the state can approve a charter school after a local school district has rejected it, the school district may close a charter school at its own discretion. “Our current process is essential. I think that’s what makes us successful,” Gill said. “You need your local school board on board, and the state.
“When we talk about diversity in charter schools … transportation is a limiting factor for that,” STrEaM Academy Principal Adam Mokelke said. “Low-income families are going to have a harder time figuring out how to drive their kids to school than, you know, families with more means.”
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