Homeschool families in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District recently received a letter from Superintendent Clayton Holland, assuaging concerns over the recent Alaska Superior Court ruling that correspondence school allotment reimbursements to families are unconstitutional.
In the letter, Superintendent Holland says Connections Home School was not a party to the lawsuit, which was against the State of Alaska. This means only the state may appeal the ruling. He assures families he believes it is very likely the state will appeal the decision and request a stay of the ruling during the appeal process.
He asked families for patience and understanding as the process plays out in the court system.
Holland said he was surprised by the Superior Court decision during a call to KSRM. “I knew that was out there, I mean, from a long time ago, and [I was] pretty shocked [by] the timing of it, given everything else going on in the state with education funding and all the issues surrounding that. You know, now we’re adding this on top of it.”
If the court’s decision is not overturned, Holland says that would mean homeschool families would then be responsible for their own funding. He added that he hopes the state is making contingency plans for that undesirable outcome.
“I certainly hope there’s a backup plan,” said Holland. “They better have something in place, just in case, because you can’t jeopardize the whole homeschooling process, right? The whole thing. Based off of that issue.”
The Alaska Constitution says public funds can’t be paid “for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.” On Apr. 12, Alaska Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman ruled that the laws allowing for correspondence school allotments “were drafted with the express purpose of allowing purchases of private educational services with the public correspondence student allotments.”
