In a now-familiar move, the Alaska Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday loaded a school funding increase into a completely unrelated bill — this time, a measure originally meant to set policy for student cell phone use.
House Bill 57 started off simple: school districts would be required to adopt policies outlining when and how students can use personal wireless devices during the school day. Exceptions are allowed for emergencies, medical reasons, translation, or teacher-approved class use. The bill also blocks schools from monitoring or collecting data from student phones.
But now, HB 57 has taken on new weight. The Senate amended it to include a $700 bump to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) and a 10% increase in transportation funding for school districts.
According to Liz Harpold, staff to Sen. Donny Olson, the updated version — dubbed Version T — “adds to the title references to student transportation and the base student allocation. It repeals and reenacts the pupil transportation statutes to increase the amount by ten percent, and also adds $700 to the BSA.”
This comes just 24 hours after lawmakers failed to override the governor’s veto of a separate bill that would’ve raised the BSA by $1,000. That bill died because did not work with a looming state budget deficit, and didn’t include many of the charter school, correspondence program, and policy reforms Governor Dunleavy has said are non-negotiable.
This new version? Same story. Another attempt to move school funding on its own, with none of the structural changes the governor wants. And unless something changes quickly, it’s likely headed for the same outcome.
Still, the bill now returns to the House. If the changes are accepted, it moves to the governor’s desk where–given recent history–a well-inked veto pen awaits. If not, lawmakers will head to a conference committee to try to hammer out a deal.