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Kodiak
Island Borough School District officials say that the student transportation
budget will be completely covered by the state this school year for the first
time in five years. KMXT’s Casey Kelly has more.
District
Finance Director Luke Fulp says a change in how the State of Alaska doles out
money for transportation means that Kodiak won’t have to subsidize students’
bus routes this year. The change was one of several recommendations made by the
state’s Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force, which met last summer.
(Fulp
1 :14s “…thought
were necessary.”)
In
the past the state had tried grants to fund school transportation costs. Then
in 2003 it went to formula that was based on enrollment, with adjustments made
for each district depending on economic factors in different communities. Fulp
says that led to some districts getting more money than they needed, while a
lot of others got short-changed.
(Fulp
2 :13s “…from
home to schools.”)
The
new formula is based on the district’s annual audited costs for transportation,
as well as those economic factors that can make moving students back and forth
in Kodiak more complicated than, say, Anchorage.
(Fulp
3 :22s “…involved
process altogether.”)
The
state’s transportation contribution for this fiscal year will be 1.45 million
dollars for Kodiak schools. Fulp says that will cover every single bus route,
with a little bit left over to cover rising fuel costs.
(Fulp
4 :19s “…happening
with fuel prices.”)
The
student transportation budget does not cover other travel costs facing the
district, such as the amount spent to take kids off island for sporting events
and other activities. Those costs are covered through activity fees,
fundraising and individual school budgets.
I’m
Casey Kelly.
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